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SPRAYERS SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS the pitch of performance
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Tel: 01474 364320
www.activeleisurecontracts.co.uk
Pesticides
ALKALINE HYDROLOSIS
GOLF COURSE & SPORTSGROUND CONSTRUCTION
RENOVATION & MAINTENANCE IRRIGATION SYSTEMS LAND DRAINAGE SCHEMES WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Tel. 01722 716361
www.mjabbott.co.uk
Avonmore Associates sportsfield construction
SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS
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25 year of experience in bowling greens, fine turf management, pitch design, sportsfield construction and irrigation
Tel: 01789 293439 email:
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www.agripower.co.uk Broomfield Farm, Rignall Road, Gt. Missenden, Bucks, HP16 9PE
Email:
info@agripower.co.uk Tel: 01494 866776 SPORTSTURF
D CRANE EST. 1984
CONSTRUCTION Golf Courses and Sports Fields
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For further details & consultation contact 07860 458822 or 07921 290985
Fungicide, Pesticide, Herbicide
RENOVATION SPRAYING
Why do pesticides perform so inconsistently, and what can you do to get better results and better value for money? By Alex Webster, Tower Sport
M
ever before, so why do we still notice inconsistent performance of the same products when used by different operatives at different sites? This is a question that plagues both the turf manager and the bill payer when dealing with professional turf. This article intends to set out one of the main reasons for poor pesticide performance and to offer suggestions as to how this can be overcome so that you, the user, may achieve better pesticide performance, save money and, ultimately, improve turf quality. With the simple management of the pH of your spray tank water it is possible to improve pesticide performance and reduce the number of ineffective applications through the season. The main area of focus for this
article will be on the process of alkaline hydrolysis and the negative effects this has on the performance of pesticides. The way alkaline hydrolysis effects performance is by speeding up the time it takes for a product to reach its half-life. This begs a couple of questions; what is alkaline hydrolysis and what is half-life? We will begin by explaining the
ore research and development goes into producing pesticides than
depending on spraying conditions, this can vary between a matter of minutes and a few weeks. You may ask what makes this so important but, when you look at the time it takes from filling a spray tank, mixing the product and completing the application to your turf, it will take anywhere in the region of forty-five minutes to an hour and a half, regardless of how long you want a product to last for once it hits the turf. In this time, if your product has reached its half- life then much of the spray solution you use will be far less effective, even to the point of being totally ineffective.
Commonsense decrees that this then becomes both a waste of time and money if you haven’t managed to get the full effectiveness from your chosen product, and your turf quality will suffer.
latter, as the concept of half-life is a simple one. Half-life is a period of time for something to decrease by half, in this case it is a pesticide product and the decrease is related to performance. As you can expect, this means that when a pesticide reaches its half life it will become half as effective. So, we can directly relate the half-life of a pesticide being reached to a drop in performance of 50%. The half-life of a pesticide will differ across various products but,
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Hydrolysis fit into all of this? As mentioned in the introductory paragraph the pH of your spray tank water is an often overlooked factor when spraying a pesticide product. Weather conditions and timing are often cited as reasons for pesticide failure and, whilst these factors must be taken into account as they are imperative, by managing the pH of the water used in your spray tank it is possible to gain the maximum effectiveness from pesticides. Alkaline Hydrolysis is the name
So, where does Alkaline
given to the breakdown of pesticide molecules in high pH water. The active ingredients of a pesticide will undergo degradation in high pH water, so it is necessary to manage the pH of your spray tank solution before mixing in any pesticide.
The optimum pH varies amongst products but, in the case
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