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Old 30-04-2005, 09:33 AM
Timothy
 
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On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 12:31:57 -0400, Robert11 wrote:

Hello:

Just bought that Miracle Gro plastic sprayer that attaches to the end of
the hose.
Comes loaded with their miracle gro fertilizer, also. No idea what the mix
is in the fertilizer.

Have never used this before.

Is it perfectly safe to spray Directly on the flowers and buds of
oramental shrubs, bushes, and small trees ?

e.g., is directly on the flowers of azaelas, etc. safe ?

Any caveats ?

Thanks,
Bob


Good day Bob. The one issue to watch for when using a hose end sprayer to
fertilize with is fertilizer burn. Hose end sprayers are notoriously
horrible at consistent application of fertilizer/pesticide. These devices
are not calibrated to _your_ house water pressure, but to a industry
standard (55/ 60 pounds..etc). Your house's water pressure maybe higher or
lower, which means that the amount of fertilizer coming out the hose end
sprayer is not what the dial says is coming out. People also tend to be
inconsistent in the motion they use to sweep over an area which leads to
some areas getting double/triple the ammount of fertilizer while others
get none.

Another issue to watch for is cross contamination of your water supply.
This can occur when the water pressure drops suddenly and the chemicals
get siphoned in to the main water system. Purchase a check valve or
anti-siphon device that attaches to the hose to advoid the problem.

All in all hose end sprayers waste much of the fertilizer that they are
suppost to deliver. Much of it gets on non-targeted areas and plants or it
just plainly gets over applied. Hose end sprayers are good at one thing
though.... and that's selling fertilizer. If you were to mix the
fertilizer in 5 gallon buckets and hand water, the fertilizer that you
would use would be much less that with a hose end sprayer.

Good luck.

--
Yard Works Gardening Co.
http://www.ywgc.com