Kwekerij Moors grows peppers and has been focusing on the quality of the irrigation water in recent years. Rob Moors invested in Moleaer, an innovative system that adds a high concentration of oxygen in the way of nanobubbles to the irrigation water. The good results of a large pilot on 8 hectares in 2023 made him decide to start using Moleaer on all three of his growing locations, by the end of 2024 on 25 hectares in total.
A strong root system of a bell pepper plant looks like this in a substrate slab, says Rob Moors. "If we open the slab, we see a homogeneous root system with nice white, high-quality roots and many fine hair roots. In the case of a weak or diseased plant, we see a lot of brown and even black roots." Rob Moors has had experience with Moleaer's water treatment technology at one of his 3 growing locations at Waardjesweg 57 since May 2022. During the growing season, the quality of the root system in the slabs was tested repeatedly and the results were good. "The root system of the plants at this location was visually much better than at the other locations without Moleaer. That was key in our decision in late 2023 to have Moleaer units installed at all growing locations."
Irrigation water
The quality of the irrigation water is important in cultivation. On the one hand, it must contain sufficient oxygen and, on the other hand, be free of all kinds of pathogens. Fungi can easily spread through the water. The more oxygen the irrigation water contains, the stronger and more resilient the roots become, as well as the plant, and the less impact fungi have. So it works both ways. Rob Moors works with well water as the starting water for his cultivation, which is purified through de-ironing and reverse osmosis. Enriching the irrigation water with oxygen comes next. The Moleaer unit is connected to the tank with daily supply of water and fertilizers with a capacity of 350 cube. One Moleaer unit provides continuous addition of nanobubbles of oxygen through the pumping of water.
René Mondt: "Oxygen enrichment with Moleaer is chemical-free; we don't add agents to the water, only oxygen."
Nanobubbles
Moleaer is a system in which, by means of gas injection, tiny oxygen bubbles are added to the water. These are bubbles with a diameter of 100 nanometers; that's as small as a virus," says René Mondt, Technical Specialist at Royal Brinkman. "At Kwekerij Moors, we choose oxygen enrichment of the irrigation water above 20 mg of oxygen per liter. The oxygen dissolves very well in the water, the solution efficiency is 85% and much higher than with other techniques. With Moleaer, you can oversaturate. The extra oxygen in the irrigation water allows the root system to develop better. And a strong root system gives the plant a stable base, which it needs at stressful times during cultivation." René adds: "The Moleaer technology is extremely efficient, the unit produces oxygen with a concentration of 93%. In fact, the proportion of oxygen in the outside air is only 21%. Moreover, oxygen enrichment with Moleaer is chemical-free and emission-free. We do not add any agents to the water, only oxygen." Connecting a Moleaer system to a daily supply tank is not complicated. "A grower could do this himself," says René Mondt. "But our technicians from the engineering department installed and operated this within a day."
Rob Moors: "The root system of the plants at this location was visually better than at the other locations without Moleaer
All of the departments at Kwekerij Moors now run Moleaer units for oxygen enrichment of the irrigation water
Effect in the crop
According to Rob Moors, adding oxygen is an important means of strengthening the plant's root system. "We also check the oxygen content regularly. On the one hand we see the value on the installation, and on the other hand we regularly take a water sample at the drippers. That gives us the guarantee that the extra oxygen also reaches the plant where it is needed." Moors regularly talks with colleague bell pepper growers about the practical experiences of different methods of oxygen enrichment currently on the market. "In comparison with results of these methods, for me the Moleaer technique has been chosen. The system is a bit more expensive, but gives the best figures in terms of the quality of the oxygen added in the form of the tiny nanobubbles. And those figures speak for themselves."
For more information:
Royal Brinkman
[email protected]
www.royalbrinkman.com