Sprout control: A Canadian update on the use of MH and CIPC

Use of the growth regulators MH (maleic hydrazide) and CIPC (chlorpropham) are integral to the potato industry, but there is always room for improvement – and even new avenues of use as the chipping industry evolves. According to Mark VanOostrum, potato supply and quality manager at WD Potato Limited in Ontario, growers are generally very careful to apply MH at the right time, but he says there is a tendency to be too late with MH application timing compared with too early. “That curbs the potential benefits, often due to the fact we usually time our MH with a fungicide application on a seven-day interval,” he explains. VanOostrum and George Burkholder (president of consulting firm Ag Services in Mitchell, Ont.) both agree that using CIPC in addition to MH can provide better sprouting inhibition success compared to just using MH. “The combination is bullet proof,” says Burkholder. He also mentions Smartblock, a new product that boosts CIPC’s effectiveness. More