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What are the advantages of cleaning and 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. This depends on application techniques and climate conditions. With cleaning foam as a cleaning or disinfection method you can also influence the application time. In this article our specialist explains the advantages of a foam cleaner and disinfectant.

Jasper Verhoeven
Specialist Hygiene & Disinfection | February 7, 2020 | 4 min. reading time

Advantages of a foam cleaner

Growers are more and more using foam based cleaning and disinfection products. Using a foam cleaner has more advantages compared to liquid disinfection products:

Cleaning foam lengthens the application time and with that the efficacy of the treatments, as foam has more adhesiveness. This adhesiveness prevents fast washing away, which makes foam more suitable for disinfecting or vertical surfaces such as greenhouse walls.
The creeping capacity of foam also allows difficult to reach surfaces or cornes to be treated.
Cleaning foam is a safer choice, because less aerosol is formed by using foam.

Perfect cleaning of cultivation materials with Menno Hortisept Clean

Different products for different applications

Each form of contamination requires a different product for cleaning and/or disinfection:

To spray the cleaning foam use the Menno foam gun.
To clean plant sap and organic soiling use Menno Hortisept Clean Plus.
To combat algae and bacteria use Menno ter Forte.
For broad spectrum disinfection of all plant pathogenic bacteria, fungi, viruses and viroids use Menno Florades.

Foam disinfection with Menno Florades

Disinfecting your greenhouse with Menno Florades

Supplies for cleaning and disinfection foam applications

To apply a foam cleaner or disinfectant, you can use several products: a Menno disinfection sprayer, a foam gun or a V1K mobile cleaning unit. The best choice of product depends on (the size of) the surface to be treated.

Cleaning and disinfection foam techniques

For the best quality cleaning and disinfection foam it is necessary that a number of requirements are met. The first step is to check and if necessary clean the tank. There should be no residual liquid from other products in the tank, as these can have an effect on the pH value. The water quality also influences the cleaning foam. Use rainwater or osmosis water. If this is not available, and other water (for example tap water) is used, check the pH value beforehand. This value should be ±pH 6, this can be achieved by acidifying (e.g. tap water) to a slightly more neutral pH. This saves on your product consumption. The lower the EC (salt content) the better the foam cleaner. For the foam gun, a pump pressure of 30-45 bar is recommended. No foaming agent needs to be added, the products Menno Ter Forte, Hortiseptclean PLUS, Menno Florades is by itself foaming at a sufficiently high concentration. For Menno Florades, the activity is guaranteed at a pH of 3.5 - 4. If the pH is increased by contamination, you can easily add extra Menno Florades until a new pH value of 3.5-4 is reached.

Gerbera grower Johan Reijm, Reijm Nursery Nieuwerkerk:

"Effectively kill fungal spores with Menno Florades"

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