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Today there are many drivers behind why agriculturalists and horticulturalists should be measuring and recording what goes on around them.

With consumers demanding higher quality food and environmental conditions, the need for measurement and monitoring technology will continue to grow. In addition, the need to conserve resources such as soil and water will drive the need to more measurement information technology. For much the same reasons sports land managers including sports and leisure grounds staff have to keep a very close eye on the use of irrigation and nutrients when it comes to managing their environment.

Becker Underwood Uses TDR300

As the Product Development Manager for Becker Underwood my work involves lots of field trials on development of novel wetting agent technology or customer support for current products such as Affinity. In order to carry out my trials I need an accurate, reliable, mobile and user friendly soil moisture probe. I have been using the TDR300 since I brought it from EnviroMonitors two years ago. I am very happy with this bit of kit and would recommend it. It is ideal for what I use it for. It has a range of probe lengths which are easily changed to adapt the equipment to your need. I use the shortest, 3 cm, probes to measure the water content change near the top of the soil profile. The long handle means you don’t have to constantly bend down to push the probes into the soil. The easily removed probes mean they can be quickly removed for transport to avoid potential damage during transit. The TDR300 allows me to make many recordings when in the field and then download them down onto my computer when I am back in the office and analyse the data over a cup of tea. Dr Andrew Brown

Chlorophyll Meters Aid Plant Nutrient Management

In 1998, Mike Thurow, president of Spectrum Technologies Inc. met with Stennis scientists and learned about a new technology the Center had recently patented: a hand-held plant chlorophyll meter developed from Stennis work on satellite sensors. The result of this is Spectrum’s commercial chlorophyll meter featured enhancements to the NASA invention, such as a built-in ambient light sensor, dual high-power targeting lasers, a data logger, and a hardware encasement with a pistol grip for easy use. Click Here to read Chlorophyll Meters Aid Plant Nutrient Management from NASAs Scientific and Technical Information website.

Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects

The Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI) at the University of Sussex is the largest research group in the UK studying honey bees and other social insects the bees, wasps and ants that live in a colony with a queen and workers. LASI research studies the honey bee and other social insects "in the round" addressing both applied and basic questions.

Their Vantage Pro 2 station was installed after being acquired as part of the Sussex Plan for Honey Bee Health and Well Being. Dr Martyn Stenning, Technician for the University of Sussex' Biology and Environmental Science department and Mr Phil Chitty from the ITS support, installed the meteorological station on the roof of the Laboratory. It is hooked up to a laptop inside the laboratory where it will feed information through on a daily basis. Dr Margaret Couvillon said: "The weather station will provide accurate and up to date information for projects on bee health and will be available for the Sussex community at large".

Horti Fair 2009

EnviroMonitors exhibited on Stand 03.0224 at Horti Fair 2009 with Spectrum Technologies. In 2008 the Horti Fair attracted almost 48,000 trade visitors from more than 100 countries in the four days of the event. We had an excellent time meeting key decision makers interested in the quality range of horticultural products on offer at EnviroMonitors.

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