If you’ve been through certified application training, you know the basics of selecting nozzles to get the most benefit out of the product and keeping it on target.
This training, plus a collection of nozzle selection guide apps can help you factor in the requirements for boom height, ground speed, wind speed, volume, nozzle spacing, and desired droplet size.
Most of the training and guides are for traditional over the top application, but today, there are new application methods that work to improve both the aim and the coverage of the target. These new application methods force us to take a fresh look at nozzle selection.
Think about the target location first.
One component of spraying we don’t often talk about is the position of the nozzle relative to the desired target. We generally talk about it relative to the top of the canopy, but herbicides and fungicides, for example, have different targets. We want the herbicides to target the weeds, but we want the fungicides targeting specific places on the crop itself. In the case of some corn diseases, we want to protect the ear leaf and above, so is there a way to have the nozzle down in the canopy aimed at these target locations vs. spraying from above the canopy like we traditionally do today?
360 UNDERCOVER® is a new application technology that allows you to insert multiple nozzles down in the canopy to increase coverage on the crops. Because there are multiple nozzles, the math is different when selecting the best nozzle and orifice size. Please refer to the 360 Yield Center® nozzle guide to help select the best nozzles depending on your row spacing and number of nozzles that will be used in each 360 UNDERCOVER unit.