Water Is More Than Just Water
Not all water is created equal. Water content varies greatly from our faucets to rivers and lakes, being composed of much more than simply hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Almost all water which is retrieved from a primary source includes a variety of minerals and organisms, some which may be beneficial for healthy growth, and some which may be detrimental. Common practice in the flower industry is to use a mixture of agrochemicals, such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other chemicals to attempt to prevent and limit the growth of these harmful pathogens in the water. Water is an essential component in obtaining proper pH balance in floriculture. Seeing as water can be acidic, neutral, or alkaline based on the water quality of the given water source, it’s important for producers to standardize their water quality at its optimal physicochemical and organoleptic values, ensuring the flower retains as much nutrients as possible after the cut, and lasts as long as possible for consumers.
How Does Water Quality Affect Flower Production?
Water quality is one of the key factors that affect cut flowers. Water quality, in the flower industry, can make a big difference on production quality, impacting a variety of aspects from fertilizer optimization and plant growth. The most important factors which must be controlled are alkalinity, pH, soluble salts, and hardness. Poor water quality can be responsible for slow growth, poor aesthetic quality of the flowers, and gradual death of the plants. High soluble salts in water can directly injure roots, which directly interfere with water and nutrient uptake. Salts can accumulate in plant leaf margins, which cause burning of the edges, and water with high alkalinity can adversely affect the pH of the growing medium, which also interferes with nutrient uptake, causing nutrient deficiencies which compromise plant health. Besides the negative effects inadequate water quality may have on flowers, it’s important to take into consideration and minimize the risk of discharging pollutants and contaminated water to surface or ground water.
What Can Engeenuity Offer Your Flower Production?
Reduced Agrochemicals
One of the main water parameters which Engeenuity is able to modify is surface tension. By reducing surface tension in water, we can weaken the water’s molecular bonds, allowing more efficient unions between chemical and water molecules, which also causes for the water to soak into pores and organisms more readily. On several tests run in a chemical production plant in Panama, we were able to reduce by >50% the amount of active ingredients in Cleaner, Glass Cleaner, and Degreaser/Hard Surface Cleaner, yet provided improved cleaning capacity compared to the original mixtures. In a specific flower trial in Colombia, after treating the water which was used to hydrate several varieties of roses like Mother of Pearl, Freedom, Deep Purple, Hot Merengue, and Orange Crush, we were able to obtain comparable results, while reducing completely (100%) the use of all products, neither of chemical synthesis nor of any other nature, simply by applying our treatment process.
Improved Water Quality
In a test run in the crude water reservoir of the “Cunday-Tibar Flowers” farm, we aimed to evaluate the optimization capacity of Engeenuity’ s technology. We took into consideration several water quality parameters like pH, conductivity, hardness, and turbidity. As the study shows, we were effective in reducing water turbidity values, on occasions reducing from 11 NTU, to 6.9 NTU. Regarding hardness, we were able to reduce control results from 7.0, down to 4.0. On other tests in different applications, we have proven our capacity to modify pH, conductivity, surface tension, and ORP to our clients’ specific needs and requirements.
Increased Treatment Efficiency
By applying our treatment and using our treated water in the hydration process, we were able to reduce treatment times in post-harvest processes significantly. In the control group, flower boxes were applied standard farm treatment which consisted of; initial hydration for a minimum of 2 hours, selection, and later hydration in cold rooms for a minimum of 24 hours, to then be evaluated in simulated travel and vase life, standardized by the farm. For Engeenuity’ s alternative treatment, we reduced initial hydration to 36 minutes, as well as reducing the following hydration time to 36 minutes, to then evaluate simulated travel in the cold room as well as vase life. The conclusion of this experiment was a lower percentage of dehydrated flowers treated by Engeenuity, without the use of any synthetic or chemical products; all while reducing treatment times significantly.