Record scores Pythium and Fusarium overturned by Ultramins
Almost a third loss in production and for the second year in a row. For one Canadian pepper grower, it was cause for action. The cause of the problems was believed to be water quality. The farm was suffering greatly from Pythium and Fusarium. The growers asked Ultramins for help.
The company, known as the distributor of the USAF™ cavitating ultrasonic transmitters one places in water basins and silos, first took samples of the irrigation water. "That's how we know the starting point," explains Robert de Hoo, owner of Ultramins.
The laboratory test of the water showed a very high presence of vital Fusarium and an even higher level of vital Pythium. "The biggest challenge with the growers was that there was a constant flow of dirty drain water coming in, but potentially untreated water could also flow back to the growing site, i.e. with vital fungi that had the potential to wipe out even more plants. There was no way to enlarge the silos or add new ones, so the solution had to be created in the existing situation."
The pepper grower with an area of 17 hectares uses silos good for 200 m3 of water.
More cavitating power
Initially, the grower's irrigation water had Fusarium present at >80 colony-forming units (cfu) and Pythium even more than >200. "This result is the maximum this laboratory could indicate," Robert stresses. "We were able to reduce the Pythium to a 'Not Detected' ratio and the Fusarium to a level of 1 cfu/ml. These results are just unreal and fantastic for this grower."
Also special was the short time the water could be treated in the silos. Only 2.5 hours and also with a constant supply of highly polluted drain water for 10 hours a day. "Because of this short time frame, we installed more power. Here, we treated both the dirty drain silo and the clean drain silo with 3 and with 5 USAF cavitating ultrasonic transmitters."
"Stunning"
After eight days, new water samples were sent to the external laboratory. "The results were astonishing," he says. Pythium had dropped to just 20 cfu/ml and Fusarium to 5 cfu/ml. "Both levels are considered good, especially since there was probably still biofilm and sludge present in the silos. Both always contain a lot of micro-organisms."
Nevertheless, Ultramins decided to continue monitoring the process and progression and tests were done again after 3 and 5 weeks at the grower in the Ontario region. These showed the aforementioned scores: Pythium came back as 'not detected' and Fusarium was at 1 cfu/ml. "These results, dirty drain flows coming in continuously in open silos, are just incredible. We are obviously very proud of these results."
115-volt
Ultramins is applying USAF ultrasonic transmitters to growers in an increasing number of countries. After requests for a 115-volt version, especially from the United States, that version has been on the market for some time. Also on the 115-volt transmitters, Ultramins gives its regular 7-year user warranty. "The operation of this new variant is similar to that of the well-known 230-volt version. The control of all pathogens in the (drain) water is therefore identical."
USAF™ is a trademark of Luijkx Ultrasound B.V.