Canola Seed

[bblackwell]

I am looking for opinions on whether or not I should bother with Vitavax RS or seed bare seed. My argument for not using it is that I have seeded treated certified seed every year and still end up with a certain amount of Blackleg every year (only had a yield loss 1 year). I would rather save the Vitavax cost and spend it on Tilt and control the disease for sure. I know that Tilt is twice the cost but even if I treat I may still have to spray anyway??

[mhartman]

Treating canola seed with Vitavax or other fungicides will NOT control blackleg once it is established in a field. However, it will eliminate the blackleg fungus on infected seed and thus can help avoid introducing the disease to your field. The usefulness of seed treatments in canola is mainly for reducing emergence losses due the common diseases of damping off or seedling blight, as well as flea beetle protection. Canola often has 30-50% mortality during emergence and without seed treatment, this can increase dramatically. TILT just suppresses blackleg because it is effective for a short time after application and thus only controls early infections. Instead, I would recommend you plant a blackleg resistant variety as your best defence against blackleg.