Evaluation of the effect of different hand-held sprayer types on a greenhouse pepper crop

Abstract

The cultivation of vegetables in greenhouses is characterised by high planting density and environmental conditions that favour the development of pests and diseases. These are mainly controlled using plant protection products applied with a hand-held sprayer. This is inefficient low-tech equipment that is difficult to calibrate. The study evaluates one hand-held spray gun and two hand-held spray lances that are widely used in greenhouse vegetable crops. The tests were carried out on a pepper crop at two different developmental stages. Plant canopy deposition and losses to the ground were quantified using a colorimetric method based on applying a tartrazine solution. The results show that the flat-fan spray lance obtains a more uniform spray distribution in the plant canopy and results in losses to the ground that are between 2 and 2.75 times less than when using the other hand-held sprayers tested.