Hood steaming
Steaming hoods are very easy to handle, they are simply placed on the area to be steamed. In contrast to sheet steaming, labor intensive work steps for putting out the sheets and weighting can be omitted. Furthermore in comparison to sheet steaming more steam can be induced into the soil at the same time period. This leads to a quicker and more effective steaming and hence to cost savings.
However the area per work steps is smaller corresponding to the size of the steaming hood.
In large green houses with stable structure hoods can be hung-up and lifted as well as replaced by pneumatic lifting cylinders. Small and medium size hoods to up to 12m² are relocated manually through a rocker arm system or through special electrical winches.
Steaming with big hoods is in particular suitable for one-man-growers to up to 36m2 steaming area per work step.
In open fields hoods are positioned either manually or via tractor with a special per-stressed 4 point suspension arm. Steaming time amounts to 30 min for a penetration depth down to 25 cm. Hereby a temperature of 90°C can be reached. Variable hood sizes are available in kit systems an can easily be customized to the operational size needed.