Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/110873
This low-level induction hopper provides for fast filling of sprayers, safe operation for the operator, and reduces the risk of spills. It also rinses the pesticide container. 4 Can you build or modify a sprayer? There are ways to bring new life to existing sprayers, Landers said. There are catalogs filled with sprayer parts a do-it-yourselfer can buy and install. Kits can transform airblast sprayers into tower sprayers. You can add on a rate controller that will allow you to dial in application volume and automatically adjust flow rates to compensate for hills and valleys in the orchard. You can add on a fill system that will make pesticide handling safer and easier. You can add a tank washing system���a secondary water tank and a rotating ball nozzle���that will make tank rinsing a much less arduous procedure. Modern nozzles are all color coded and plastic, easy to replace, and with antidrip features. Old-style sprayers were often controlled with boatstyle cables. ���Electric is the way to go,��� Landers said. ���They are better for the operator, and safer.��� Some new companies offer new services in custom building or modifying sprayers. One way to speed up spraying is to build or buy an over-the-row, multiple-row sprayer in which nozzles are suspended on a vertical boom from an overhead gantry. A few growers are using them. Landers said American growers should look to Europe, where some of these ideas have been developed and implementation is more advanced. Custom spraying? In field crops, Landers said, it is quite common for growers to hire custom applicators to spray their crops. This allows use of larger sprayers on specialized vehicles that move fast and get the job done in a timely manner. Orchardists, who tend to make more applications of more materials each season than do, for example, corn or soybean growers, have tended to own their own equipment and do their own work or hire workers to do it. It���s hard to imagine an orchardist who didn���t own a sprayer at all, but it���s not hard to imagine that an orchardist could hire people to help out on some acreage, or put someone on the farm to work as a custom applicator for neighbors. That would allow investment in the most modern and efficient sprayer technology. 5 Tips when choosing Landers also offers a laundry list of specific considerations growers should look for in sprayers. Here are some: ��� Durability is important. How well made is the sprayer? Generally, U.S.-sprayers tend to be overbuilt compared to European technology, which can seem frail by comparison. ��� Buy good tanks. They should be stainless steel or modern plastic. ��� Shelter your sprayer. If you���ve spent $45,000 for a sprayer, it should be worthy of being protected from the elements. ��� Centrifugal pumps are cheaper, but diaphragm pumps are better. ��� Filtration is next to godliness. Filter the spray water to keep nozzles from clogging, and make sure filters are accessible for cleaning. ��� Pipes and hoses should be large bore for good flow and low foaming, and long enough so they won���t kink. ��� The chassis should be light but strong. Sprayer weight is an issue to prevent soil compaction. Tandem axles with two tires on each side are a good choice. www.goodfruit.com Stay in the Pink: Use Centaur for Early Control of Scale Hood River pear grower, Larry Martin, learned the hard way the damage San Jose scale can in���ict on pears. For two years in the mid-2000s, Martin���s pears suffered what he characterized as ���severe damage��� after he stopped using the organophosphate insecticide, Imidan, in his early-season treatment program. Used to control early instar nymphs of pear psylla, the Imidan, Martin surmised, was picking up the scale. His solution: Use Centaur from Nichino America around the pink stage. �� ���I���ve seen it as bad as to where packing houses have decided not to run them as U.S. No. 1, but run them as lower grade, because there have been that many scale marks on them,��� he said. ���It can do quite extensive damage,��� Kiyokawa said. Scales can impact an orchard in two ways, according to university scientists. Bark infestations of San Jose scale can result in a decline in tree vigor, growth and productivity. Fruit infestations can result in small, deformed fruit and dark red discoloration around feeding sites. The early-season application of Centaur provides control of San Jose scale and helps control early instar pear psylla nymphs. Centaur is an insect growth regulator from Nichino America that is highly effective when applied to insects that are in their nymph Bark infestation of San Jose scale. stage. Researchers have also found some reduction in egg laying and viability of eggs from adult insects that come in contact with the active ingredient in Centaur, buprofezin. ���Centaur is a good material, particularly for grape mealybug, pear psylla and San Jose scale,��� said John Dunley, a Wilbur-Ellis ���eldman based in Wenatchee, Wash., who also uses Centaur at the pink stage. Scales overwinter usually as black caps on tree trunks and scaffolds and remain at that susceptible nymph stage until around petal fall, when they become adults. Adult female San Jose scale giving live birth to crawlers. ���We get better control early in the season, because we can get better coverage, which is critical when targeting San Jose scale,��� Dunley said. Coverage is critical when targeting San Jose scale, as crawlers reside under the bark, and can be difficult to reach with an insecticide. Because Centaur is a contact material, it takes effect faster than products that translocate through a tree. And because Centaur is an insect growth regulator, it is easy on bene���cial insects, which works well in Martin���s mating disruption program, where bene���cial predators are vital. ���Centaur helps me with pear psylla, and it is very effective on San Jose crawlers,��� said Bruce Kiyokawa, a ���eldman for Chamberlin Distributing in Hood River. ���Centaur is also not disruptive. It doesn���t seem to disrupt any bene���cial that I have going on out there,��� Kiyokawa said. Healthy bark of apple tree. After mating, adult females produce crawlers for several weeks at a rate of about 10 per day. A single female can produce 150 to 500 crawlers during this ���rst generation, again showing the bene���ts of targeting the pest early in the season, before the pest experiences its rapid population buildup. Martin has been using Centaur for ������ve or six years now,��� he said. And he plans to continue using it, ���until the next magic bullet comes along.��� Dunley, too, said he plans to continue using Centaur. ���It is an effective material,��� he said, ���particularly when used in an early-season program.��� ���San Jose scale is frowned upon by packing houses because it tends to be a quarantine pest in certain countries,��� Kiyokawa said. ���They will isolate a grower���s fruit if they see much of it in the packing line and not ship it into certain countries.��� ! 888-740-7700 www.nichino.net GOOD FRUIT GROWER MARCH 1, 2013 21