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Showing posts with label Theme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theme. Show all posts

Concert (chlorothalonil + propiconazole)


Concert is a "Pre-Mix" (yes I know many of you hate the term Pre-Mix, but this is my blog page and I can do whatever I want so take that Mr. Hoff essentially this is a prepacked version of Daconil and Banner MAXX) fungicide from Syngenta which combines the active ingredients of chlorothalonil and propiconazole. The new formulation for this mixture is similar to what Jim referred to earlier as a SE or suspoemulsion. According to Syngenta (slideshow below), the SE is a "water-based formulation that contains both suspended solids and emulsion droplets. Below is my summary of some research with Concert, a slideshow presentation from Syngenta, and my concluding thoughts.

Research results with Concert:
Below are the results of some research findings from Penn State and Connecticut. 

Disease suppression:
Brown patch suppression with Concert was excellent in a trial conducted in 2010 and this holds up with what has been seen in other trials that we have conducted. Treatments were applied on a 14-day interval, which may be improved with the use of a QoI which have excellent brown patch suppression. A benefit of this combination (chlorothalonil + propiconazole) would be the efficacy on dollar spot.  Although I didn't have any data pulled together for Concert, the use of these two active ingredients have shown excellent suppression of dollar spot in past studies.

Anthracnose basal rot is another disease where various studies have been conducted.  In our studies at Penn State, Concert looks good and comparable to similar fungicides. To the left you will see a fungicide study conducted by Johnny 5 Dr. Inguagiato of UConn.  I highlight this study because of the slight benefit that Concert provides when compared to the individual components. The 5.0 fl oz rate of Concert is equivalent to 3.0 oz of Daconil Ultrex and 1.1 fl oz of Banner MAXX for reference. In most of my studies, Concert has been included as part of a full rotational program. This is a good practice in general when dealing with season long applications of a DMI.


 Quality/Injury:

One of the things that is worth pointing out is that these field studies are done to determine disease control with single products. Due to this fact, most of our studies are carried out in a manner that results in repeated applications of products that would otherwise not be sprayed that often.  So it is not uncommon for injury to appear in our studies. Having said that, I found that the differences in injury among studies can often vary as was the case in two separate studies conducted at Penn State and UConn.  In the Penn State study, no differences were observed between any fungicide and the untreated control, but there was a separation among fungicides. Namely, those products that contained the pigment in StressGard had improved quality relative to plots receiving Concert.


On the other hand, field studies at Connecticut showed significant injury from repeated applications of other fungicides including Triton (a DMI) and Reserve (DMI + chlorothalonil). Injury was observed within the plots treated with Concert, but the phytotoxicity was not different from the untreated control. No injury was observed when either of the actives in Concert were used along.  So I guess the lesson here is that perhaps Mr. Hoff is correct and the new formulations developed during the creation of the "Pre-Mix" packages do influence different aspects of the product.  



You can read the full research reports here:
Inguagiato, J.C., R. Blake and J.E. Kaminski, 2010. Preventive anthrancose control in putting green turf with various fungicides.
Kaminski, J.E. and T. Lulis. 2009. Impact of fungicides on teh control of anthracnose basal rot, turfgrass quality and algae on a golf course putting green. 

What Syngenta said (slideshow):


Concluding thoughts:
Concert is an effective fungicide against a wide array of turf diseases and can be used as an integral part of a disease resistance management strategy due to the inclusion of chlorothalonil. Diseases that it would be effective against would be brown patch, anthracnose, dollar spot, gray leaf spot and others. Repeated application of this product may be met with a couple of problems.  First, seasonal use rates of chlorothalonil should be closely watched.  These tank mix partners can confuse or at least make it more difficult to figure out how much actual active you have put out, especially when using different products all containing chlorothalonil.  Additionally, the repeated use of any of the DMI's should be avoided due to potential phytotoxicity issues.  Most of the research protocols that I have seen have been built with Concert in mind as a component of an overall fungicide program.  Golf course superintendents should develop similar programs for their golf courses that target the primary problems they are facing.  In the right situation, Concert can be an effective product in a sound program.


Download the Concert Label 

Interface (Iprodione + Trifloxystrobin)


Interface® is a relatively new Pre-Mix fungicide from Bayer Environmental Science and contains the two active ingredients iprodione (found in Chipco 26GT and others) and trifloxystrobin (Compass). While some of us have worked with the individual products for many years, it is only recently that I (and probably many others) have worked with the Pre-Mix version. Below you will find data from a recent fungicide trial with Interface®, a statement from Bayer on the strengths of the product and my concluding thoughts.

