Developing the Next Tool in Your PHC Toolbox
Join the Women’s Arborist of the Southeast for lunch as Blake walks us down the path of the chemical trial and development of a new promising fungicide for our PHC toolbox.
Class Abstract: Fungicide sprays are widely used to treat foliar fungal pathogens in the ornamental landscape, but timing and proper application intervals can be critical for effective disease management. Commercial applicators must fit multiple sprays into a small application window often dealing with wet spring weather during one of their heaviest labor-load seasons. As a result, many landscape and tree care companies struggle to achieve ideal timing and application intervals, and less than optimal disease control. Flutriafol (FRAC group 3) has been widely used in agricultural crops and settings as a foliar spray to control rusts, mildews, and other foliar pathogens for over forty years. More recently, Rainbow Ecoscience has developed and patented flutriafol as a systemic treatment to control foliar diseases in trees and shrubs. This research objective was to determine whether flutriafol could demonstrate efficacy against foliar fungal diseases of trees such as cherry leaf spot and cedar apple rust with a single soil applied treatment in either fall or spring. Studies have proven effective in reducing defoliation and halting the formation of lesions on foliage. A soil applied treatment would alleviate the issues that contractors have with timing intervals, relieve labor needs, and avoid weather impacts. Learn about how we conducted this research to develop our novel systemic fungicide, and understand how these innovative solutions can be applied in the urban landscape.
Blake Thilmony Gillis is a Research Scientist on the R&D team for Rainbow Ecoscience. Blake’s role is to design and manage various research projects and trials to develop new products, protocols, and equipment for the green industry.
Blake began working with Rainbow Tree Companies in 2017, after earning her Master’s in Plant Science from North Dakota State University. Blake started as a plant healthcare technician before joining the Vegetation Management division of the company, managing tree growth under powerlines with Cambistat applications. Her background in plant healthcare, experience, and technical expertise launched her into a research role in 2018; she has taken on several research projects, including PGR (plant growth regulator) research, reduced irrigation trials, development of the Quantum tree injector, novel fungicide development and many others. Blake has since become the senior researcher with a commitment to transform way that landscapes are managed in the urban environment, continuously seeking out new innovative technologies and methods to improve plant healthcare.