What’s with dew? – Tips with Tom #9

Tips with Tom - Title

When warm air is cooled, it loses some of its moisture-holding capabilities. This change often occurs at night, when plants (and other objects) cool. Once the temperature of the surface of the leaves, for example, drops below the dewpoint, it causes water to condense, forming the shiny dew that causes so many to question early […]

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How Airblast Spray Droplets Behave (or Misbehave)

Some pesticide labels require or prohibit certain droplet sizes to reduce the potential for drift. But, even when labels are silent about size restrictions, operators should be aware of the potential for droplet size to affect coverage. In the case of airblast, droplets should be: large enough to survive evaporation between nozzle and target. small […]

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Diagnosing Airblast Coverage

Assuming there are no mechanical or maintenance problems, water-sensitive paper can be used to diagnose sprayer performance. Go here to read more about water-sensitive paper. Interpreting the results and knowing what changes to make is the critical part of the process. Observing no coverage, or a sodden paper, make for obvious conclusions… but what about everything in between? Here […]

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Spraying Sweet Corn

Jacto in Sweetcorn (Hamilton)

This article was written with information from George Hamilton, Field Extension Specialist with New Hampshire Cooperative Extension (retired), and from Dr. Ben Werling, West Michigan Vegetable Educator with Michigan State University Extension. Commercial sweet corn growers must use spray application equipment capable of depositing spray material at the ear zone. These producers often hail from […]

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Spraying Large Nut Trees – Part 2

This article continues from Part 1. Droplet size Droplet size influences droplet behaviour. The following table lists the pros and cons to changing droplet size when overall spray volume (e.g. L/ha) remains constant. Relative Spray Quality Pros Cons Coarser Droplets Lower drift potential because they resist deflection by wind and evaporation from heat and low […]

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