ACCORDING to the Met office, this year's unseasonable May was the coldest since 1996, with Scotland’s provisional mean temperature 7.6°C – 0.7°C below the 1981-2010 long term average.

This was not good news for Scotland's soft fruit growers, and now, despite the summer weather getting back on track, miserable May's impact is still being felt.

Speaking from Angus Growers, head of agronomy Phillippa Dodds reported that it had been a slower start to the season because of the cold spell and frosts close to the start of flowering: “I would say that production of strawberries in Scotland was initially between one to two weeks behind. But with the recent welcome sunshine, crops are starting to get going and are catching up. Good growing conditions now mean crops are ripening at a good speed and giving us good quality produce.”

“In terms of disease pressure, we have to be vigilant of Botrytis when it is cool and wet," she advised. "Now temperatures are recovering, it is powdery mildew to look out for. We would control these two diseases in strawberries using an integrated programme of both conventional and biological products with different modes of action which is tailored to the weather. We would try to minimise the number of sprays as much as possible."

Powdery mildew is caused by the fungus Podosphaera apanis and in the UK is the most important disease of fruit crops grown under protection, especially the long season or late season ones. The fungus can attack all above the ground parts of the plant. In severe infections it can reduce both yield and quality. It thrives in warm humid conditions, with most strawberry cultivars being very susceptible.

Matthew Goodson of agri-chemical manufacturer BASF highlighted the company's new biological fungicide, Serifel, which is based on a bacillus strain that acts against Botrytis on most protected fruits including strawberries.

As a biological rather than chemical fungicide, Serifel has a nil day harvest interval, so can be positioned at the end of the programme onto mature fruit and can be used up to six times, particularly in combination with Charm fungicide used earlier on.

Mr Goodson said that this integration of chemical and biological agents was 'the way forward' in the speciality crop sector.

Ms Dodds agreed with this integrated approach for strawberries and other soft fruits: “Raspberries have also had a slow start this year but are now getting going with good speed of ripening, so we may well see a more condensed picking period in some crops. The sunshine we are seeing now is good for producing flavour which is what the consumer wants.”