Surround is registered for use in Wisconsin on pome fruits, including apple, crabapple, pear, loquat, and quince as well as stone fruits, including apricot, sweet and tart cherry, nectarine, peach, plum, pluot, plumcot, and prune. It was first registered around 1999, and you may already have some experience with it. Surround WP is OMRI approved and can be applied in organic as well as conventional production systems. It is marketed by NovaSource under the formulation 95WP (95% of active ingredient as a Wettable Powder). The active ingredient in Surround is kaolin clay which forms a mineral-based particle film that protects agricultural crops from heat stress, sunburn, insects, and diseases, and enhances plant growth. Surround acts as an insecticide by irritating insects, deterring them from egglaying or feeding on the crop surfaces, and by visually making the host plant less attractive by coating it with a ghostly white film. For information on heat stress, sunburn, plant growth and disease management, refer to the label.

Surround is registered for control of Lacanobia, apple maggot, apple sucker, climbing cutworm, eastern tent caterpillar, European apple sawfly, Gypsy moth, Japanese beetle, June beetle, green fruitworm, leafrollers, Lygus bug, Mormon cricket, periodical cicada, stink bug, tarnished plant bug, rose chafer, and thrips. Codling moth (first generation only), oriental fruit moth, cherry fruit flies, oriental fruit moth, and plum curculio are listed for suppression only. See specific recommendations for some pests, such as codling moth, plum curculio, apple maggot and others.

Key consideration for the effectiveness of Surround is thorough, uniform, and consistent coverage, which is essential throughout the infestation. Optimal coverage with airblast sprayers is achieved at a tractor speed of less than 3 mph.

The label cautions that Surround keeps plant surfaces cooler and may delay maturity in pome and stone fruits by 3 to 7 days, especially in cool regions. To reduce white residue at harvest on smooth skin crops, such as apples, stop spraying when the fruit is at about ¼ of its expected size.

Surround may be applied by ground equipment with air blast, handgun or boom sprayer, by air and may NOT be applied by chemigation (see label for specific application regulations). Aerial applications may reduce heat stress and sunburn damage but are not effective for controlling insects and disease.

Surround is nontoxic to bees and the risk to avian or aquatic organisms is considered minimal to nonexistent.

As always, make sure to read and follow the label before using any pesticide. You can find the label of Surround WP by clicking here or by copying this address in your browser: https://s3-us-west1.amazonaws.com/www.agrian.com/pdfs/Surround_WP_Crop_Protectant_Label2t.pdf.

This article was posted in Insects and tagged Surround insecticide.