Introducing Quali-Pro® Witch-Hunt®
Quali-Pro® Witch-Hunt® helps turf managers get ahead of couch mite with systemic, season-long population management.
Key features
1. True two-way systemic movement
Once absorbed, spirotetramat moves through both the xylem and phloem.
This allows Witch-Hunt to move upwards and downwards through the plant, reaching new growth, growing points, crowns and other tissues away from the original spray deposit.
2. Powered by Ayalon™ Formulation Technology
Witch-Hunt contains ADAMA’s proprietary Ayalon™ Formulation Technology.
Its purpose-built surfactant and delivery system is incorporated into the formulation to improve spreading, penetration and plant uptake—helping more spirotetramat enter the plant where it can deliver systemic activity.
3. Up to six weeks of protection
Witch-Hunt can provide up to six weeks of couch mite suppression when used during the spring and autumn transition periods or in turf where growth is being regulated with trinexapac-ethyl.*
Slower, more regulated turf growth can help maintain effective concentrations of the active ingredient within plant tissue for longer.
4. A different mode of action
Spirotetramat is a Group 23 lipid biosynthesis inhibitor, providing turf managers with a valuable rotational option for resistance management.
Rather than relying on rapid contact knockdown, Witch-Hunt is ingested by feeding mites and disrupts the growth, development and reproductive capacity of the population.
*Performance is influenced by turf growth, environmental conditions, application timing and mite pressure. Always follow registered label directions.
Systemic protection where couch mites hide
Couch mites spend much of their lifecycle protected beneath leaf sheaths and around nodes, crowns and growing points.
These protected locations can be difficult to reach with contact sprays alone.
Once Witch-Hunt has been absorbed into the plant, its two-way systemic movement allows the active ingredient to reach plant tissues beyond the original spray deposit.
How Witch-Hunt works
Following uptake, spirotetramat is converted within the plant to its biologically active form.
Mites are exposed when they feed on treated plant tissue. As a Group 23 lipid biosynthesis inhibitor, it interferes with processes essential for mite development and reproduction.
Witch-Hunt is therefore best used as a population-suppression tool, ideally before couch mite pressure and visible turf damage escalate.
Its strength lies in systemic protection and sustained interruption of the developing mite population.
Up to six weeks of systemic suppression.
Where Witch-Hunt fits
Witch-Hunt is ideally positioned:
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early in spring as couch returns to active growth;
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before mite populations reach damaging levels;
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ahead of peak summer pressure;
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during autumn where carryover populations require suppression;
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as part of a program rotating different insecticide mode-of-action groups.
Where an established population requires rapid reduction, consider an appropriate knockdown treatment before introducing Witch-Hunt for systemic population suppression.
Prevention beats recovery
Do not wait for severe witches’-broom, tufting or stolon decline before acting.
Once these symptoms are obvious, the turf’s growth and carbohydrate reserves may already be compromised. Recovery becomes slower and the mite population more difficult to manage.
Start early. Suppress the population. Rotate modes of action.
Build the right program for your turf.
Application pathway, timing and program placement should be matched to turf growth, seasonal conditions, mite pressure and the other products being used.
Speak with your local Quali-Pro distributor representative to develop a Witch-Hunt mite strategy for your turf.
Always read and follow the registered product label.
Media Contact:
Cam Stuart | General Manager - Non-Crop | E: Cameron.stuart@adama.com