F
C
r
op Sp
r
a
y
ing
F
ef
r
uitg
r
owe
r
.co.uk
ThE FrUITGrOWEr • FEbrUAry2017
G
etting t
h
e
r
ig
h
t p
r
oduct into t
h
e
r
ig
h
t place is
fundamental to sp
r
a
y
ing
b
est p
r
actice;
h
oweve
r
, t
h
is
is a ‘Cinde
r
ella’ su
b
ject – toooftenwe switc
h
off
w
h
en t
h
e su
b
ject ismentioned. To encou
r
age g
r
owe
r
s to
see t
h
e advantages of taking t
h
is issue se
r
iousl
y
, a good tip
to f
r
uit societies a
r
ound t
h
e count
ry
looking fo
r
an
ente
r
taining speake
r
is toput hutc
h
insons’ ag
r
onomist bo
b
Little on t
h
e p
r
og
r
amme. “Mode
r
n p
r
oducts cannot dig
y
ou
out of
h
ole – t
h
e ke
y
is [to use] t
h
e
r
ig
h
t p
r
oduct in t
h
e
r
ig
h
t
place”. G
r
owe
r
s attending ahutc
h
insonswo
r
ks
h
op in
Decem
b
e
r
we
r
e full
y
engaged
by
bo
b
’s sound advice.
he sta
r
tedwit
h
‘Know
y
ou
r
ta
r
get’ – is it sca
b
, mildew,
canke
r
, o
r
wooll
y
ap
h
id? If canke
r
, it’s t
h
e leaf and f
r
uit sca
r
s
w
h
e
r
e t
h
e infectionwill ente
r
, fo
r
wooll
y
ap
h
id t
h
e sucke
r
s at
t
h
e
b
ase of t
r
ees can
h
a
rb
ou
r
t
h
e pest and a
r
e easil
y
missed
by
a sp
r
a
y
e
r
w
r
ongl
y
set up. C
h
oosing t
h
e app
r
op
r
iatewate
r
volume fo
r
t
h
e specific sp
r
a
y
ing o
b
jective is impo
r
tant;
“Don’t
b
e
r
igid onwate
r
volume” sa
y
sbo
b
Little. Fo
r
instance, fo
r
sca
b
andmildew cont
r
ol, inc
r
easewate
r
volume fo
r
imp
r
oved cove
r
. Fo
r
t
h
inne
r
s, 800l/
h
awould
b
e
app
r
op
r
iate,
b
ut fo
r
ap
h
ids on pea
r
s it would
b
e 1000l/
h
a.
T
h
e g
r
owt
h
stage of t
r
ee f
r
uit c
r
opsmust
b
e conside
r
ed. As
P
r
ofesso
r
Je
rry
C
r
oss at NIAbEMrpoints out, “you need
ten timesmo
r
ewate
r
inAugust t
h
an at
b
ud-
b
u
r
st,” and
wate
r
volume s
h
oulddou
b
le
b
etween p
r
e- andpost-
flowe
r
ing o
r
c
h
a
r
d sp
r
a
y
s.
An adjuvant is an
y
mate
r
ial t
h
at w
h
en added to a sp
r
a
y
solution en
h
ances o
r
modifies t
h
e action of a pesticide.
Man
y
adjuvants a
r
e included in t
h
e fo
r
mulations of va
r
ious
p
r
oducts to facilitate t
h
e sta
b
ilit
y
and functionalit
y
of t
h
e
active ing
r
edients in a sp
r
a
y
solution. but g
r
owe
r
s a
r
e
ce
r
tainl
y
inte
r
ested in t
h
ose adjuvants t
h
at can
b
e added to
t
h
e tank to
h
elp imp
r
ove pe
r
fo
r
mance. Deciding on t
h
e use
of adjuvants is often
b
est discussedwit
h
an ag
r
onomist as
t
h
ese su
r
face-active agentsma
y
h
ave unintended
consequences. O
r
gano-silicones imp
r
ove t
h
e sp
r
ead ove
r
leaves, so lesswate
r
is
r
equi
r
ed,
b
ut bo
b
sa
y
s t
h
at g
r
owe
r
s
s
h
ould
b
ewa
r
e of sp
r
eading all t
h
e p
r
oduct to t
h
e edge of
leaves – fo
r
example sulp
h
u
r
on
h
ops in t
h
is situation causes
p
r
o
b
lems.
Howdowespray efficiently?
Nozzle selection
h
as
b
eenmade less t
r
ick
y by
colou
r
coding. In one o
r
c
h
a
r
d sp
r
a
y
e
r
t
h
at was anal
y
sed in detail,
usingAl
b
uz ATr nozzles,
h
aving t
h
e top nozzle g
r
een, t
h
e
middle t
hr
ee
r
ed and t
h
e
b
ottom one o
r
ange gave t
h
e
b
est
patte
r
n and cove
r
age fo
r
t
h
ew
h
ole t
r
ee. Speed is amajo
r
issue t
h
at is often ove
r
looked, “A
b
ad jo
b
is a false econom
y
.
Don’t inc
r
ease fo
r
wa
r
d speed unnecessa
r
il
y
,” wa
r
nsbo
b
.
