The role of pressure is often underappreciated in spraying. Many airblast operators (still) don’t use rate controllers, so the only way to monitor sprayer pressure is using a single liquid-filled pressure gauge located near the pump… and it may not be trustworthy. An inaccurate pressure gauge may cause you to spray more or less product […]
Spray Buffer Zones Spray buffer zones are no-spray areas required at the time of application between the area being treated and the closest downwind edge of a sensitive terrestrial or aquatic habitat. Spray buffer zones reduce the amount of spray drift that enters downwind, non-target areas. Sensitive Terrestrial Habitats Sensitive terrestrial habitats can include hedgerows, […]
Read More… from Spray and Soil Fumigant Buffer Zones in Canada
In 2014 one of our OMAFRA summer students designed a short-and-gritty demonstration using a backpack sprayer, a variable-speed fan and some water-sensitive paper positioned downwind at 1.5 metre intervals. The intent was to illustrate how sprayer operators could reduce the potential for off-target drift by recognizing and accounting for three factors: Apparent wind speed (i.e. […]
Read More… from Three manageable factors that affect spray drift
In June 2013 we ran a ginseng spraying workshop and we learned as much as the growers did. Ginseng is notoriously difficult to spray: It is highly susceptible to pathogens given the high humidity and still conditions generally found under the shade structure. It forms a solid ceiling of leaves that resist spray penetrating to […]
This is the final part of our three-part article discussing methods for digitizing and processing water sensitive paper. You can read part one here and part two here. Morphological operations We can now move on to the larger shapes, or “morphology” of the objects in our binary image. Our goal is to quantify deposits by […]