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#1
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Water Filter for JayBird Fogger?
Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that
feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other dissolved solids). I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10 gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on. I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible. Thanks, Lori |
#2
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I do not think there is a filter that will help much. Filters remove
suspended solids while it sounds like you have dissolved mineral problems. Water softeners will be little help because they simply replace the calcium and magnesium with other salts. Regular rising of the plants with some sort of acid bath (I have used citric) will help reduce the residue buildup, but spraying your plants with acid water has it own problems. The best approach I have found is to get better water for the Jaybird. RO is great for this but requires a fair sized cash outlay and has maintenance issues as well. Other options include collecting rainwater for the Jaybird or buying water. I can buy a truckload of pretty clean water (1600 gallons I think) for less than $25. Both the rainwater or bought water will require storage, a pressure tank, and a pump. (A RO system will also require these three things as well). Pat wrote in message oups.com... Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other dissolved solids). I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10 gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on. I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible. Thanks, Lori |
#3
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Pat Brennan wrote:
I do not think there is a filter that will help much. Filters remove suspended solids while it sounds like you have dissolved mineral problems. Water softeners will be little help because they simply replace the calcium and magnesium with other salts. Regular rising of the plants with some sort of acid bath (I have used citric) will help reduce the residue buildup, but spraying your plants with acid water has it own problems. The best approach I have found is to get better water for the Jaybird. RO is great for this but requires a fair sized cash outlay and has maintenance issues as well. Other options include collecting rainwater for the Jaybird or buying water. I can buy a truckload of pretty clean water (1600 gallons I think) for less than $25. Both the rainwater or bought water will require storage, a pressure tank, and a pump. (A RO system will also require these three things as well). I agree. Rainwater is pretty easy to collect. You don't necessarily need a pressure tank though. I pump water out of my big tanks (1000 gallon, but you probably don't need _that_ much humidity...) with a sump pump and a hose. You can get big stock tanks at the farm supply store, or just use a 50 gallon trash can (10 bucks or so). The pump I bought at one of those big box stores.I got the biggest one I could afford that had a hose fitting built in (go for convenience!). Maybe 80 dollars. It is pretty powerful. I have a hundred foot hose, and I have to restrict the flow at the end to keep from blowing the plants off the benches. For the Jaybird I might go with a smaller (and not coincidentally much cheaper) pump. Now, I haven't tried to hook this up to a humidifier, but I suspect what I would do is put the pump and the humidifier on the same electrified humidistat. When the humidifier kicks on so does the pump. Rob -- Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren 1) There is always room for one more orchid 2) There is always room for two more orchids 2a) See rule 1 3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more orchids, obtain more credit LittlefrogFarm - Growing the plants Rob likes. ) |
#4
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Rob,
You might want to consider adding a pressure tank. It will be easy to do. They are fairly cheap and will take a lot of wear and tear off the pump, prevent you from running the pump dry, and allow you to control your water pressure. Get the pressure switch with the low pressure cutoff (about $15). Pat |
#5
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You can try a one, two, or three stage filter thingy from Lowes or
Home depot. It still won't stop it all. It would be a bit cheaper than a whole RO system but. The best thing is going to be RO. You allready spent the money on a good mister, might as well protect it with a good water supply. Check out this new thing at: http://www.airwaterice.com/ look under the Hydroponics tab. A whole unit in a can for 200 bucks. dude Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other dissolved solids). I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10 gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on. I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible. Thanks, Lori |
#6
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You can try a one, two, or three stage filter thingy from Lowes or
Home depot. It still won't stop it all. It would be a bit cheaper than a whole RO system but. The best thing is going to be RO. You allready spent the money on a good mister, might as well protect it with a good water supply. Speakin' of which- although he's not written in for a while, John Talpa is our resident orchid-growing water expert. I bought an RO system from him just this past week, and he personally inspected the system between the manufacturer and the customer, and found some parts were missing. They arrived the day before the unit got here- I didn't even know there had been a problem. Better still, I got a "real" RO unit rather than some warehouse hardware store toy. John is at Take out the "spam" and the "REMOVE" to get his real e-mail addy. The address in the header doesn't work. Send no email there. -AJHicks Chandler, AZ |
#7
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While traveling last fall in California I stopped by Fordyce Orchids. There
I saw a FogAmerica humidifier doing a great job in their greenhouse. I've been using it now for about 3 months. I use regular county tap water and have it on a humistat. I no longer get the white residue on the plants like I did with the hermidifier I used previously. I recommend it! Good Growing, Gene wrote in message oups.com... Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other dissolved solids). I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10 gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on. I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible. Thanks, Lori |
#8
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Gene,
I'm confused. If the water supply was the source of the white deposits in the past, and the water supply has not changed, how can a change in the humidifier affect the deposits? I guess that if the new humidifier produces a finer fog, it evaporates quicker - in the air rather than on the leaves - it might give the impression that the deposits are reduced, but unless the water chemistry has changed.... -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info! "Gene Schurg" wrote in message ink.net... While traveling last fall in California I stopped by Fordyce Orchids. There I saw a FogAmerica humidifier doing a great job in their greenhouse. I've been using it now for about 3 months. I use regular county tap water and have it on a humistat. I no longer get the white residue on the plants like I did with the hermidifier I used previously. I recommend it! Good Growing, Gene wrote in message oups.com... Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other dissolved solids). I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10 gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on. I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible. Thanks, Lori |
#9
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Ray...that's a good question.
The Fog America humidifier does produce a very fine mist. It really is a fog. I don't see any residue anywhere so I don't know where the junk in the water goes. All I know is that the gunk is gone....and that's a good thing. Gene PS...now with the MSU Fertilizer I will have huge results! Got it yesterday. "Ray" wrote in message ... Gene, I'm confused. If the water supply was the source of the white deposits in the past, and the water supply has not changed, how can a change in the humidifier affect the deposits? I guess that if the new humidifier produces a finer fog, it evaporates quicker - in the air rather than on the leaves - it might give the impression that the deposits are reduced, but unless the water chemistry has changed.... -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info! "Gene Schurg" wrote in message ink.net... While traveling last fall in California I stopped by Fordyce Orchids. There I saw a FogAmerica humidifier doing a great job in their greenhouse. I've been using it now for about 3 months. I use regular county tap water and have it on a humistat. I no longer get the white residue on the plants like I did with the hermidifier I used previously. I recommend it! Good Growing, Gene wrote in message oups.com... Does anyone know of a type of filter I could place on my hose bib that feeds my JayBird 400 Fogger... that would reduce the amount of white dust and residue (most likely from calcium, magnesium and other dissolved solids). I have a decent amount of water pressure. A simple flow test yields 10 gallons per minute... so I'd need a filter that can withstand that kind of pressure when the hose bib is turned all the way on. I really don't want to invest in an R/O system if at all possible. Thanks, Lori |
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