[compost_tea] Backpack Sprayer Comments for Novice Applicator

From: chris reid <reidchris_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 08:53:59 -0400

Thanks for your suggestions about not using a backpack sprayer.

The list has a mix of people on it, from interested homeowners using teas in
their gardens to people such as James who have very large landscape
businesses using teas. Let me provide some context so people can understand
why I would consider a backpack sprayer and also maybe get a flavor for some
of the people on the list who are not large agricultural concerns or major
landscapers. This is the biggest challenge of the list -- to translate what
the big operations are doing into something smaller that I can use.

I am a solo practitioner who does shrub pruning and perennial garden/rose
garden/small landscape maintenance on small properties. Buying the truck
comes first (before the big sprayer), folks, and we ain't there yet! Tea
application is going to be --once I understand firsthand what it can do --
one of a number of things I do within the context of maintaining gardens and
small residential properties. The large scale suggestions are not
appropriate for this year, but I'll keep them on file for the future.

I work in Connecticut, and believe me, there are numerous companies that are
big, pay to have their trucks washed every week so they "look professional"
and wear color coordinated outfits to work on the property. Some of these
companies are good, and some of them are just "looking good". In several
cases, I have come onto the property in their footsteps, and see what has
happened. My focus is more at this point, although small, to invest in
BEING good. Since I know by reputation that James is VERY good, he can add
the icing on the cake and look good too, at this point.

I may not be a savvy businesswoman, but my focus is to know what the heck I
am doing before I inflict it on others and charge money for it. There are a
number of balls to juggle in starting the business -- all the technical info
one must master within the area in which one is working, the tax and
accounting info, figuring out vendors to use, making professional alliances,
developing good sources of information, scheduling, working out rates, to
name a few. I find that by limiting my client list, I can take the
time --my time, not the client's -- to learn, research problems, explore
areas that are new to me, and build a body of information/experience that
makes it easier the next time to do the job more quickly. So as regards
tea, where I am in the learning curve is stark beginner: even figuring out
how to brew a good "cup of tea" and how to apply it thoroughly and correctly
to get the results I want. I can afford a backpack sprayer or other small
sprayer as an investment in learning, and as I learn and see what I can do
and for whom I can do it, I can always trade up.

Backpack sprayers are commonly used around here to make spot applications on
parts of large properties where a truck can't easily go. The property in
question is dozens of acres, and the rose gardens aren't anyplace I'd want
to drive a motorized vehicle anyhow, and I don't think the owner would be
too keen on it.

So when you picture my company's image, imagine: I drive a 10 year old
station wagon, and I wear clean clothes but don't have a snappy outfit to
wear to work. I buy good tools -- hand tools -- and look forward to the day
when I can buy a brand new truck with a logo on it. Meanwhile, to picture
my company's work, imagine: once I take my Taurus off the property, it
looks pretty good (the property, not the Taurus ;). Someday perhaps I'll
read this post and laugh, but the tortoise has spoken.

Now, about that backpack sprayer. I am looking for a small sprayer I can
use to apply tea to small gardens and properties or spot apply to selected
shrubs. Backpack sprayers sometimes have pressure regulators. As far as I
know, small, handheld tank sprayers do not. If the backpack sprayer is
limited to a 70 lb maximum, is the actual pressure important to know (i.e.,
should a regulator be part of my purchase consideration)? Since a backpack
full is more weight than I can easily handle, (I am neither a hoss nor a
hossette), I figured I'd use it half full and refill. Because tea is
applied quickly, from what I have read anyhow, it seems pointless to get a
smaller tank sprayer and have to keep refilling it, but I would like to know
others' experience.

Somebody mentioned that straight wands don't clog as easily as the bent-tip
ones. And somebody also mentioned a good floodjet nozzle from Rittenhouse
that doesn't clog easily. So -- about clogging. In order to spend less
time unclogging things, are there design considerations one should keep in
mind? And what about cleaning -- do certain sprayers clean more easily than
others? Does use of tea tend to make certain features more important to
have, or to avoid?

Kirk and Anne will be delighted that the first thing I did when I began this
reply was DELETE ALL PREVIOUS MESSAGES. Some of you other polite folks who
haven't ranted at me or the list will be secretly delighted as well! Me,
too.

Chris Reid






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Received on Sun Jul 13 2003 - 11:00:19 EDT

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