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It sounds a little bit
like a crazy idea to water plants with fog.
One of the most important
attributes of a fogging system is the creation of a freely hovering fog of
microscopic droplets. If we think of mature plants which need quite some
water for their health the objection is correct
The ideal area of application for fogging systems is plant propagation -
irrelevant whether it is vegetative or generative propagation. An exception
may be meristemal propagation where care for the "seedlings"
plants with fogging is needed when the plantlets are extracted from the
glasses and planted in substrate.
As we have mentioned in other documents one of the criteria of successful
plantlet-raising is the quality of the substrate. We do not want to go too
deep into the various recipes of substrates, we want just to mention that
the substrate should be moist and aerated to provide for fast and healthy
root growth.
On the other hand for
most seedling cultures the rule applies that the plantlets should be rather
dry during the night when their growth is inactive to avoid fungal attacks
and other ailments which can be caused by too much moisture.
If regular watering is
interrupted during nighttimes the substrate tend to dry off - even if no
substrate heating is present
If the humidification system would now simply restart fogging in the
morning - for example controlled by a humidity feeler - within some days a
water deficit would appear in the root are of the substrate, which can be
alleviated only by additional hand-watering.
Installation of a good
humidification system is no minor investment, so the customer can expect to
get an automatic system which will need him only for control tasks and
parameter setting
The automated tasks of the system should counteract especially the drying-off
effects in the early morning and prepare the substrate with its ideal
moisture for the coming day.
Plantfog has recognized
this necessary "watering option" since 1986 and developed this
function according to the valuable recommendations of the senior nurseryman
Mr. Haas from the Municipal Gardens of Vienna.
The function works once
more according to the principles of water physics. Cool air can take up
less water than warm air until saturation. This means that the dew point
will be reached earlier. As the temperature inside an (unheated)
propagation house is still quite low the air will reach saturation rather
fast (refer also to Evaporation
Cooling) by
means of the cooling fog and the surplus water will condensate.
If the humidity feeler is
disabled during this period and the "watering time" is regulated
by a control device the duration and therefore the amount of condensing
water can be precisely set.
A rule of thumb states
that approximately a quarter of the water a nurseryman would add manually
during the day is enough for this morning dew. The amount needed during the
day will be provided by the periodic fogging function. By this setting can
be guaranteed that the substrate provides the right moisture while it
remains aerated for the growing roots. The correct setting will be achieved
very fast by the observing nurseryman who knows his cultures best. The
success of this rather simple switching option was astonishing right from
the start.
If the propagation houses
are heated several short watering periods can be activated during the day
if this promises success. From our numerous reference-installations we know
that with some plant families - for instance Croton, Ficus, Schefflera, etc - a short activation of the
watering function can be beneficial also during nighttimes at the end of
the production cycle.
Plantfog then installed
an additional refinement to this function; with an activated watering
option the system starts at dawn (setting by means of an electric timer)
with a preprogramed watering cycle with disabled moisture feeler to insert
fog exceeding the dew point. If the watering cycle is completed the normal
automatic cycling start for a "normal fogging day".
The practical
consequences are that propagation can run a fully automated cycle where the
nurseryman can withdraw to controlling.
Our control system
„plantfog“ designed originally for research and development provides all
these functions; with the somewhat simpler and therefore more affordable
system „profi-plus“ the "watering option" can be provided
by a simple upgrading if the need arises.
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