High-tunnel bed and trellised crops sprayer

High-tunnel bed and trellised crops sprayer

Summary

The project plan was to build and test a high tunnel sprayer in 2014 and do a second round of testing in 2015, but in part due to a great growing season, the project is behind schedule. In contrast to previous seasons, pest and disease pressure in the high tunnels was very low and IPM spray thresholds were not met. Consequently, we did not do regular spraying in the high tunnels . Some baseline data for the current sprayer, a 5 gallon spray caddy with hand wand, was gathered when we did spot spraying in the tunnels. Mechanical fabrication of the new sprayer was completed. The electrical system still needs to be finished and will be completed before summer. Andrew Landers specified and obtained test nozzles for the trellised crop portion of the project.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The project is scheduled for completion in early 2016 with all field trials to be completed by the end of 2015. In 2014 we had four primary objectives:
1) Design, fabricate & test a high tunnel sprayer
2) Select nozzles for testing
3) Develop baseline comparative data for current spray methods
4) Evaluate efficacy and efficiency of the new sprayer and compare to caddy sprayer

Accomplishments/Milestones

We did not accomplish all of the project objectives in 2014.

1)Design: Mechanical fabrication of the sprayer was completed. Several component layouts were developed and significant changes were made to the initial component layout to make the sprayer both smaller and easier to work on. The more compact sprayer will be much more maneuverable in the high-tunnel than the original design.
2) Nozzle selection: Andrew Lander approached several nozzle manufacturers and was able to obtain a set of test nozzles for the trellised crop portion of the project.
3) Baseline data for using the spray caddy was extrapolated from our use of the spray caddy this season. The spray caddy was used in spot fashion rather than to spray an entire tunnel, so this data will be supplemented next season. Spray time with the caddy sprayer is 60 minutes/3,000 sqft. . This includes mixing of the materials and cleaning the sprayer after use.
4) Evaluation: No work was done on this objective in 2014.

The project is behind schedule. No meaningful contributions/outcomes have been demonstrated yet. We plan to do multiple spray trials in 2015 and hope to get meaningful data. If we have another pest/disease free season, we may request a project extension.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Collaborators: