CULTIVATIONTIPS DLV Exclude insects!
By Erik Polman, DLV Plant Mushrooms
e.polman@dlvplant.nl
Photo: Vegatech
In growing rooms or tunnels making sure the large door is closed and kept closed tightly is one of the vulnerable points. Rubber door seals need replacing every few years. Even if they have been treated with products such as vaseline in an attempt to keep the rubber supple, tears in the seals will appear over time. Replacing these seals properly in the large door is often a time-consuming and complicated job. A number of farms have some experience with fitting strips of foam rubber on the frame, and underneath the door. A strip of foam rubber of 10 cm wide and 1 cm thick can be atta- ched to the door frame using spray adhesive. Applying spray adhesive makes the task easy. If necessary clean/degrease the frame beforehand. Fix the foam rubber to places where the door normally touches the floor. This is a quick and easy way of preventing flies and sciarids from entering or escaping from a growing room. The foam rubber can last for several growing cycles. Where there are larger holes in the seal, apply a double layer of foam rubber. This is a cheaper and more effective solution than using pes- ticides, especially if you realise that during a treatment the insects will easily be able to find an escape route! Treating the growing room immediately after filling is only effective if the room is well-sealed.
Picking lorries and air distribution The use of self-propelled picking lorries is on the increase, and along with it problems
Jan Gielen, DLV Plant Mushrooms Manager / Climate & Energy Specialist
j.gielen@
dlvplant.nl
Photo: DLV Plant Mushrooms
with efficient air distribution. An ideal growing room for pickling lorries has wider aisles, narrower beds, a greater distance between the beds and a higher position of the lower bed. This optimises picking activities when picking lorries are used, but at the same time can cause problems with air distribution. The greater space in and between the beds makes it more difficult to create enough air movement over the beds. The spatial limitations are being discovered in practice by trial and error when pro- blems start to occur and growers experience how difficult they are to overcome. The limits indicated by current experiences are: for the side aisles observe a maximum width of approx.120 cm. The central aisle (with two, but also four shelves wide) is less critical. The width can be adapted here to enable two picking lorries to operate along- side each other with a small space in between. The maximum width for the central aisle is around 170 cm. The distance between the beds – depending on whether the pickers want to use both hands or not – can extend up to around 70 cm. In this case, the most common choice is a bed width of 120 cm. For the height of the lower bed, observe a maximum distance of approx. 45 cm from the floor (upper side of the bed at 65 cm). The amount of space between the top of the upper bed and the (flat) ceiling greatly influences the pattern of air distribution, whereby approx.100 cm should be respected as a maximum limit. The parameters stated here are in the acceptable range within which it is still possible to achieve good air distribution. These limits could pos- sibly be pushed, but that is a matter of experimentation.
38 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
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