Misting system to cool plants

There are many crops that are prone to suffer from stress when they are not in the right temperature. When it's too cold in a greenhouse, you can increase the temperature. But what can you do when it gets too hot? Pad and fan cooling? Air conditioning? Shading? Have you ever thought about misting?

The misting solution to decrease temperatures has become increasingly popular. This adiabatic cooling method is based on the use of a high pressure fog system, also known as a misting system. When used properly, the fog or mist droplets can result in a substantial decrease in the temperature of the greenhouse.

Nowadays, more vegetable growers are realizing the benefits of such a system, as they start to get used to using their misting system as an extra tool to control their climate. However, in the flower industry it has already been used a lot for many years.

A Vifra High Pressure Fog Unit

The Dutch cymbidium grower Art van Wijk also uses adiabatic cooling to improve the performance of his crop. "During the warmer summer months, the temperature in our greenhouse often is often too high. The cymbidium prefers a temperature that is not higher than 27 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is getting above these 27 degrees Celsius, the plant's stomates are closing to protect themselves. This stops the growth of the plant, it goes to sleep more or less to protect itself against the heat."

In order to cool the plants and maintain the perfect climate and temperature, Van Wijk uses a high pressure fog system from Vifra. "Our Priva climate computer is controlling the fog system. Via special settings we tell the computer to use the fog system when the temperature or the humidity inside the glasshouse tends to exceed our desired climate."

Unlike many growers think, a misting system doesn't make the plants wet. The droplets are that small, that they can't even be seen with bare eyes.

The Vifra cooling system uses specially designed nozzles to create very small droplets. The smaller the droplets are on the plant, the better the cooling effect. "We have a very good experience with this system. We have been using it on 30,000 square meters for a couple of years now. Next year, in February-April, we will install another Vifra high pressure fog system on another 20.000 square meters," said van Wijk.

For more information on High pressure fog systems:
VIFRA
Vincenzo Russo
info@vifraitalia.it
www.vifraitalia.it