Belagsqualität an Gemüsekulturen bei der Applikation von Pflanzenschutzmitteln mit luftunterstützten Feldspritzgeräten

Improvement of the application quality by air-assisted boom sprayers in vegetables was investigated from 1995 to 1998. Investigated crops were lettuce (Lactuca sativa), carrots, onions (Allium), cantaloupe (Cucumis melo var. Cantaloupensis). To quantify deposits and deposit distribution, individual leaves, parts of leaves or upper and lower side of leaves were sampled and the deposit of the tracer sodium-fluorescein determined. Application to control aphids in lettuce could not be improved by air assistance but by increasing the water volume/ha. As a general conclusion air assistance can be stated to give rather small effects in the investigated vegetable crops. It is a problem that there is no clear guidance for the grower on how to adjust the air assistance (air-volume) with respect to technical issues (boom height, speed) or biological aspects such as crop structure or the day-to-day characteristics of the leaf surface.