Greenhouse Eliminates Lengthy Spray Tip Changeout with Triple Spray Nozzle
 Three Different Applications Required Frequent Spray Tip Changes
PROBLEM: This greenhouse used Spraying Systems Co. spray nozzles on a traveling boom to water, fertilize and germinate bedding plants. During the day, as the greenhouse would change over from watering to fertilization to germination, the spray tip was replaced. Armed with two containers, a worker would manually remove the one spray tip and replace it with another.
This process took at least eight minutes to replace all of the spray tips on each boom. Two changeouts per day, with three booms in operation, calculates into 48 minutes per day devoted to changing spray tips. Not only was time a problem, but so was accuracy. An inattentive worker could accidentally insert the incorrect spray tip, causing the bedding plants to receive improper amounts of water or fertilizer.
SOLUTION: The greenhouse retrofitted each boom with 30 Quick UniJet® triple nozzles. Each nozzle is fitted with three spray tips: one for seed germination, one for watering and one for fungicide/fertilizer applications. Now the operator simply dials, or rotates, the proper spray tip on each nozzle to suit the particular application.
To completely automate the watering/chemical application process, the boom is also equipped with a magnetic bar code. The computerized operation is pre-programmed for continuous operation. So, for example, the bar code identifies beds that need watering at every pass, versus those which are watered every other pass.
Now changeover from watering in the morning to fertilizing in the afternoon takes just a few minutes. Plus, since the Quick UniJet spray nozzle caps are color coded, it's easy to identify that the proper tips are in place. By quickly glancing at the boom, an operator can ensure that all white spray tips are dialed in for watering, for example. And, as the young plants grow, the greenhouse can simply replace the existing water spray tip with a new, higher capacity tip for heavier watering.
Plus, the Quick UniJet triple nozzles allow for a shut-off position between any two spraying positions. The greenhouse found this to be an important feature since the configuration of the beds and the walkways changes weekly. The shut-off feature allows easy adaptability to changing the bedding layout.
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