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by Aaron Cato - March 28, 2023
Without good disease management, growers should expect lower overall yields, decreased fruit quality and a heightened risk of losing plants. Proper management of blackberry diseases require a concerted effort towards cultural control tactics as well as a fungicide spray program. Outlined below is a framework for disease management that you can use in your blackberry operations. All of this information is also explained at length on our recently posted YouTube video here:
Maximizing cultural control tactics will be key in preventing serious disease issues. The following cultural control tactics should be employed every year:
In addition to these cultural practices, a preventative fungicide spray program is necessary to lower the amount of disease inoculum present and protect susceptible fruit and canes from infection by pathogens. This spray program should begin with a lime sulfur/Sulforix™ application at the delayed dormant timing and continue until just before blackberries go dormant in the Fall. Selection of fungicides to spray every 10-14 days should be made based on the following factors:
Figure 1. Example spray program for commercial blackberry production in Arkansas. Watch the following YouTube video for more information on how this schedule was built to prevent each disease: https://youtu.be/cDVmcC2aZ7E