Admiral manages to attack the juvenile hormone produced by the Scale, interfering with the molting process during the insect's metamorphosis.
One of the biggest headaches for cherry producers has a name and surname: the San José scale. This pest, originally from East Asia and present in many regions of the world, including Chile, where it is found between the regions of Atacama and Los Lagos, is a polyphagous species that attacks stone fruit and pome trees.
Over the years, different techniques have been tested for their control and elimination; it is in this context that Bayer, a multinational company with key competencies in the fields of health and agriculture, has made Admiral, an insecticide with a growth-regulating action on insects, available to the industry.
Admiral has proven to be highly effective in controlling the San Jose scale in fruit trees, including cherry trees, the codling moth in pome trees, the black scab and the whitefly in citrus, among others. This product manages to attack the juvenile hormone produced by the scale, interfering in the molting process during the metamorphosis of the insect.
According to its manufacturer, Bayer, Admiral must be applied taking into account certain considerations: «For the control of wintering stages, it is recommended to apply during winter departures, two weeks before the first flight of the males, or when, according to the monitoring of the pest, there is a high percentage of development stages susceptible to being controlled (white caps, black caps, migratory nymphs, second-stage females); using a sufficient volume of water to allow adequate coverage of the wood.»
The company also emphasises that the perfect condition of the application equipment and nozzles is essential, as is their useful life and calibration. They also stated that the recommended dose for fruit trees to control the St. Joseph scale is 1.0 to 1.5 litres/ha.
