Selecting the Right Sprayer Boom Height – Tips with Tom #5

Tips with Tom - Title

What’s the right choice for nozzle fan angle? 80 degrees or 110 degrees? This question leads us to boom height. How do we select the right boom height? Nozzle fan angle does play a role, but so does the type of sprayer you run and, more importantly, the height that creates the best overlap pattern. […]

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Making the Pressure Gauge your Speedometer – Tips with Tom #4

Tips with Tom - Title

Good spray quality is essential in application, but all of the factors involved can make getting there quite a challenge. In reviewing magazines, you may see that publishers will bold a certain pressure (like 40 psi). They do this not because that is the pressure the nozzle must experience, but because that is the pressure […]

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Choosing Nozzles for Diverse Applications – Tips with Tom #3

Tips with Tom - Title

After running through your sprayer’s routine maintenance, it’s time to assess the suitability of its nozzles for upcoming applications, and, let’s face it, that decision can be pretty complicated. Besides the typical competition between manufacturers, you also have to consider spray quality. Do you want coarse droplets? Fine droplets? Air induction nozzles? Twin-fan nozzles? How […]

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Spray Coverage in Potato

The location of water-sensitive papers in the potato plant canopy. Two plants were papered for each nozzle.

In June, 2014, 30 growers attended a spray coverage demonstration in a potato field in Alliston, Ontario. Our goal was to explore three questions: What is the effect of droplet size on coverage? What is the effect of volume on coverage? What is the effect of spray angle on coverage? This certainly wasn’t a scientific experiment. […]

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Soil Drench Applications in Strawberries

The soil probe. See how far water infiltrates soil by taking core samples.

Article co-written with Pam Fisher, former OMAFRA Berry Crop Specialist, and Anne Verhallen, OMAFRA Soil Management Specialist In 2013, A few strawberry growers were asked what spray volume they used to apply routine pesticides. The results ranged from 250 to 650 l/ha (26.7 to 69.5 US g/ac) for fungicides, herbicides and insecticides. Miticide applications were as high […]

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