Diseases such as sudden oak death (SAD), black spot, scab, bacterial blight, and fire blight are the scourge of many trees, shrubs, fruits, and vegetables. To control these diseases home gardeners have had to resort to growing resistant varieties (if available), using cultural techniques such as crop rotation, or spraying toxic chemicals.
Now a new, low-toxicity, systemic fungicide is available that features potassium salts of phosphoric acid as the active ingredient. Agri-Fos fungicide has been used successfully in Australia and is now available in the United States. Although not considered organic, its low toxicity allows gardeners to reenter their fields only 4 hours after applying the fungicide, and there are no harvesting restrictions. It can be used on bedding plants, ornamentals, citrus, apples, pears, grapes, strawberries, and a variety of other fruits and vegetables.
The phosphate-based fungicide is quickly absorbed into plant cells and spread throughout the plant, so it kills disease organisms on contact. It also boosts the plant's natural defenses to attack and stimulates the plant to tolerate higher levels of environmental stress.
Click here for more information on Agri-Fos fungicide.
