Spring is coming. Spring is the time to build up a good population of biological control agents. Sometimes called an 'army'. Now, soldiers don't work without food, and so do biological controllers. To provide them with adequate nutrition, a sprayable supplementary feed product is now available: Predafix Plus. Hans van de Pas, Bioline, brought it along at the recently held IPM Essen in Germany.
It is an upgrade to the already existing supplementary feed products that growers scatter over the crop to feed predatory mites. Predafix Plus is the first sprayable food for predatory mites on the market. "It is pure eggs with no additives," he says. "The product contains no carrier, so it does not give any residue either." This is a third-generation supplementary feed product. The fact that the product is now sprayable saves the grower labor. "Growers can combine the product with regular spraying," he says.
By supplementing predatory mites, growers realize a faster population build-up. "The number of predatory mites increases rapidly within a week after the first application. After that, the product has an effect on the population for weeks. Growers previously working without a supplementary product can even expect a five-fold increase in predatory mites."
Predafix Plus can be applied in growing strawberries, sweet peppers, cucumbers, and soft fruit, as well as in potted plants, cut flowers, and nursery crops.
For more information:
Hans van de Pas
Bioline Agrosciences
Tel.: + 31 6 8688 1129
hvandepas@biolineagrosciences.com
www.biolineagrosciences.com