A University of Georgia scientist has found an environmentally
friendly product nurserymen can use to kill plant diseases.
What is it?
Water.
But this fungus-killing water doesn’t flow from just any
faucet.
It’s electrolyzed water created by a machine that combines water,
electricity and a salt solution that enhances the water’s
properties.
The water-and-salt solution flows through a machine called
an electrolyzed oxidizing water unit. The result is two types
of water: one very acidic and one highly alkaline.
"I’ve tried the acidic electrolyzed water on everything
from begonias to geraniums," said James Buck, a plant
pathologist
working in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.
"It’s very safe for the plants. And it kills fungi in a
matter
of seconds."
Hundreds
of ornamental plants are grown in nurseries across the Southeast.
And nurserymen constantly fight to control diseases that reduce
their plant yields.
"Typically, in just one year, 10 percent of the crop will
be lost to plant diseases," Buck said.
To test the effectiveness of the electrolyzed water, Buck
selected
two diseases to work with: powdery mildew and gray mold.
"In a greenhouse operation, you’re going to have these
two diseases," Buck said. "They’re foliar fungi that
attack the leaves and flowers of plants."
Buck applied the electrolyzed water as a spray and found it
killed fungi much faster than traditional fungicides.
"We’re not trying to replace fungicides," he said.
"But we are looking for alternatives and additional tools
for growers to use. On top of its effectiveness, the electrolyzed
water is also environmentally friendly."
The water kills bacteria and fungi almost immediately. But
it loses its properties over time. "That’s another reason
it would be a popular choice," he said.
Buck expanded his tests to include 25 fungi. And each time
the electrolyzed water killed the fungus in "usually 10 to
30 seconds."
Over the next two years, he plans to broaden his research into
electrolyzed water’s use as a contact fungicide. He’ll do so with
the help of a $123,000 Pest Management Alternatives grant from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
He now plans to find out how much and how often the water
should
be sprayed, which ornamentals it works best on and how its cost
compares to that of traditional fungicides.
Buck’s research may lead to EO water replacing or reducing
the use of chemical fungicides in commercial greenhouses.
"The electrolyzed oxidizing water unit won’t be an
affordable
option for mom-and-pop nurseries," he said. "But large
nursery operators should find the cost well worth the
benefit."
For the past four years, CAES food scientists have been using
the electrolyzed water to kill bacteria on food and sanitize
surfaces
and equipment used in food preparation.
"We’re focusing on finding safe, effective, economical
and practical means of controlling food-borne pathogens as food
moves from the farm, through postharvest operations and onto the
table at home," said Yen-Con Hung, a CAES food
scientist.
"EO water has many applications," he said,
"from
nonthermal food washing and sanitization to water treatment and
general household cleaning applications."
Hung has tested electrolyzed water’s effectiveness for
controlling
food-borne pathogens on plastic kitchen cutting boards, fresh
poultry and lettuce.
"This water drastically cuts down the levels of
Salmonella
and Campylobacter on chicken carcasses," Hung said. "It
would be a very effective addition to chicken processing
plants."
He has found the water effective, too, at removing pathogens
on foods like lettuce that can’t be heated to kill bacteria.