2010 Dollar Spot Trial and Turfgrass Quality:
Dollar spot. Active dollar spot symptoms began to appear shortly after treatments were initiated on 24 May.  Disease activity began to increase rapidly in June and when plots were rated on 14 Jun, and average of 34 to 39 infection centers (IC) were present within the untreated control plots (data not shown).  Dollar spot was suppressed on most rating dates during periods in which treatments were applied and generally were very low (0-2 IC) within 7 days following application and low to moderate (1-14 IC or 0.1-2.9%) 2 to 3 weeks after the last application.  On 13 Aug (17 days after the last application), dollar spot was completely suppressed in plots treated with Interface at rates ≥ 4.0 fl oz. Moderate suppression (2.0% disease) was observed within plots treated with Interface (3.0 fl oz) and Iprodione Pro. Although disease pressure started to increase approximately 3 weeks after the last application, significant reductions in dollar spot were still observed within plots treated with the higher rates of Interface into early September.

Turfgrass color. Turfgrass color (which excluded the impact of disease within each plot) was rated on 27 Jul (2 weeks after the third application). All plots treated with Interface and Tartan had improved color when compared to the untreated plots and those treated with Iprodione Pro.

Overall, dollar spot suppression within this trial was good to excellent with products containing Iprodione.  A slight rate effect with Interface treatments was observed.  Moderate suppression of dollar spot was achieved within plots treated with Tartan.  This is likely due to a known reduced sensitivity to fungicides within the DMI chemistry at this site.  All treatments containing the green pigment StressGard improved turfgrass color and quality throughout the study.

What Bayer had to say:
Interface® is the non-DMI of choice 
  • Consistent Disease Control
  • Turf Safety
  • Turf Quality
  • Disease Control
    • Best Leaf Spot Product
    • Great Dollar Spot and Brown Patch Performance
    • Great rotation product for Anthracnose Programs (including Basal)
    • Top Snow Mold control for < 150 days snow cover with earlier green up in the spring
Concluding thoughts:
Interface® is a strong fungicide for certain foliar diseases found during the summer months, specifically brown patch and dollar spot. Although we have not conducted studies specifically for brown patch, all strobilurins (including Compass) generally provide excellent suppression of this disease. Coupled with iprodione, Interface® is able to target both foliar diseases. This may be particularly useful in situations where insensitivity to the DMI fungicides for dollar spot is present as is the case at our research facility at Penn State. Although thought of as a "great rotation product for anthracnose programs", the use of Interface for the suppression of this disease may be limited. In our previous trials, suppression of anthracnose with iprodione has been moderate to poor and resistance issues with the strobilurin fungicides against anthracnose may all but negate its usefulness for this disease. Where resistance is NOT a problem, the strobilurins work very well.  Unfortunately, where these products have been used extensively for anthracnose suppression they are likely not useful anymore.

An added strength of Interface® is the addition of the StressGard technology. While I still don't know exactly how and why this provides improved plant health, the benefits of this additive are consistently observed in the improved turfgrass quality and color following application. 

Overall, I think that the combination product will be useful for controlling common turfgrass diseases during the summer months and will be effective in a rotational program. In situations where its use is effective against anthracnose and/or other diseases where known resistance may occur, it will be important to rotate fungicides from other chemical classes. Although this is not specifically related just to Interface, the Pre-Mix packaging of fungicides is becoming more common. A primary concern of mine with this is the potential overuse of certain fungicides where resistance is known to develop relatively rapidly (namely the strobilurins). Golf course superintendents should pay close attention to the active ingredients within the various Pre-Mix products and make efforts to truly rotate chemistry when developing their seasonal fungicide programs.

Download the pdf Fungicide Label.

Theme Week: "New" Fungicide Reviews


As a way to increase our postings during the winter months and keep providing relevant information to golf course superintendents, the Turf Disease Blog has decided to do a series of "Theme" weeks in which each blogger tackles a topic within the theme.  Thanks to Dr. Tredway for coming up with the idea.

Our first theme is going to focus on reviews of individual fungicides that are relatively new to the market. Each blogger has simply been told what fungicide to review and what day to post. Other than that, there are no restrictions or guidelines as to the material presented.  I suspect that you will see a little data and some decent summaries of the strengths, weaknesses and potential issues with each fungicide.

"New" Fungicide Reviews*

Monday 11/15: Interface
Wednesday 11/17: Instrata
Thursday 11/18: Endorse/Affirm
Friday 11/19: Reserve
Monday 11/22: Concert
Tuesday 11/23: Civitas
Wednesday 11/24: Honor
Thursday: 11/25: Renown (posted 11/28)
Friday 11/26: Trinity/Triton
*Reviews of individual fungicides by authors of this blog do not endorse, promote, or in any way recommend the use of specific products. Reviews are based on public information, personal experience or company input. If you have questions or comments about the individual reviews, we encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments section of the individual blog post. Your question or comment may be something that provides valuable information to others reading the blog. Authors will do their best to respond to questions/comments in a timely fashion!

If you are interested in learning more about some of the fungicides that are now available, check back over the next two weeks.  Yes, I said TWO WEEKS...the idea was so good and there were so many fungicides that we decided to have everyone tackle two products and post through the week of Thanksgiving...sorry Megan!

Your Input Requested!
Do you have an idea for an upcoming "Theme Week"? If so, then leave us a comment below OR on the Facebook page. We can't promise we will get to them all, but we will do our best to address your concerns during the winter months while disease pressure is low!
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