"Perfect Uniformity" and “Best Coverage” with Misters & mini-Wobblers

Location:

A & W Annuals, Lake Worth, FL

United States

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Profile

A & W Annuals, Lake Worth, FL

United States

Crop

Flowers

Size

21 acres

Sprinkler Height

mini-Wobblers at 36-inch | Misters at 12-inch

Spacing Between Sprinklers

10 ft

Established

1989

“We found a mist head from Senninger, and it turned out to be the best mist head we've ever seen. It gave us perfect uniformity on the plants. And the Senninger mini-Wobbler has performed so perfectly that our crop is exactly perfect everywhere in the entire nursery. ”

- Eric Aanonsen

A & W Annuals

With Senninger’s Misters and mini-Wobblers, Eric Aanonsen now has more control over the amount of water he applies, so each plant in his nursery receives what it needs at exactly the right time.

The Challenge

Eric Aanonsen started A & W Annuals nursery back in 1989. He produces about 5-million flowers a year, mostly for Southeast Florida. During his 27 years in business, he's tried and tested multiple sprinklers in search of a product that can meet the needs of his multiple flower varieties and installations. “Trial-and-error helps you find which one works best for each situation,” he said.

Eric was looking for a mist head that provided a precise and even coverage. He needed a mister to put just enough water on the leaves to keep them from dehydrating, and would not overwater his cuttings and cause rotting.

He also needed more efficient sprinklers for the plants in his shade house. The sprinklers he was using didn’t provide uniform coverage, so he had to water for a longer time to wet certain areas. That meant other areas were getting too wet.

It was critical to control the amount of water applied so each of his plants received what it needed at the right time.

The Solution

Several years ago, Eric found the Senninger Mister at the FNGLA (Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association) show in Orlando, FL. He tried them and immediately noticed there were no dry spots with these misters, so he changed his entire propagation house to use them.

Eric also tried the Senninger mini-Wobblers and ended up replacing about 10,000 sprinkler heads in the entire nursery. He installed the mini-Wobblers on his existing 10 ft centers and was very pleased with the coverage.

The Result

With Senninger’s Misters and mini-Wobblers, Eric Aanonsen has achieved what he calls the “perfect uniformity” and “best coverage” that he needs to succeed.

“Senninger Misters produce a perfect mist, like a fog almost. That gave us exact coverage without overwatering,” said Aanonsen.

He stated the Mister’s pattern “allows the plant to produce roots and drink water without saturating the soil. The plants need one-to-two seconds of mist only. That's what's nice about the mist heads. They keep an even pressure, so that when the water comes on, all of them come on at the same time, which does not allow you to overwater.”

By improving distribution uniformity and coverage, Misters are allowing him to grow more plants with better root development. Eric explains: “A small house that's only 70 ft by 100 ft, holds over one-hundred-thousand plants. In the mist house, if you lack one-square-foot, that's $50 dollars.”

In the shade house, “Senninger mini-Wobbler has performed so perfectly that our crop is exactly perfect everywhere in the entire nursery,” Eric said. The mini-Wobbler helps the plant get the water it needs. “The other sprinkler heads we used would bypass certain areas, so we had to water it twice as much just to get them wet and the other ones were getting too wet. So, the mini-Wobbler has really helped us to keep uniform watering in our 4-1/2-inch pots.” He can now control the water applied throughout his operation.