Sprays and Sprayers - Everything You Need to Know
Experienced growers usually do not rely solely on conventional watering in the form of nutrient solution applied to the roots of plants, but also use small or large sprayers or atomisers, with which they apply certain nutrition or plant protection as a spray. In this article, you will find out what can be sprayed, with what, and why!
How to spray correctly?
Right at the beginning, it is important to realise that whatever type of product is applied as a spray, its declared effectiveness depends to a large extent on the quality of its application. Inside a growbox, where you can easily create the perfect microclimate, you will not need the following advice very much. All the more reason to keep it in mind when growing plants outdoors (outdoor).
- This point may seem completely obvious, yet some beginner growers consider the small holes through which water flows out of a conventional watering can for manual watering to be spray application. And a quality sprayer to be unnecessary. When using a watering can, the solution immediately runs off the plants, so you would only waste it without any result, and in the worst case you could also damage the vegetation around the given plant. So just to be safe - never a watering can, always a sprayer. We will look at specific sprayers and the principle of how they work a few lines further on.
- Weather and current conditions play a key role when spraying plants in the garden. First of all, always watch out for still air. If you use chemical sprays, the wind can easily carry them to unwanted parts of the garden. If the composition of your spray is purely natural, it is a waste to use it unnecessarily, so spray the garden only when there is no wind. Weather, especially in summer, is also linked to the outdoor temperature. You should not apply spray in direct sunlight or at temperatures above 25 °C. That is why spraying is usually done in the morning or in the evening. Going out into the garden with a spray after lunch is not a good idea. The surface of the plants should be dry during application, so also make sure that it is not still damp and that rain is not expected in the next few hours. In connection with rain, it should be mentioned that some sprays work systemically and others as contact products. While systemic products penetrate to the plant tissues within a few hours, contact products act only on the surface of the plant, so even a light downpour means wasted effort and money again.
- It is worth regularly dismantling and cleaning the sprayer.
- Last but not least, we must not forget to protect ourselves (gloves, goggles, respirator and other protective equipment) when using chemical pesticides, which are toxic. Do not drink, eat or smoke while working with chemical sprays.
Sprayers and atomisers - how do they work and how to choose one?
A sprayer disperses small droplets of the given liquid, which then adhere to the surface of the plants, where they can act in the desired way. Even more sophisticated and effective are foggers (see below). If you choose quality, your sprayer will last for several seasons, during which you will be able to mist, fertilise and protect all your plants precisely and evenly with its help.
A small atomiser is usually used at home for misting houseplants or balcony plants with clean water or for foliar spraying. And if you have a grow tent in which you harvest herbs, fruit or vegetables several times a year, you are surely already thinking that smaller, and above all pressure sprayers will certainly also find practical use inside a growbox, where they will serve you perfectly for foliar spraying!
The smallest atomisers, as you can see in the picture, are usually mechanical (500 ml version). In general, we recommend pressure atomisers more (1 and 1.5 l versions), equipped with a piston pump, a valve in the sprayer head, a lock for continuous operation and an adjustable nozzle for setting the stream. The growbox is also perfectly suited to the 2-litre Garden Highpro PUMPRO. With smaller sprayers and atomisers, you will certainly appreciate how easy they are to clean. In addition, they are lightweight, so handling them is not hard work at all.
Our TIP: Are you among growers who are interested in high-tech tools? Then you will surely be pleased by a new addition to our range, the automatic handheld fogger VAPR Nano Spray Gun. This powerful battery-powered fogging gun brings exceptional comfort and efficiency when spraying any solution or spray. Dosing a large amount of liquid at low pressure creates a typical mist, ensuring better reach and effectiveness of the spray.
Large and backpack sprayers
A pressure sprayer with a volume of 5 or even 20 litres can be strapped to your back, which is a very popular and practical method of spraying when caring for a garden or greenhouse in general. We recommend, for example, the popular Aquaking sprayer.
For greater spray reach, you can use the popular spray gun with an adjustable lance.
The advantages of misting follow from the operation of the above-mentioned new product VAPR Nano Spray Gun, but if you wanted to apply this principle on a larger scale, there is the reliable electronic fogger - atomiser from Aquaking with an output of 1000 W and an effective reach of up to 8 metres!
The purpose and composition of the spray
Now we will explain what can be applied to plants through a sprayer or atomiser.
- Clean water: Used mainly in small mechanical atomisers for misting houseplants.
- Fertilisers: For some products, or in our articles about them, you will find a mention that they are suitable not only for use in watering, but also as a foliar spray. Foliar feeding has the advantage, as an extra-root, supplementary plant nutrition, that you supply the plant with the necessary nutrients immediately. A good example is the 100% organic spray biostimulant Biotabs Boom Boom Spray. In the case of organic products, plant nutrition and protection can be applied at the same time.
- Protection against pests and diseases: Herbicides against weeds and moss, fungicides against moulds, and insecticides against pests. As part of prevention and while the situation allows it, definitely prefer biological products. Chemical ones should serve purely for extreme situations, when there is no other option. This approach is important for the final quality of the harvest, human health, soil health and environmental protection. More information and plenty of tips on specific products await you in separate articles: How to deal with pests and How to deal with plant diseases. The absolute long-term hit is the universal and 100% natural spray Canna CURE. Unique is the spray BioBizz Leaf Coat, which you can use even during winter, and about which you can read more in a separate article: BIOBIZZ can inspire growers to embrace ecological agriculture. The renowned Dutch brand BioNova developed the bio pesticide NovaFoliar, which not only protects the plant against the action of pests, but also cleans the surface of its leaves with a focus on blocked stomata.
With purely natural products, a combination of plant nutrition and protection in one spray is common. If you would like to ask us anything, we will be happy to advise you at the well-known e-mail address info@higarden.eu.
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