Visit Summary of a number of Shelf farm walks with Henk Van Gerwen on the Farms of Michael Bergin, Danny Malanaphy, Kieran Walsh and Peter Connolly.
Pre-cool the house with water prior to filling in the summer especially after steaming.
During the summer if temperatures are proving a problem firstly drop the plastic, then supplement and then reduce compost fills.
Put 3 litres of water on the compost at filling to aid cooling during the summer if compost quality is good, and consequently reduce case water by 6 litres.
Control compost temperature during case run to a maximum of 27°C to reduce moisture loss.
Case run watering quantities should reduce towards the end to avoid deep pinning.
Double ruffling will give a heavier pin set for the same break.
If on day 6-7 after breaking when RH is decreased, the pins don’t grow then reduce the Co2 to between 600-800 for 24 hours.
If watermarks appear at small button stage then increase circulation by 10%.
Watering on 1st flush pins is useful only if the correct thinning procedures are adhered too and compost activity is increasing otherwise it will damage quality.
Only water on the day of clearing and not the following day.
Perforated plastic is used in Holland on the bottom shelf to even out airflow across all shelves.
If you are changing to the Dutch Shelves be sure to buy good quality equipment, as there is a lot of poor quality jobs being done at filling and casing due to a poor standard of equipment.
