Azumo MG: your perfect ally against the plum gall mite

• The beginning of spring is a crucial period for bud break in fruit trees such as plum trees.
• This bud break can be severely affected by the appearance and proliferation of threats such as the Plum Gall Mite.
• If you detect its presence, or consider it necessary to prevent its appearance, use safe and environmentally friendly sulphur-based solutions such as Azumo MG.

Now that March has just begun and we are counting down the days until the start of a new spring, many fruit trees recover their vigour after several months of winter dormancy and gradually resume their flowering process, as is the case with the plum tree.

In this regard, when monitoring and controlling the optimal growth and development of your plum trees, it is important to pay particular attention to the possible appearance of galls or deformations at the base of newly developing buds. These can easily be mistaken for normal bud growth, but in many cases they may be caused by the presence of an endemic pest of this crop, the eriophyid mite Acalitus phloeocoptes.

Acalitus phloeocoptes, also known as the Plum Gall Mite, is an endemic pest of plum trees. Its cycle begins with the formation of a small gall on the fruit tree during the summer months, where the female mite takes shelter and lays its eggs, promoting its reproduction and proliferation before overwintering.

With the arrival of spring, the eggs, larvae and adult mites inside the gall hatch, allowing them to continue their biological cycle in the affected area and spread to other parts of the plum tree if appropriate measures are not taken for their detection, control and eradication.

Among the different measures available to successfully tackle the presence of the Plum Gall Mite, the competent authorities responsible for the approval and registration of integrated pest management solutions recommend treatments containing sulphur as the active substance. One solution that stands out for its excellent results is Azumo MG.

Developed by AFEPASA, Azumo MG is a product based on 80% elemental sulphur in a microgranulated formulation. It provides valuable preventive plant protection as a fungicidal and acaricidal treatment thanks to its wetting properties and ability to disperse in water, its potential to provide greater plant coverage through foliar spraying and, above all, the fact that it does not present a risk of resistance development in the medium and long term.

Likewise, Azumo MG’s exclusive composition and formulation, consisting almost entirely of sulphur with complementary adjuvants added to facilitate its dissolution in water, make it a plant protection solution suitable for use in plum plantations certified for organic and biodynamic farming where its application is required.