Weed Management with Electricity

The Rootwave and Zasso Products employ electrophysical technology to generate a high voltage that delivers an electric shock to the targeted plant. This shock penetrates deep into the roots, boiling the water within the plant and destroying its structure immediately. The process also damages the plant's chlorophyll, causing the cells to die and the plant to dry out and perish.

The short answer is yes. The machines all have different power sources, so the emissions vary depending on the model. The Zasso walk behind machine is battery operated, while the rootwave Pro can be operated from different power sources, either petrol or electric. The larger tractor mounted systems use a PTO driven Generator, using the power from the tractor. This is an efficient way to generate the power, as the tractor will be running anyway, creating less wasted emmissions than if the machine is running on it's own separate power source.

The electricity used to do the heating could be supplied from any source, including solar energy for example; which makes it possible for the product to be extremely environmentally friendly.

Zasso has a team of experts focused on the environmental behaviour of Electroherb™ (bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, parasites and protozoa). The team is supported by a wide range of independent Research Institutes. Ongoing multi-year results demonstrate that on the population level of soil living organisms no negative effects are measurable.

Further to this you can make this solution more environmentally friendly by following a Weed Prevention Strategy. find out more about Weed Prevention strategies here

Unlike chemicals, electric weeding is not affected by drift. Therefore these machines can be used in moderately windy conditions where chemical could not be used.

It can also be used any time it is not raining. Operating in the rain is not advised. However, you do not have to wait hours or days either side of the rain before you can use the products.

Higher soil moisture can provide a better ground connection, improving efficacy.

This versatility adds many days to the weeding season, where you can be productive and reduces issues such as overspray.

It depends on the size of the machine and the speed you go.

The greater the contact time, the more energy is delivered to the target weed. Electrode contact is influenced by a number of variables: Implement speed: Gradual speed is needed to achieve sufficient contact time. Electrode height: The electrode height should maximize weed contact while minimizing crop contact. Direction: Treating weeds from different directions can reduce shielding of plants/stems from each other Number of passes: Increased number of passes leads to greater contact time per plant.

Most of the tools recommend a forward speed of between 1.5 - 3.0 KM per hour for the best results. On a tractor mounted machine, this can get a large amount done in quite a short time. The Rootwave Pro lance is for spot treating individual plants and is therefore inherently slower at treating large areas.

Notes. Prior to heat weed control solutions it is recommended all sites are cleared of detritus.