Knowledge center Crop protection & disinfection

▲ Which pests are there in the horticultural sector?
Pests are a major threat to crops, because they can cause a lot of damage. Therefore it is important that you are able to detect a pest in the crop on time. Click through and read more about the different pests, the damage they can contain and the possible ways to combat them. 
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▲ Which diseases are there in the horticultural sector?
Diseases often cause problems in crops and can do serious damage. They often cause rotting and wilting, which can cause a plant to die completely. Each disease requires a specific control. Click through and read more about the damage situation and how to combat the diseases. 
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▲ What is integrated pest management?
Integrated pest management is a combination of the use of biology and chemical plant protection products. It consists of three steps: prevention, observation and intervention. This is used to prevent the development of resistance. 
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▲ How do you secure a sticky trap holder?
Sticky tape roll is often used for identifying pests in crop. But putting it in the right place seems to be a hard task for a lot of people. The sticky trap holders ease this process. They enable you to move the sticky tape along with the growing crop.
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▲ Tips on how to detect, monitor and trap pests
The importance of detecting and identifying pests in time cannot be underestimated. The sooner a pest is detected and identified, the sooner you can begin the process of trapping it. By monitoring developments as they unfold on sticky trap rolls and/or trap sheets.
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▲ Tips for increased effectiveness of Aphidoletes in the winter
In winter it is more difficult to achieve a good result with the gall midge Aphidoletes aphidimyza. This is due to the cold weather often in combination with the start of the new cultivation. Taking into account a number of points you can increase the effectiveness of Aphidoletes in winter.
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▲ How does pollination with bumblebees work?

Pollination is crucial for a good and healthy crop: without pollination, most crops will not develop or develop optimally. In present day horticultural businesses pollination through bumble bees is much less labour intensive and therefore cheaper.
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▲ How to place bumblebee hives?
 Bumblebees are offered in special hives, where they build a nest. These hives are the bases from which the bumblebees spread through the crops. It is important to position these hives in the right areas for optimum pollination.
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▲ How to treat a bumblebee stitch
Despite the fact that bumblebees rarely sting, it can still happen that you run into a bumblebee stitch. In most cases this only causes a great deal of pain, but in some cases it can also lead to an allergic reaction. 
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▲ How to use bumblebees in cold periods
Bumblebees cannot navigate well with artificial light because it does not contain UV. Therefore, when using bumblebees in an illuminated crop in cold periods, a few points should be considered to prevent bumblebees from dying.
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▲ How to protect bumblebees from heat
When the sun is very strong, the temperature in the greenhouse increases. This can cause the bumblebees in the crop to overheat. This has a negative effect on pollination and, in the worst-case scenario, bumblebees can die.
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▲ How to feed bumblebees
A shortage of pollen has a negative influence on bumblebees and thus on the pollination effect. Therefore, if there is a shortage of pollen in the crop, the bumblebees should be fed manually.
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▲ What are the standards for residues of crop protection products?
A large amount of residue on fruit and vegetable can lead to health risks for consumers. Therefore, legal residue standards for food products have been established to ensure food safety.
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▲ Which personal protective equipment do you need to wear?
When working with crop protection products, it is important that you wear the correct personal protection equipment. Unprotected working with crop protection products can lead to health risks.
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▲ What are the side-effects of chemical crop protection products?
Many growers opt for integrated pest management, which combines biological and chemical crop protection. But not every chemical crop protection product can be combined with every natural enemy, because these products can have side-effects on biology.
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▲ How to prevent resistance to crop protection products
Diseases, bacteria and weeds can become insensitive to crop protection products. When this happens, they can neutralise the effect of certain products and thus these products have no (or less) effect. In that case, we speak of resistance.
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▲ Tips for hand disinfection in horticulture
The importance of hand disinfection is recognized more and more. With this you minimize the chance of diseases and pests entering or spreading through people. You can never take chances concerning hygiene.
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▲ What is the protocol for washing hands?
To prevent the spread of diseases and pests it is important that good company hygiene is maintained on nurseries. An important aspect of the company's hygiene is hand disinfection. This includes washing hands. 
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▲ What are the advantages of disinfection with foam?
When using liquid cleaning or disinfection methods, the efficacy of the product always depends on the interaction between the application time and concentration. Even though a grower can influence the concentration, this is not always the case with the application time.
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▲ 3 tips for the maintenance of disinfection mats
A disinfection mat is a preventive hygiene solution for locations in which there is a movement of people and traffic in the horticultural industry. It helps prevent the introduction of micro-organisms and the consequences of such invasions.
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▲ Tips for the procurements & use of disinfection mats
Before the purchase of a disinfection mat, it is important to think about the use of the mat. In this way you avoid to buy the wrong type or wrong size. Our specialist provides 11 tips. 
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▲ What is the contact time of disinfectants on viruses?
A disinfection product needs a certain contact time to work effectively. One product has a longer contact time than another. Not only does contact time differ between disinfectants, it differs per organism to be killed as well. 
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▲ How to use pH indicator strips
To determine the pH of a liquid, you can use pH indicator strips. The pH of a liquid indicates whether a liquid is acidic, neutral or alkaline. In some cases, this is important to know, for example when you want to determine whether a disinfectant is still effective.
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▲ How do I clean materials?
Soiling caused by the remains of plants, plant sap, soil, dust and other organic materials strongly adheres to various surfaces. A thorough cleaning is therefore of great importance in order to work hygienically and should always occur prior to starting the disinfection.
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▲ What is the difference between cleaning and disinfection?
Cleaning and disinfection are of great importance for hygienic cultivation. It’s the only way to prevent diseases, bacteria and pests, and to prevent infection of crops. But they are not the same; there is an important difference. 
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▲ How to prevent and combat algae in the reservoir?
Stagnant water can cause heavy algae growth. This has multiple negative effects. First, algae growth is bad for the water quality. In addition algae can clog pipes, pumps and droppers. It is therefore important to prevent algae as much as possible and, if needed, to combat.
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▲ How do I set up a hygiene plan?
To handle a working method that is as hygienic as possible, drawing up a hygiene plan is adviced. This will help your business to be able to control and guarantee business hygiene as best as possible. Our specialist explains. 
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▲ What hygiene measures do I have to establish when entering a greenhouse?
Upon entering a greenhouse you often see a hygiene station where you can disinfect your hands, and after that you can enter the greenhouse. It is often thought that the disinfection of hands is enough to make hands free of bacteria and prevent contamination of the crop, but this is not true.
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▲ How do you establish a hygiene protocol for visitors?
To prevent problems with bacteria, fungi and viruses, it is important to use a hygiene protocol with visitors as much as possible. The hygiene protocol is therefore part of a company's general hygiene plan. By requiring visitors to take hygiene measures, the risk of contamination is reduced.
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▲ The secrets of cultivating medical cannabis: Hygiene Management 
Hygiene management is a vital aspect of cultivating medical cannabis. Not only is it a valuable crop, but the industry is also heavily regulated, making crop protection and safety challenging and costly endeavors. By having and upholding a good hygiene protocol, you can greatly reduce the risks of losing the crop due to diseases and infestations, resulting in a healthy crop and a consistent and high quality end product.
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