Steaming stops the spread of greening disease found in citrus trees worldwide. Since spraying chemicals to stop greening bacteria in the tree has been fruitless and is not an achievable option, different heating methods are employed in order to control greening HLB and allow citrus trees to thrive. Research conducted by the USDA along with the University of Florida has showed steam heat stops the greening process through easy and efficient means of using a controlled amount of heat.
TreeSteamers© is a product from ScoringAg, the company responsible for the TreeSteamer© design and other methods of mobile steam heat. The TreeSteamer© Trailer model is a logical upgrade from its predecessors of solar tents. The TreeSteamer© uses methods prevalent in the machine such as a steam generator, but evolves the techniques for easier usage and faster implementation and larger acreages processed daily. The TreeSteamer© carries all the water and fuel needed for the steaming function, and has safety features such as thermal controls and a weather station. Different treatment options are available, while the original TreeSteamer© can heat one to three trees a minute, the TreeSteamer© Tunnel model allows for four trees to be steamed at once or continuous across the fields.
By using steam the above ground portion of the tree is heated including leaves, fruit, trunk and branches. The steam is at a temperature high enough to suppress greening disease along with pests like citrus cankers, black spot and more, but not so high that the tree suffers damage.
The TreeSteamer© Trailer model works best with managed groves growing similar sizes of trees as the heat stops the greening process and encourages healthy development. The unit can handle high density plantings at 400 trees per acre in 16 foot rows.
Trees treated with steam have larger fruit, higher brix content and the fruit loss is immense reduced. A lot of citrus diseases have been stopped, because steam kills most bacteria and fungus on contact before it will hurt the citrus tree itself. Other tree species such as olives will be able to survive attacks of bacteria by treatments of steam.
See our website www.ScoringAg-Equipment.com for details on TreeSteamers©.
For more information:
William Kanitz
President
Tel: (+1) 941-926-3400