1. What type of product will be applied and how does it translocate in the plant?

The different categories of products: fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides, depending on the form of translocation within the plant, will determine the best coverage to effectively control the fungi, insect, and weed, respectively. Contact products, that do not translocate inside the plant need more complete coverage than systemic products.

The table below shows the ideal coverage of different crop protection products according to the number of droplets per square area. The information on this table is an important indicator to understand if the chosen parameters, such as spray tip, flow rate, and operating pressure are adequate to provide the ideal coverage of the intended target. What is the target pest and where is it located?

2. What type of sprayer will be used to apply crop protection products in your field?

Each original equipment manufacturer (OEM) produces several types of sprayers with different configurations that will generally be adjusted and calibrated to different applications.

2.1 What type of sprayer will be used to apply crop protection products in your filed?

Most boom sprayers have many different components, such as tank rinse nozzles, tank mixing nozzles, manual or electric shutoff valves, pressure relief valves, manual or electric regulating valves, flowmeters and/or pressure sensors, strainers, spray tips, and caps for attaching and sealing the tip while spraying. Making sure you know each of these components and that they are properly working will result in higher performance at the time of application. Spray tips need special attention because they are responsible for producing and delivering the droplets with the crop protection product active ingredient during the application (MATUO, 2001).

3. What spray tip should I use?

If the application occurs near susceptible crops, urban areas, livestock, or bodies of water (rivers, lakes, and ponds), the concern should be for maximum application safety. Several things should be considered to help keep the product on the target, such as spraying under the recommended weather conditions and choosing a spray tip engineered to produce fewer fine droplets that could drift off-target.

Each spray tip is carefully engineered to provide adequate performance according to the product, target, and timing of application. A poor choice in spray tips or use of underperforming tips can lead to re-spraying, reduced performance, or even an environmental and/or neighbour contamination problem.

The spray tip model will determine:

• The amount or volume of crop protection product applied to an area.
• The uniformity of the application.
• The coverage of the crop protection product applied on the target surface.
• The amount of potential drift. It is also necessary to choose the recommended strainer mesh size according to the spray tip model and its capacity. This will help to avoid unnecessary clogging of the spray tip.

4. Who is the nozzle manufacturer and why does it matter?

The choice of a high-quality spray tip will ensure maximum performance during application while maintaining the highest safety. Quality spray tip manufacturers must have the experience, knowledge, and willingness to produce spray tips with tightly controlled flow rate repeatability and distribution across the boom swath for maximum performance. TeeJet® Technologies spray tips are precisely designed and manufactured to provide maximum performance, quality, and safety. They comply with the highest requirements of the international performance rating and certifying institutes. Some of those institutes are referenced below.