And 1 tsp of dish detergent in a gallon of water. We mix up the lime sulfur, oil, soap and water in correct proportions and pour into the sprayer. You start at the top of the tree and spray all the bark on the branches and trunk.
The first year we used this sprayer but it was too small for the number of trees we have. We wore ourselves out pumping. You have to push the handle on top, up and down to build up pressure. Plus it didn't hold very much so you wasted alot of time mixing.
Last year we used this sprayer. It is carried on your back and has a longer handle so it is easier to pump up the pressure. It holds more volume as well so you don't have to fill it as often. The down side is the weight on your back while climbing up and down the ladder.
This year we got this sprayer. It runs off a battery so no pumping. Usually you would put it on your quad and drive around and spray. We don't have a quad and it would be impossible to get to all the trees with a quad anyways. The guys rigged up a board on the wheelbarrow for this year and it worked fine enough. We are going to try to find a wagon that will hold the tank and we can pull it around the yard. The pressure on this tank was great so very little ladder climbing was necessary.
Thanks for the informative post, Joan! I've never sprayed my trees with anything before and thought I'd give the dormant oil a try this year. I never got a day that wasn't either rainy or terribly windy, so mine didn't get done again this year. :P
ReplyDelete