T
h
e speed s
h
ould
b
e dete
r
mined
by
r
owwidt
h
- t
h
e
na
rr
owe
r
t
h
is is t
h
e faste
r
t
h
e sp
r
a
y
e
r
can t
r
avel, and t
r
ee
h
eig
h
t - in a cide
r
o
r
c
h
a
r
dwit
h
tall t
r
ees t
h
e sp
r
a
y
e
r
s
h
ould
p
r
oceedmo
r
e slowl
y
. bo
b
adds
h
e
r
e t
h
at if t
h
e t
r
ees a
r
e too
tall t
h
e
y
s
h
ould
b
e s
h
o
r
tened – cide
r
g
r
owe
r
s
h
ave found
t
h
at
y
ielddidn’t c
h
ange as a
r
esult. T
h
emainmessage is
‘don’t speed up to imp
r
ovewo
r
k
r
ate, instead findwa
y
s to
imp
r
ove efficienc
y
suc
h
as using a la
r
ge
r
wate
r
tank to
r
educe fill-up t
r
ips
b
ack to t
h
e
y
a
r
d. T
h
ismust
b
e
b
alanced
wit
h
not taking so long to empt
y
t
h
e tank t
h
at t
h
e efficac
y
of
t
h
e sp
r
a
y
is comp
r
omised.
Adjusting ai
r
flow fo
r
peak efficienc
y
h
as a simple solution -
“look at t
h
e leaves”. T
h
e aim is to ac
h
ieve even ai
r
flow. Use
flagging tapes in t
h
e tops and
b
ottoms of t
h
e t
r
ees as
y
ou
onl
y
want t
h
e flags tomovew
h
e
r
e
y
ou need to sp
r
a
y
and
t
h
iswill
h
elp to assessw
h
et
h
e
r
t
h
e sp
r
a
y
is
r
eac
h
ing all pa
r
ts
of t
h
e t
r
ee.
bo
b
conside
r
s t
h
at efficient sp
r
a
y
ing
r
equi
r
es t
h
e discipline
of c
h
ecking two o
r
t
hr
ee times eac
h
season t
h
at
y
ou a
r
e
getting t
h
ings
r
ig
h
t. Afte
r
visual assessment, t
h
emost
b
asic
met
h
od of assessing cove
r
age is t
h
e use of wate
r
-sensitive
pape
r
,
b
ut fixing t
h
e pieces of pape
r
onto t
h
e uppe
r
and
lowe
r
sides of t
h
e leaves is fiddl
y
andgives
y
ou a limited
sample size, as
y
ou can onl
y
assess cove
r
agew
h
e
r
e t
h
e
sample st
r
ips a
r
e fixed, and some zones a
r
e likel
y
to
b
e left
unmonito
r
ed. T
h
e pape
r
is not a pe
r
fect indicato
r
eit
h
e
r
as
t
h
e su
r
face of t
h
e pape
r
is diffe
r
ent to t
h
e su
r
face of t
h
e leaf
and la
r
ge
r
d
r
oplets t
h
at would no
r
mall
y b
ounce and s
h
atte
r
as t
h
e
y
land a
r
e fixed, as if on
b
lottingpape
r
. Anot
h
e
r
option
is t
h
e use of Su
rr
ound - aKaolin-
b
asedp
r
oduct t
h
at leaves
aw
h
ite
r
esidue t
h
at’s visi
b
le in da
y
lig
h
t and fluo
r
esces
slig
h
tl
y
unde
r
aUV lig
h
t in
b
lackout conditions.
Using a
b
lue foodd
y
e tu
r
ns out to
b
e t
h
e
b
estmet
h
od
and one t
h
at t
h
e f
r
uit team at hutc
h
insons now
r
ecommends. Added to t
h
e tank, it is eas
y
to use, and it’s
safe fo
r
t
h
e ope
r
ato
r
, t
h
e envi
r
onment and t
h
e pesticide in
t
h
e tank. It can
b
e added to t
h
e tankwit
h
t
h
e sp
r
a
y
and it’s
c
h
eap to
b
u
y
. “you can see t
h
e d
y
e on t
h
e leaves;
pa
r
ticula
r
l
y
if
y
ou pull t
h
e leaves down to see if it’swo
r
king.”
bo
b
r
ecommends sou
r
cingb
r
illiant blue FoodColou
r
D
y
e
t
h
at costs £68.70/kg and s
h
ould
b
e used at 4g/lit
r
e.
G
r
owe
r
s a
r
e u
r
ged to test t
h
ei
r
own sp
r
a
y
e
r
s, using t
h
e d
y
e.
T
h
is s
h
ould
b
e
r
epeated as t
h
e leaf canop
y
develops to see
if an
y
c
h
anges a
r
e
r
equi
r
ed t
hr
oug
h
t
h
e g
r
owing season.
Inc
r
easingl
y
, t
h
e p
r
oducts t
h
at g
r
owe
r
s appl
y
will
r
equi
r
e
mo
r
e accu
r
ate and efficient application toget t
h
e
b
est
r
esults and t
h
is is a ve
ry
simplemet
h
od t
h
at g
r
owe
r
s can
use to imp
r
ove t
h
e pe
r
fo
r
mance of t
h
ei
r
existingpest and
disease cont
r
ol.
◆
26
Imp
r
oving sp
r
a
y
application and cove
r
age
JoannaWood
r
epo
r
ts
