Best money I've spent on gardening tools: A Sprayer

I grew some veggies last year and had aphids and spider mites. The spider mites wiped out my garden when the weather got hot and dry.

I didn't have that many plants total, maybe 50 or so of different things throughout the time I planted. Even so, trying to use a spray bottle in one hand and trying to turn leaves over with the other, only to have the bottle stop spraying if turned at the wrong angle, plus all that pumping action made for a tedious, hot, miserable and very ineffective job. Not to mention all the pain of bending, squatting and practically getting carpal tunnel from trying to compress the squirt handle on the bottle.

I've posted this a couple of times within other threads but hopefully more people will read this one and go buy themselves a pump sprayer at Lowe's or somewhere. I paid 18.00 plus tax and it is the best money I've spent. I just bought the cheapest one they had and it works great. It's there with the roundup type sprayers, in that section of the store.

With the sprayer, you have to press on a device (handle thingy) to get it to spray, but it is very easy on the hands.

The sprayer has a wand on it that is about 18 inches long, so you don't have to do near the amount of bending and squatting as with a spray bottle. You just stick the wand into the foilage and it sprays in all directions as once, so you can get underneath the leaves very easily and it is very, very efficient. You can reach up higher with the wand, too, than with a spray bottle.

Using this type of sprayer will save you hours and hours of time vs. a spray bottle and a lot of pain if you are all stoved up like I am, bad back, knees, etc. The sprayer should last for many years. I just fill it half full because it is easier to carry that way, but mine will hold 2 gallons or 2.5 gallons, I can't remember without looking at it right now.

Just wanted to share because I was dreading watching all my plants croak from sucker type bugs that I couldn't begin to get to like I did last year.

great idea Linda. I have 2 of those, one for poisons and one for fertilizers. They are great

I need to get another one. I have one for the poisons. Now I need one for the fertilizers

Darla

you can use the same sprayer for poision and fertilizers if you add one cup soada to your sprayer and spray a little throught the wand to get all the posion out of the hose and wand then let sit 24 hours dump rinse well and carry on. They also sell spray tank nutralizer for the non beliviers. Ernie

My luck and my brain wouldn't remember what was used last. It would just be easier to buy a second and not have to worry about it. Then I'd just need to mark what each one is used for! lol

Darla

funny, even tho i am in zone 5 so different than calif, i started with the big sprayer last year due to spider mites and then later jap beetles.
did soapy water in it in the spring and early summer several times...whole garden area, borders, beds etc. (i have a lot)
i think it really helped. but then i had to get a chemical gun into it when the jap beetles got a little serious.
point of posting, what is the best product for spider mites?

i have a lot of dense alberta spruce in my borders and they are havens for them. the soap helped, but.....
want to use the big gun earlier this year..luckily they do not bother clematis (neither do the jap beetles).....but i can't let my shrubs be eaten......

Neem oil is good against mites

does the neem oil sometimes "burn" plants?

Yes some plants will be burned by water if applied in the heat of the day. So it is best to spray early morning so the plants can dry before the sun gets hot and strong.

I've read that Neem oil acts like a tanning oil, so to speak, and it should be sprayed in the evening after there is no direct sunlight, then it can dry overnight. I managed to burn a rose spraying it with Neem in the morning, the poor thing had some of it's leaf edges burned before the oil managed to dry, so now I spray Neem as the sun is going down.

Edited to add: I've never had a rose burned with water only based sprays like fertilizer when I put them on in the early morning, just the neem oil.

This message was edited Mar 10, 2009 10:58 AM

yes, i am pretty sure i have burned things in the past with a neem oil product. seems reasonable to use it in evening. morning no good as sun come up and fries plant leaves.
need to check out some good buys before spring hits.

Emie
Arm & Hammer backing soda?
Oldude

boy i wouldn't neutralize a tank and use it. can you imagine the devastation round up could bring to your garden if even a trace was left?
not worth the risk with sprayers so cheap!

I agree. One sprayer for herbicides, another for other stuff.

I'm using Stylet Oil this year for aphids and spider mites. It knocked the aphids out after a few applications. First there were zillions, then there were on a few, then less and now I don't see but a stray one here and there.

The Stylet OIl can burn if put on too much, it can build up especially if there is no rain. In hot dry times, spray once every 10 days and best to do it in the evenings.

I think the trick with the spider mites is to not allow them to get a foothold in the first place. The Stylet Oil is organic. No spider mites here yet, but I will stick to a strict regimen to try and head them off at the pass.

Stylet Oil doesn't work for worms, etc. Mainly for sucker types, it smothers them and it also works as a fungicide.

