How often should I replace spray nozzles?What can I do to keep my spray nozzles in good condition?For a precision-engineered component, spray nozzles are, I think, surprisingly cheap, especially when you compare their cost of as little as £5 or so to the cost of the labour involved in spraying, the cost of the product being applied, and the value of the crop itself.But they will wear out and can suffer accidental damage too, so perhaps they should be regarded much more as ‘consumables’.The job of filters in the spray line is mainly to prevent blockages so finer particles in the spray solution will reach the nozzle where they cause wear: formulations such as SCs and WGs are based on crystalline particles which do unfortunately abrade the nozzle’s finely machined internal surface. And the higher the pressures used, the faster the particles will wear down these surfaces.We’ve talked in earlier blogs about the importance of regular sprayer checks, and of course it’s a legal requirement for equipment with a boom…

What are the differences between the basic types of spray nozzle?What is an air-induction spray nozzle?Last time we explored why it’s important to consider your selection of spray nozzles carefully rather than taking a ‘one size fits all’ approach. So this time we’ll have a closer look at some of the options.The nozzle designer broadly has three parameters to play with. The shape of the orifice itself governs the spray pattern, for example a V-shaped notch produces the flat-fan spray most of us are familiar with; the angle of the nozzle’s output can be varied in relation to the boom on which it sits; and an air-induction orifice or venturi can be included to mix air into the droplets.The width of area reached by spray from a single nozzle is governed by the angle between the edges of the spray fan or cone where it leaves the nozzle. This ‘top-angle’ is set by the orifice shape. An 80o flat-fan nozzle, for example, delivers a narrower spray band than a 110o version.Although nozzles are graded by orifice size,…

Sean Loakes has been appointed as Syngenta Ornamentals Technical Manager for the UK and Ireland. He expands the existing Syngenta Professional Solutions technical and business team, with expertise in trials and the development of new integrated solutions for ornamental plant production.A qualified biologist, Sean has had a career in environmental science and research through practical field trials and laboratory studies, primarily focused on pesticide efficacy and best practice. He takes on the ornamentals brief from Glenn Kirby who becomes technical manager for turf and landscape across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.“With the increasing importance of biopesticides within integrated management programmes, there’s an exciting opportunity to develop new strategies to meet the evolving challenges for customers,” Sean said. “Syngenta has an exciting pipeline of R&D products and services. I look forward to working with customers, researchers and the industry to develop new solutions.”   …

Time to get your sprayer ready for the seasonWhat are the key points to check on my sprayer?Even though crop protection is a year-round job, particularly in the greenhouse or polytunnel, this is traditionally the time of year for a thorough check of your spraying equipment to make sure it’s working safely and efficiently for the coming season.A well-maintained sprayer, correctly set-up, is essential for accurate application, so you not only get the best and most cost-effective control with minimal waste, you avoid risks to the operator, any bystanders and the environment. Whether it’s a pistol, lance or pedestrian-operated short boom; knapsack or mounted equipment, your spray kit should be fully inspected and calibrated regularly by a competent person.For some years now, some sprayers have had, by law, to pass a regular ‘MoT’ test under the National Sprayer Testing Scheme (NSTS)[ https://www.nsts.org.uk]: small boom sprayers up to 3m wide, and equipment such as slug pellet and micro-granule applicators (a…

What are the key elements in an IPM programme for spider mite?How should I use Dynamec as part of an effective spider mite strategy?Glasshouse or two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, is the pest that growers looking for control advice on Syngenta Ornamentals’s website have searched for most frequently this year. That’s hardly a surprise given just how quickly populations, and the damage they do, can get out of hand.Spider mites favour warm, dry conditions and can be a particular issue in glasshouses because of their rapid life-cycle – around 12 days at 21°C ­– and many overlapping generations. They can be active year-round if the temperature doesn’t drop below 16°C.They are a pest that is virtually impossible to control with chemical sprays alone. That’s partly because of the limited number of effective active ingredients now available, making it difficult to assemble a resistance management programme, and partly because your spray technique has to be spot-on to target them – they tend to live on…

Poinsettia. Other than the Christmas tree, it’s the horticultural symbol of Christmas, isn't it? With “The Big Day” just a couple of weeks away, the 12th December is in fact National Poinsettia Day. This is an initiative created as part of the Stars for Europe campaign and is promoted throughout UK garden centres. It appears to be backed up with peak sales of the pot plant according to the ultimate Christmas food shop, Marks and Spencer. Perhaps it’s not just any Christmas plant, it’s a Marks and Spencer Christmas plant…?You may have seen some stats on our social media accounts (see links below if you don’t already follow us…) that in “peak poinsettia week”, it accounts for 42% of Marks and Spencer’s Christmas plant range and 10% of its houseplant sales for the entire year. Perhaps one for the quiz fans amongst us, but they anticipate sales of over 635,000.   Further inspection and I’ve found this plant in a majority of my friends and family’s homes…

