Solve humidity problems
High humidity and especially extended periods with high humidity often results in problems with gray mold.
Registrate gray mold infection with InfoGrow log and learn how to avoid infections.
Gray mold infection
The process of gray mold infection can be described in three stages (Körner et al, 2014):
1. Spore formation and distribution,
2. Spore deposition, spore attachment, and germination, and
3. Spore penetration and infection of the plant tissue.
Outside air is the first source for gray mold spores and can to some extent be limited with more closed vents. After an outbreak in the greenhouse, the second source of spores originates internally.
To prevent disease outbreaks development of the spores must be stopped. Spore vitality is 100% at sporulation and decreases with time and external circumstances (desiccation and low RH). The spores contain only a little water and need to absorb it from the environment. Germination happens under high moisture conditions in a water film on the leaves or at high air RH.
(From Körner, O., Holst, N. and Visser, P. de, 2014, A Model-Based Decision Support Tool for Grey Mould Prediction, Acta Horticulturae, 1037, 569-574)
First view
Check for important production parameters for all your climate zones (departments) as an average over a time span you select. See the humidity and the maximum humidity in the selected period. Use colors to indicate if the humidity level is ok or problematic. Then it is easy to see if your might face disease problems in the near future.
Daily values
Daily values for humidity, temperature, and photosynthesis provide an overview of the production parameters. See how the humidity depends on the temperature and if you need to manage the control strategy from a daily view.
Detailed values
A detailed view showing the daily pattern of the humidity inside and outside together with the temperature of the greenhouse. See how to optimize the climate when the humidity is too high.
Distribution of humidity levels
To control gray mold it is important to keep the humidity as low as possible. This chart shows accumulated values of high humidity. This example is from a greenhouse with few problems with gray mold. The brown bars are the sum of hours where the humidity was above 40, 50, 60, 70 80, 90 % humidity.
After data collection with InfoGrow data can be analyzed further in Virtual Greenhouse. This provides even more information about the distribution of the humidity. Here data are provided also with information about how many concurrent hours there have been with high humidity. A prolonged period with high humidity is the best growing scenario for gray mold and should be avoided if possible.
Log when it happens
InfoGrow log is an easy-to-use system that can log what happens in the production. Make a registration with the app when infections are registered. Registrations are then saved together with climate data.
Later it is easy to see in which situation the infections occur and decide how to avoid them.
With our Virtual Greenhouse, you can even test a new climate strategy and check if the strategy will succeed in changing the climate to avoid the growth of the gray mold.