Leading horticultural supplier, Grochem Australia, is stepping up its role in the potato market with the launch of an innovative new herbicide called Soleto.

In a first for the potato industry, Soleto herbicide features new chemistry for the pre-emergence control of annual broadleaved weeds and grass weeds specifically in potatoes.

Ben Coombe, general manager of Grochem Australia, says Soleto offers new chemistry for controlling a wide range of weeds in all potato varieties, including those which are sensitive to metribuzin.

“Soleto has performed well in local trials and demonstrations in key potato growing areas over the past four years,” Mr Coombe said.

“Even better, Soleto is a new tool to ease grower concerns about herbicide resistance and crop safety.”

Mr Coombe said the launch of Soleto reflected Grochem’s commitment to developing innovative and cost-effective solutions for local crops and conditions.

“Applied as a pre-emergent, our trials show that Soleto gives exceptional control of tough weeds like fat hen, wireweed and nightshade, among a host of annual broadleaved weeds and grasses.

“It also provides long-lasting residual control of weeds across all soil types and environmental conditions.”

Soleto has a half-life of 27–33 days in the soil and is only moderately soluble, giving effective weed control until row closure.

Newly appointed R&D and technical manager at Grochem, Orville Hildebrand, is keen to talk about the benefits of Soleto, after spending four years managing the research trials and demonstrations for the new herbicide in his previous role with contract research company, Peracto.

“Soleto is a first-class herbicide, bringing new chemistry and a better way to grow potatoes without the risk of crop phytotoxicity to newly emerging potato crops,” Mr Hildebrand said.

“It also has excellent compatibility with a wide variety of pre-emergent and knockdown herbicides to save time and application costs.

“Dealers can confidently recommend Soleto to their customers because I have seen it perform well under a whole host of conditions – in light and heavy soils, under hot, dry conditions and key growing areas like Ballarat, Mt Gambier, Boundary Bend and the Mallee.

“And with a new active ingredient, Soleto means growers have another tool to tackle herbicide resistance.”

Mr Hildebrand shared his four top tips for successfully applying Soleto:

1. “Soleto works best when it is applied to moist soil, but it is still effective when used in hot and dry conditions

2. “Be generous with the water, applying Soleto in 200–600 L/ha of water using medium to coarse spray quality

3. “Next, use Soleto at robust rates of 3–4 L/ha and remember it can be tank mixed with other pre-emergent and knockdown herbicides

4. “Finally, don’t cultivate or hill up after applying Soleto. It is important to maintain the herbicide band and let the residual chemistry do its job.”

Mr Hildebrand also emphasised the crop safety benefits of Soleto across all potato varieties.

“As the industry continues to release new potato varieties, we will continue to evaluate the crop safety of Soleto to ease grower concerns,” he said.