Welcome to the next blog in our Art of Application Series. You may recall in our last blog that we spoke about the types of droplet sizes and their relation to nozzles and pressure. While these are solid foundations, it’s time to go a level up, how can you ensure spray penetration through even the most difficult of crops?  To start:Once the spray has left the nozzle there are just three places it can go:On the target cropOn the ground (miss or run-off)Into the air (drift)The challenge when trying to penetrate a dense canopy like Gaultheria procumbens is that the line between penetrating the canopy and running off the leaf is very fine one.What’s the spray objective?Again going over old (but important ground), it’s important to think about what you are hoping to achieve with each spray. For example, when thinking about droplet size for our sprayer set-up, knowing that the objective is to maximise canopy penetration and deposition whilst minimising run-off it is clear. But we should also be avoiding…

Syngenta’s chemists and biologists are some of the best and most experienced in the business – we employ around 5,000 scientists altogether – and in my last blog I looked at how they start the search for synthetic compounds that eventually form the basis of some of Syngenta’s new crop protection products for farmers and growers.  More recently they’ve also been using their biochemical knowledge to identify sources of potential crop protection ingredients amongst the natural biochemistry of plants, fungi and bacteria. It’s not surprising really – evolution over millions of years has equipped each species with its own set of chemical defences against pests, parasites and pathogens while many also secrete compounds that prevent competitors coming too close.Of course, it’s not a new idea. As you probably know, pyrethroid insecticides are synthetic versions of naturally occurring pyrethrins, compounds originally discovered in the seeds of certain members of the daisy family.And abamectin, the active in…

We’ll have some truly innovative crop protection products for ornamentals to tell you about over the coming months. Launches always excite us, not just because of the potential to improve your control of pests, diseases or weeds and management of crop growth, but because any new product is something we’ll have been working on for a very long time.  Developing chemistry-based products takes 8-10 years from the point when we discover a compound, to the stage where you can start treating your crops. That’s because plant protection products are among the most thoroughly researched, tested and regulated of anything you will use on your nursery.So in this and the next couple of blogs, I want to say a little about what’s involved in bringing you a new plant growth regulator or pest, disease and weed control product.It all starts with the search for molecular compounds with potential.  In the beginningCarbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and other elements like phosphorus, sulphur, silicon and…

In my last couple of blogs I’ve outlined what’s involved in finding new active substances and how our scientists develop them into safe and effective crop protection products.Given that we have to look at around 100,000 molecules to find just one which will eventually reach the market as a fungicide, insecticide, herbicide or plant growth regulator – a process that can take 8-10 years – you won’t be surprised to learn it’s not just time consuming but an eye-wateringly costly exercise.We spend as much as £350m to bring a new molecule to market and invest around £1.4bn a year on all of our R&D, which is why it’s so important we weed-out as early as possible those which won’t meet registration standards or prove commercially viable – even so, the early-stage research phase of product development can account for up to a third of the total cost. It also explains why all our new products for specialist crops such as ornamentals have to be based on actives targeted at crops of global significance – such as…

If you’ve not used a Plant Growth Regulator for a while It might be worth thinking about their benefits again and the variables involved with putting a good PGR programme together.What are PGRs?Plant Growth Regulators are synthetic or biological compounds that positively benefit and modify the plants growth and development. They are widely used in many plants to shorten the internodes and create a denser, tighter and smaller plant.Why use them?Here at Syngenta we are very familiar with Bonzi, and we have many customers who use it to help control, improve the shape & uniformity of their plants creating a better, more uniform and profitable crop.At first glance there is an array of PGRs available for use in horticulture: a wide range of claims, rates and modes of action but understanding how to use them comes down to what you are trying to achieve.The challengePGRs are a funny thing to give people advice on, we know they’ll be beneficial to you and the crop, but there are a huge amount of…

Part of the process of finalising the formulation of a new crop protection product is to check its physical compatibility with other products. The product registration process distinguishes between ‘convenience’ tank mixes, such as the ones you might choose, for example to save your spray operator’s time; and ‘positive’ tank mixes where products are combined to improve results, such as when you add an adjuvant.If we give any recommendation about our own products in positive tank mixes – such as the use of our new adjuvant – it has to be backed by physical and chemical compatibility test data and by laboratory and crop trials data to support our performance claims. Incidentally, our tests take account of the influence of water quality because pH and hardness can make a big difference – and all of our own products are formulated with additives that buffer pH to the optimum range for the active ingredient.So, when we or our our advisers or agents tell you, for example, that our new adjuvant is compatible with a…