A systems approach to the control of strawberry powdery mildew

A systems approach to the control of strawberry powdery mildew (Podospheara aphanis) is important, as the disease is never absent from the crop. Work reported here shows that the disease is present in the crop whether new plants are bought in from a propagator, or the plants have been in the growing medium for one or more seasons. The work also shows that control measures used in one growing season reduce the disease carry over thus reducing the initial inoculum in the following season. The work also demonstrates that the use of a late autumn fungicide spray, and a fungicide spray pre- and post-fleece and mulch use in the spring also reduces the number and maturity of overwintering chasmothecia, thus also contributing to a reduction in initial inoculum