Excellent control of grapevine suckers with Spotlight Plus Herbicide (left) in the Barossa Valley compared to untreated (right).
In the face of rising labour costs and increasing disease pressure, Spotlight Plus Herbicide has emerged as a vital tool for growers seeking efficient, targeted sucker control across a wide range of horticultural systems.
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From wine grapes to olives, tree fruits, nut crops, and even rubus species such as raspberries and blackberries, Spotlight Plus delivers precision, safety, and speed – without compromising plant health or productivity.
Unwanted suckers are more than a nuisance.
These vigorous shoots compete for water and nutrients, reduce crop efficiency, and act as reservoirs for pests and diseases.
Manual removal, while effective, is labour-intensive, costly, and often introduces wounds that can become infection sites.
Spotlight Plus offers a smarter alternative: a contact herbicide that desiccates green tissue on impact, without systemic movement or residual soil activity.
FMC herbicide portfolio manager Stuart McLaverty.
Registered for sucker control in grapevines, olives, tree fruits, tree nuts, and rubus crops, Spotlight Plus is uniquely formulated with a built-in oil adjuvant system.
This ensures rapid uptake, minimal drift, and high efficacy – even in dense canopy zones or around complex rootstock structures.
FMC herbicide portfolio manager Stuart McLaverty, says key highlights of the product’s versatility include:
Spotlight Plus is purpose-built for sucker control. It’s not just a repurposed molecule, it’s a formulation designed to stay where it’s sprayed and act fast.
Growers across multiple crop types are seeing the benefits. Whether it’s apples, stone fruit or grapes the principle is the same – reduce labour, protect the plant, and improve operational efficiency.
We’ve seen excellent results in rubus crops too, where sucker growth can be aggressive and hard to manage manually. Spotlight Plus gives growers a reliable, crop-safe option.
The herbicide’s mode of action – disrupting photosynthesis and rupturing cell membranes – ensures rapid visual results, often within hours.
Because it only affects the tissue it contacts, growers can apply it with confidence, knowing it won’t harm unsprayed leaves, roots, or surrounding crops.
Spotlight Plus also integrates seamlessly into existing weed management programs.
When tank-mixed with knockdown herbicides such as Basta, it provides dual-action control – eliminating suckers and broadleaf weeds in a single pass.
This is particularly valuable in orchards and vineyards where under-canopy weed pressure can impact harvest quality or livestock grazing.
For growers managing diverse horticultural systems, Spotlight Plus Herbicide isn’t just a solution, it’s also a strategic upgrade.
With proven performance across multiple crop types, it delivers the precision, safety, and efficiency modern agriculture demands.
