Herbicides in Asparagus – A homegrown solution

In 2016, an asparagus grower in southern Ontario picked up a used De Cloet Hi-Boy originally used to spray tobacco. His vision was to create a three-row herbicide sprayer for asparagus and we were invited to participate. His concept was to design shrouds that would contain the herbicide, but not snag the asparagus or drag […]

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Drop Hoses can Improve Coverage in Field Peppers

Spraying with drop-arms in mid-August.

In early July 2016, a farm supplier contacted us on behalf of a client with a history of disease control issues in his field pepper operation. He wanted us to calibrate their sprayer and diagnose spray coverage to see if there was room for improvement. Improved coverage doesn’t necessarily mean improved efficacy, but generally it’s a […]

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Stop and Spray the Roses – More Efficiently!

Spraying roses.

Article co-written with Jennifer Llewellyn, former OMAFRA Nursery Crops Specialist. Nursery growers apply pesticides to a diverse range of plant species. In a perfect world, sprayer operators would adjust their sprayer set-up to match each crop, but this is rarely done because of time constraints and a lack of guidance. Adjustments in product rate and spray distribution […]

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If I had a Low Drift Nozzle

Sung to the tune of “If I had a Rocket Launcher” by Bruce Cockburn Here comes the John Deere sprayer — second time today; All the insects scatter and hope it goes away; How many larvae murdered only Dow can say; If I had a low drift nozzle… I’d make somebody spray. I don’t believe […]

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Airblast Nozzles – The Nozzling Process

Establishing an airblast nozzling solution is an involved process. We must first define the working parameters and flush out any special circumstances. Then we use an iterative approach to identify suitable nozzle combinations that require minimal changes to the sprayer. This article outlines my process step-by-step and then applies it to a hypothetical orchard scenario. […]

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