New Sencorex Flow – new formulation, same recommendations

The mainstay herbicide for potatoes, metribuzin is now available in a new flowable formulation, Sencorex Flow. Potato growers can continue using this well-known contact and residual herbicide as they have always used it, but will find the product even easier to apply.

Stewart Woodhead, Technical Manager of Interfarm, explains that metribuzin, the active ingredient in Sencorex, has been the mainstay herbicide for potato growers for a number of years. “This is particularly so as active ingredients such as paraquat have been lost or dose rates have been restricted as is the case for linuron. Overall there are fewer and fewer herbicides from which to choose, so growers have had to look for effective alternatives for weed control. As a consequence Sencorex has become even more important as it is a flexible and effective herbicide. According to the Pesticide Usage Survey for Arable crops in 2012, 79% of potatoes grown received metribuzin in some form or another – nearly 100,000 hectares were treated. It really is the Go To herbicide these days.”

“We are pleased that potato growers will be able to access an easy to use formulation of metribuzin this season. The new Sencorex Flow is a 600 g/l suspension concentrate compared with the 70% WDG. As was the case for the WDG, Sencorex Flowable is recommended in first earlies, second earlies and maincrop potatoes, with an EAMU in outdoor ornamentals. It can be applied pre-planting, pre-emergence and post-emergence depending on variety and weed target. Most potato growers will mix it with either a contact or another residual herbicide. It has the same variety list as the WDG formulation. Growers will need to check the variety list, which has been continually updated, to make sure if it is safe to apply Sencorex Flow, just as they did for the WDG,” confirms Stewart.

Sencorex Flow controls most common spring-germinating weeds including most polygonums, mayweeds, small nettle, common poppy, speedwells and smooth sowthistle. It has good grass-weed activity on black-grass, annual meadow-grass and rye-grass. Other locally important weeds such as fumitory and hempnettle are also controlled.

Sencorex has been a foundation product for many weed control programmes in the past and, with its very broad spectrum weed control and combined contact and residual activity, will remain so in the future, says Stewart.


Sencorex Flow contains 600g/l metribuzin formulated as a suspension concentrate and packed in a 5 litre pack. It is recommended in first earlies, second earlies and maincrop potatoes. It is applied pre and early post-emergence. Growers should check variety lists before application. It has LERAP B.