ARS | Publication request: Investigation of Nursery Canopy and Ground Deposition with Three Spray Techniques

Submitted to: Aspects of Applied Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: December 20, 2005
Publication Date: January 10, 2006
Repository URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10113/16453
Citation: Zhu, H., Derksen, R.C., Guler, H., Krause, C.R., Ozkan, H.E. 2006. Investigation of Nursery Canopy and Ground Deposition with Three Spray Techniques. International Advances in Pesticide Application--Aspects of Applied Biology. 77:489-496.

Technical Abstract: Spray techniques are needed in nursery industry to obtain optimum pesticide spray management practices economically and effectively with minimum canopy disturbance and minimum pesticide waste. Spray deposits inside crabapple trees and off-target loss at different distances downstream from the sprayer were investigated with three different treatments (conventional hollow cone nozzles, air induction nozzles, and conventional hollow cone nozzles with a drift retardant) used by an air blast sprayer in a nursery field. Droplet size distributions across spray patterns were measured with a laser particle/droplet image analysis system. In general, there was no significant difference for deposits within nursery tree canopies and on the ground with three different spray techniques. Using the orchard application rate in nurseries resulted in saturated spray deposition within tree canopies and excessive spray deposition on the ground. The application rate should be reduced to reduce pesticide waste and labor cost. In nursery application, it was not necessary to place a large capacity nozzle at the top of the air blast sprayer as normally recommended for orchard spray applications. There was no advantage to use air induction nozzles or hollow cone nozzles with drift retardant in the air blast sprayer to reduce off-target loss potential especially on the ground.