Trying foggers for temp control
 

The temps will be over 110 very soon and I just put up some Netafim foggers that work amazingly well. I still need to work out how high and exactly where to put them. I dont think the water will cause any issue with too much soil moisture but some of the leaves are quite wet unless I move the fogger to adjust for a steady wind direction. Will the hard water deposits on the leaves be any problem? How about being wet in blazing heat? I spray them with distilled water to clean them once every few days and regular water a few times a day if its not hot enough for foggers. I have 30% shade screen going from 11:30 till 2:00. I'm thinking of keeping it on even later if its over 110. They start getting shade from a tree at 2:45 and are all shaded by 4:00. I just got some 10% screen that could be doubled to 20%
My Ice Cream went in the ground about 5 weeks ago and it puts out a leaf every 6 or 7 days. It seems to be handling the heat better the last few days, I am watering every morning and need to know when the roots will be established enough to back off the water a little. I have 2 Ladyfingers that went into another mat that are doing well.
Thanks to all who have welcomed me, I am dealing with alot of health issues right now and apologize that I have not taken the time yet to return your messages. I am also a bit computer challenged and am in a race against the heat. Believe it or not 105 is not that bad after you deal with 115. There is a huge difference. I used to work outside and my hottest day was 118.
Thanks for all the help

Re: Trying foggers for temp control
 

There are a few different thoughts on misting.. I for one think its OK to use them during hot time periods. If you plants are wilting and you fear their demise, the misting will keep them alive . But as soon as you stop misting the water evaporates and the plant goes looking for water . The roots begin to do the job they are suppose to do . Yes in a way the misting cuts down on the plants ability to feed and water itself normally .. But on the other hand it helps to keep it from dehydration .. SOOO as long as your on top of it your OK / I do not know what expense you willing to go to but me , I would place a timer in line and run the misting on a every other day basis.. Then see what happens.. I would rather see the water to the roots but I know that also would use 10 times the water.. Also I might suggest reading as much as possible about what temp Musa stop growing at so you will know when to shut down the misting. Also to a dehydrating plant , hard water is a good thing! Im sure purified water is better but when all you can do is supply whats available, then you go with it!
To me if the plant is not browning and wilting it's OK . Mulch can aid in water retention “some what” but in high heat your always running a risk.. Arizona has no humidity! Florida has plenty! Two completely different types of heat
Hope I helped a bit :)

Re: Trying foggers for temp control
 

Your temps are a bit extreme with no humidity. Last year we hit 100 - 105 quite a few times in June but it was accompanied by 70% -100% humidity. Every day my leaves would droop straight down from the mid-rib but by morning they were spread fully again. This was not from lack of water or the lack of a root system to deliver it. I'm not sure about your altitude and latitude (sun intensity) but I thought the banana leaves drooped like that to protect the leaf from sun scorching. I'm sure it could be from drying but I would think the mid-rib would also droop or bend/break then.

Re: Trying foggers for temp control
 

I installed misters in my greenhouse and have had great success using them to keep humidity up and perform evaporative cooling.
I would recommend installing a series of filters in your line (esp. calcium filter) to reduce mineral deposits on your leaves and in the lines.
My problem is that they are currently cycled on when my fans cycle on, ~85-90F, which can be a lot of on time when the outside air is 80F+. Even the little fog that is hitting the leaves builds up and everything ends up thoroughly saturated by the end of the day.

An aside:
Soon I'm going to design and build a custom greenhouse controller which will be <$200 for materials but should outperform many of the several hundred dollar ones, I'll open source the code for the microcontroller when I'm done.
Its going to incorporate solar energy harvesting for indefinitely powering the system which gives the bonus of detailed light intensity information. I'm going to add in a thermocouple, hygrometer, soil moisture detection and an 'electronic leaf'. With these inputs I should be able to switch on my foggers exactly when I need them. The system is also wireless based (I'm cobbling together several kits I had laying around) and I will incorporate remote data logging so that growers can monitor conditions without being on site.
Its going to be total overkill for the small greenhouse I have but should be a fun side project. :2738:

Re: Trying foggers for temp control
 

Jason,

That sounds very interesting and something like what I would like to build. Please keep us posted on the build including sources for parts and assembly pictures. I am toying with building a 12 x 50 greenhouse that is just for banana growing.

Re: Trying foggers for temp control
 

just get a cheap irrigation timer at one of the home stores that can run 2 zones and three cycles on each zone and set the misters to run 6 times a day for 2-3 minutes during the hot parts of the day.
Mine come on the first time at 11 am for 2 minutes, then 12 for 2 minutes, then 1pm for 2 minutes, 2pm for 2 minutes, and 3 pm for 2 minutes. If it gets hotter, then put them on for 3-4 minutes instead. It will dampen down the greenhouse and keep it cooler, and increase the humidity. It sounds like the humidity isn't going to be a problem for you there.
Also it sounds like your shadecloth is pretty thin, if it's 110 outside, you could probably use up to 50%. We're running 30% shadecloth all the time on our greenhouse with no adverse effects. We don't take it off during certain hours or anything like that. They grow foliage plants in Florida under 50-70% all the time.
We have rusty well water with lots of iron and calcium. We get a little buildup sometimes, but it doesn't adversely affect the plant that we can see.