Spraying round-up/pesticides. Sprayer tips?

[Deere Dude]

I have a hard time understanding how that could occur unless he was using FULL STRENGTH roundup type product from the sprayer originally and left a lot of it in the sprayer before the next use. I use weedlkiller (50% glyphosate} at a 3 ounce per gallon of water ratio and it will barely kill crabgrass shoots. Sorry, I do not buy that story.

I use Glysophate and mix 2 oz. or 3 oz. per gal. water. on my big tank sprayer. It kills weeds and almost everything else it touches. Be careful around pines and trees, duh. It is clear so I don't understand why someone wouldn't use that and not worry about coloring.

I have used an adapter with a little container for fertilizing that screws on the end of a garden hose. That type of setup could use coloring.

There must be something I am missing in the story.

 

[dragoneggs]

I don't understand how you end up with colored hands. Don't you wear gloves? Plain old rubber coated work gloves are fine but you can also get military surplus rubber gloves designed for cleaning up a chemical attack. They reach halfway up your arm and offer decent dexterity. Sportsman's Guide used to carry them and they were quite re4asonably priced. In any case, I think you should wear gloves and eye protection when working with chemicals.

Harbor Freight has disposable latex and nitrile gloves in various mil thicknesses. Great for around the shop, painting, chemical handling, etc. I think I have at a box of each they carry. Good habit to get into... I should have myself years ago. Who knows what damage I've done.

 

[xtruckerbob]

A couple of years ago I sprayed my garden with a less than clean sprayer and wounded or kill 200 tomato plants. I went to TSC and bought another 30 (?) gallon sprayer. One is for Round up and the like only, I put a line of bright red paint on it.

 

[dragoneggs]

A couple of years ago I sprayed my garden with a less than clean sprayer and wounded or kill 200 tomato plants. I went to TSC and bought another 30 (?) gallon sprayer. One is for Round up and the like only, I put a line of bright red paint on it.

A nice luxury indeed. I spend a lot of time rinsing my only sprayer.

 

[thatguy]

i had the same issue not knowing them my grass killer was coming out vs cleaning water in the line.. I solved that the last time I cleaned it by running it until i got nothing but air from the hose.. Then I went to use it the next time when the air quite being forced out my new batch of chemicals was flowing.. it seemed to work..

Those that had residual chemicals harm stuff the next time.. How did you clean the tank after the previous spray?

I found a method posted by some university that said to:

does this sound good enough?
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Most injury occurs when switching between crops. The following procedure is recommended when there are no specific cleaning requirements given on the label.
1. Drain the sprayer tank and lines and rinse tank, boom, and lines with water for a minimum of 5 minutes.
2. Fill the tank with clean water and one of the following cleaning solutions per 100 gallons of water:
1 gallon household ammonia
8 pounds trisodium phosphate cleaner detergent commercial tank cleaner (follow instructions) Flush the solutions through the entire sprayer system. For growth regulator herbicides, let the solution stand overnight. Add more water to fill tank and agitate solution for at least 15 minutes and flush through the nozzles. Drain the tank.
3. Remove the nozzles, screens, and strainers and clean them separately in a bucket of cleaning agent and water.
4. Rinse the entire system with clean water.

============

link to article http://www.weeds.iastate.edu/reference/pat30.pdf

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I have 7or 8 sprayers, each one marked for what's in it. Never reuse.

 

[OldMcDonald]

All of you, for your own safety, learn the proper way to store, mix and use chemicals. Also make sure you wear the correct clothing, including breathing and eye protection. NEVER use bare hands to dismantle any piece of equipment that has been contaminated with any agri-chemical. As Dragoneggs says - who knows what damage you may cause yourself. I have personally known people who did do themselves a lot of harm through careless handling of herbicides.

Also learn how to properly clean your equipment. Thatguy's info above looks good.

Your local state agricultural staff will have simple information readily available on what and what not to do and wear.

In most of the world it is essential to have undergone some sort of training course to be allowed to even buy chemicals. Being old, I was exempt until November of last year, when I, and all the other old folks around about had to attend a 3 hour course. Younger folks have been restricted for some time.

There is normally no need to use a dye. It is useful if using a wide sprayer and not following tram-lines. I had such a marker on a 40 foot boom in Australia back in the 1980s, but now use only a 3 metre one between tree rows (or a hand lance) so do not have the need for markers.

Separate sprayers are also a good idea. I have 3 knapsacks for garden use and each is clearly marked for glyphosate (at even very dilute rates it can kill plants) other herbicides and insecticides/fungicides. They are relatively cheap and extremely difficult and time consuming to clean properly.

None of us like being told what to do by "Nanny", but these chemicals are designed to kill things, and have not been tested to see how much it takes to kill a person. Take care.

Off to spray 500 olive trees now against Olive Moth and Olive Fly.

Edit: I should have said that the marker is used to denote the point where the end nozzle has sprayed and is not put in the tank, but uses a sseparate little tank and pump. As already pointed out do not put anything in the tank that is not labelled to be compatible with the chemicals in the tamk. You could end up having to replace most of the fittings, and in a worst case scenario, the whole unit because you have glued up everything.