Instrata (Chlorothalonil + Propiconazole + Fludioxonil)

Instrata is another fungicide that combines different active ingredients into a single product. Instrata has chlorothalonil (Daconil and many others), propiconazole (Banner MAXX and others) and fludioxonil (Medallion). Instrata quickly became the gold standard for snow mold control in northern climates like the Upper Midwest. Interestedly the formulation of this product combined suspended particles with a microemulsion that Syngenta calls a suspomicroemulsion. I really don't know what that means for golf course superintendents, but you have to admit it sounds cool! All kidding aside, we typically suggest that active ingredients should be mixed in order to achieve acceptable snow mold control. With Instrata you have three active ingredients that when combined do provided excellent snow mold control. Chlorothalonil is a contact fungicide that has activity on all three snow mold pathogens (Microdochium nivale, Typhula incarnata and Typhula ishikariensis), but is strongest on M. nivale and T. incarnata. Propiconazole is a DMI fungicide, which are known to have excellent activity on T. ishikariensis and fludioxonil seems to have activity on all three snow mold pathogens too.

For those who manage golf courses in areas that receive intense snow cover will likely experience all three snow mold pathogens at one time or another. I think the reason Instrata is a successful fungicide for snow mold control is golf course superintendents don't have to worry about predicting the weather because all the product works on all three snow mold pathogens. With respect to efficacy of Instrata, I have posted a few figures highlighting how well this product works. We do see breakthrough at our site in the UP, which has intense snow mold pressure. Yet, for the last two years we observed that 70 % of the products break down under that pressure. Even under that pressure, a single application of Instrata keeps disease severity levels between 15 and 40 %. Anyone that experiences such snow mold pressure should make two applications for snow mold and we observed that two applications of Instrata at 5.5 oz worked better than a single late application of Instrata at 11 oz at our UP site. For most golf course superintendents however, the 9.3 oz rate will work beautifully! A word of caution about the product, do not skimp on the rate in areas of high snow mold pressure. We have observed that reducing the rate to 5.5 oz in some environments may result in significant failure.

In summary, Instrata is an excellent combination fungicide for controlling snow mold diseases. It also has activity on other diseases too, which is obvious based on the active ingredients in the product. Instrata is an excellent choice for putting greens and tees and if the budget allows high value approaches and maybe even fairways. If you are interested in this product and have not used it before check out the label and Syngenta's website for more information.