Solutions From Start to Finish for Processing Tomatoes
Get Your Soil Spring-Ready
Sectagon® effectively controls common pests found in growers’ fields, such as weeds and soil-borne diseases, and suppresses nematodes, all of which can harm growing plants and reduce yields. Weed infestations and germinating weed seeds compete for resources in the field. Sectagon controls many problematic weeds, including nightshade, nutsedge, and morning glory, reducing competition for nutrients and water.
Tomatoes and onions thrive when adequate potassium levels are available, which are essential for development and overall plant health. Sectagon®-K54 provides potassium and elemental sulfur, crucial nutrients for proper plant development. After Sectagon application, plants typically show improved root development, which leads to better nutrient and water uptake. Sectagon-K54’s sodium-free formulation makes it ideal for use on sodium-sensitive crops, or soils with high sodium or pH levels. Even with optimal growing conditions and nutrients, growers still need to defend their crops from pests.
Pathogens, intensified by certain environmental factors, can negatively impact the quality and marketability of a grower’s yield. By controlling or suppressing pathogens like Verticillium spp., Pythium, Phytophthora and, Sclerotinia, as well as root-knot nematodes, Sectagon can help improve plant health. Sectagon leaves no residue in the planted crop and is exempt from EPA tolerances, making it ideal for growers producing processing tomatoes and onions.
Ensure your fields are ready for planting by applying Sectagon. Reduce pests and pathogens that can impact yields and crop quality.
In-Season Solutions
Once a strong start to the season is established with Sectagon, producers will need a reliable insecticide to reduce pest damage in-season. For over 60 years, Lannate® has provided protection as a go-to knockdown solution for generations of farmers.
Lannate effectively controls the most damaging pests to tomato fields like Tomato Fruitworm, Beet Armyworm, and Hornworms. When these fruit-chewing but also leaf-sucking insects come into contact with Lannate, they stop feeding immediately, reducing crop damage. Tomato Fruitworm and Beet Armyworm are controlled at all three major life stages - eggs, larvae, and adults.
Similarly to tomatoes, Lannate offers substantial protection to green and dry bulb onions by managing pest populations, even Thrips. The blotches and streaks caused by Thrips feeding on leaves could lead to reduced photosynthesis and bulb quality. Lannate helps avoid damage caused by these yield-reducing bugs through rapid contact and translaminar activity, ensuring any pests feeding on the bottom side of leaves are targeted too.
If high-pest pressure develops towards the end of harvest, growers can rest easy with Lannate’s short pre-harvest intervals for both tomato and onion, one day and seven days, respectively. As a broad-spectrum insecticide, offering effective control in a wide range of temperatures, producers from coast-to-coast can count on Lannate as a great tool in their resistance management program.
Heat Stress Protection
While Lannate provides in-season protection against pests, growers must also guard crops against environmental stressors. Extreme sun and heat stress can severely impact fruit and foliage, potentially reducing market yields. That’s where Surround® can make a difference – delivering proven defense against ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) light.
By forming a protective coating of calcined kaolin clay, Surround shields crops with a physical barrier that can lower leaf and fruit temperatures by up to 4-6 degrees. It not only reduces heat stress and prevents sunscald, but also improves water efficiency, helping growers maximize yields and quality. View Surround trials on tomatoes here.
Beyond sun protection, Surround also interferes with pest recognition of the plant, deterring feeding by aphids, whiteflies, leafhoppers, thrips, and beetles. It is safe for beneficial insects, including bees, other pollinators, and natural predators. Surround is an effective resistance management tool, making it a valuable component in rotational programs to prevent resistance buildup in insect pests. Keep protecting crops until harvest day is here with Surround!
Sectagon is a Restricted Use Pesticide.