Nursery for Processing Tomatoes

Horticulture California
A youngplant breeder, with an establishment in California (USA), noticed loss in their production and dealt with quality issues of the plant material.

At that time the company didn’t use Huwa-san technology to disinfect the irrigation water. Most greenhouses have irrigation systems with long pipes in which the water stands still quite often and when no qualitative disinfectant is present in the water, microorganisms get the chance to multiply and form a biofilm. Plant pathogens, such as the fungus Fusarium spp. or the water mold Pythium spp., are given free rein. These two pathogens can cause damping off of tomato youngplants, also called ‘seedling disease’.

Figure 1. Damping off of seeding

The challenge

Damping off can be caused by the fungus Fusarium spp., but also by Rhizoctonia spp., possibly together with the water mold Pythium spp.. Damping off can be recognized by failed emergence of seedlings. When seedlings do emerge, their stems and leaves discolour gray to brown. Further the stems appears to be watersoaked and the plant will fall over, eventually leading to stunted growth and wilting of the seedling. An infected seedling will only occasionally survive to cultivate a vigorous plant.

Our solution

The company already used Huwa-San TR-50 at their location in Europe and decided to do the same at their location in California. Our Roam advisors proposed to install a dosing system to inject Huwa-San TR-50 into the irrigation system (Figure 2a). The recommended dosage Huwa-San TR-50 was based on the quality of the water system and measured at the end of the irrigation system (Figure 2b).

Figure 2a. The plants are watered via overhead irrigation to which Huwa-San TR-50 has been added.
Figure 2b. The Huwa-San teststrip indicated the right dosage of Huwa-San TR-50 present in the irrigation water.

Using Huwa-San has not significantly improved my yield, but in terms of maintaining a residual and providing protection agains potentially catastrophic blight, it’s the most inexpensive insurance I could ever buy.

Giancarlo Tomelleri, Manager

The results

Before the application of Huwa-San TR-50 into the irrigation system, the location dealt with a loss of 1.6% every growth season. After implementation of Huwa-San TR-50 at the location, the loss of trays dropped to a loss of 0.01% every growth season.

  • Improved irrigation water quality
  • Higher rate of healthy plant material
  • Reduction of harvest loss: from 1,6% to only 0,1%
  • Healthy start for a seedling
Horticulture
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Used products

Huwa-San TR-50 is a registered biocide. Use biocides safely. Before use, read the label and product information.

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