Old Dude yes arm and hammer.

Hey all you naysayers do you think all the crop duster planes are for just one product or several tanks that they change? lol lol they would go broke. I have several sprayers and have been nuturalizing them for fourty some years yes it works, Now for those of you who can't remember what you sprayed last they do make stick on tags you can write on .

I still say just as easy to buy 2 tanks for $18.00 each like I did and write POISON and FERTILIZER on them with black magic marker.....Yes, it was a $36.00 investment, but I'm still using them 10 years later and they never cost me another dime, so I'm not going broke over them as they last darn near forever. I would agree changing tanks wouldn't be cost efficient in a crop duster plane, but crop duster planes are a whole nother ball of wax.

Karen yes go ahead and argue get in the last word its yours

why eweed, a little snippy today aren't you? I would think you would expect people to have varying opinions other than yours on a garden message board, we are all entitled to our opinions sir, and individuals are always, thank God, free in America to make their own decision based on what works for them best, not you nor I. Take a chill

i am with you darkmoondreamer..i am too sloppy and could never rest assured i had cleaned the tank and that i could be destroying years of work, $$ , love with a spray of mistake.

Thanks Clematis....(all drama aside).......an extra tank is $18.00, and yes, I know that times are tough. But a one time investment is not much to provide you with peace of mind that will last you for many, many years. Just rinse out your sprayer and store dry every winter. Ultimately this is your money and your decision, no one way is right but we all have a right to choose what fits us best.

Many times I only need a "bit" of the fertilizer spray....using eweed's method would mean I would have to dump out my excess fertilizer either onto the ground, or buy another storage container for it, rinse with baking soda etc., and then refill with poison. Money would be wasted in dumped supplies, or more containers to put the excess product in. With 2 sprayers, you need never empty them, unless you really, really want to ☺

"Money would be wasted in dumped supplies, or more containers to put the excess product in. With 2 sprayers, you need never empty them, unless you really, really want to "

Yep, this is what I was thinking, since the plants are small,even the gallon that I put in my sprayer has lasted for several weeks now and I still have about half of it left. So it would be an exercise to try and use the same sprayer for both jobs.

I'm going to get another one later on in the season. I think a permanent marker would work fine for marking that plasic container.

if you haven't purchased them yet, maybe you could get one with greenplastic for the non toxic fertilizer or insect stuff (which could be inter-changeable)
and one with red plastic fittings for the toxic do not mix stuff.

just an idea if they were available like that as my sprayer has green fittings and if i get one for weed killer i will try and get one with red for it.

permanent marking pens are usually not permanent on labels in my garden......

i am so paranoid about weed killer on plants i usually buy premixed round up..which i know is a waste of $$.

The one I have now has a black top and wand. So if I can find one with red, that would work great.

Uh oh, I marked all my plant labels with permanent markers, I'll probably be going back out there after the sun has its way with them and have to mark them all again. Next time I'll use a lead pencil, but we didn't have a single one here at the house when I was doing my marking. I used someone's suggestion (can't remember who posted that on here) to cut up a miniblind and use it for plant labeling markers in the pots, that was a very useful and economical idea.

I don't like handling any chemical any more than is absolutely necessary. We used to use the hard core pesticides on my past melon farm (15 plus years ago) and you sure didn't handle that stuff any more than necessary, diazanon (sp?), malathion, the straight stuff you mixed up yourself. Very scary things we used to do back in those days.

yep . my mom was a kamikaze sometime gardener who used to use a lot of chemicals.
i have a fear of them, but wasting money on premix is probably on the "out of style" list.


the permanent sharpies and others last a couple of years but after that they fade on my metal markers and need re doing.

don't even get me going about your climate and being able to garden, we are still dormant and just emerging from the doldrums of winter. at least things are responding to the increased daylight nature is bringing to us....in the final countdown to spring......can't wait!

hehe! I know exactly what you mean about the waiting. I could garden all year here but there is no sun in areas I have to use, so I am in the shade, otherwise, I could really have it going on with the plants.
Everyone around me has full sun but my house shades the area I need to use (tiny space here). I paid close attention this year, to where the sun hit it and when. What a pain.

Have you started any seedlings inside yet? Once I was able to do that, it got rid of part of my garden itch. :) Gave me something to hover over and show the love. Everything I am growing this year is from seeds. Before this year, my idea of gardening was going to Walmart, buying a few tomato plants, etc., shove them into the dirt and hope for the best. Needless to say... didn't get a whole lot of food out of it.

I hope my expectations are not too high this year. If the bugs don't put me out of business, things should go pretty well otherwise. (knock on wood!)