UV light does not penetrate surfaces, so it could only kill what is on the surface and only what receives the required UV dosage. Any bacterial in shadows created by limbs, leaves, branches, or flower parts would remain untreated, and in the case of fire blight, the rapid multiplication of the cells that escape would probably negate the value of the treatment pretty quickly. I’m not an expert on UV, but I don’t see how it could be made practical in an orchard. UV works best on clear liquids (as water or thin layers of apple juice going by UV treatment lamps) or on flat surfaces where shadowing is not an issue.
Also, from the Wikipedia article about UV-C, which is generally the most effective for killing microbes: "For human beings, skin exposure to germicidal wavelengths of UV light can produce rapid sunburn and skin cancer<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_cancer>. Exposure of the eyes to this UV radiation can produce extremely painful inflammation of the cornea<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornea> and temporary or permanent vision impairment<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_impairment>, up to and including blindness<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindness> in some cases. UV can damage the retina<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retina> of the eye." ******************************************** Dave Rosenberger, Plant Pathologist, Hudson Valley Lab, P.O. Box 727, Highland, NY 12528 Cell: 845-594-3060 ******************************************** On Apr 19, 2016, at 4:55 PM, Hugh Thomas <hughthoma...@gmail.com<mailto:hughthoma...@gmail.com>> wrote: A couple of ideas for you PhD/research types. How about using UV light to kill frost nucleating bacteria, or UV to kill the fire blight bacteria? A light bank could be towed behind a tractor and the trees could be irradiated by UV light. _______________________________________________ apple-crop mailing list apple-crop@virtualorchard.net<mailto:apple-crop@virtualorchard.net> http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
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