Desinfecting cultivation floors chemical-free

"Sometimes you might see wet spots occur in the root cloth" Toon Hopmans of Hopmans Verhuur demonstrates. "The cloths are completely silted up. With mosses, with algae. No water can get through anymore, and it's a perfect breeding ground for viruses and bacteria." By letting boiling water seep through the cloths, mosses and algae are actually boiled dead. And because the breeding medium of viruses and bacteria is gone, that development also stops. "You can see that the texture of the cloth is open again," Toon tells. "The permeability of the root cloths improves."

Toon is familiar with the cleansing action of boiling water. In recent years he already developed a cloth washer and a cleaning machine for concrete floors. With the latter, the water is sprayed onto the floor under pressure. For the disinfection of the tray- and cultivation fields he had to get back to work again. "The first hose was too thin, causing too much steam to arise. Now we have found the right proportions and the combination of speed, temperature hose length and working width is ideal for effective treatment."

Toon has now three devices. With the large one, of 120 cm width, things can be sped up. The small one, 45-cm wide, is for the disinfection of edges and corners. "And to get closer to irrigation- and heating pipes, because it cannot move over it." In case of severely polluted cloths it sometimes is necessary to apply the boiling water treatment twice in succession. After that once a year will be sufficient.