Drip Tape Irrigation

JackE · November 28, 2011

Six kids! Lord have Mercy! That's great - but good luck on getting them to do farm work in the times we live in now. My wife and I have two boys and that was more than enough for us to handle! Be nice to your wife and behave - I'd hate to write THAT child support check!

I have a 100 gal trailer sprayer but I rarely use the boom on the back. Mostly I just use the hose and hand gun. With small areas like your's and mine - usually spraying only a few rows or etc - it's not practical to try and use the spray booms. That's for larger, single crop plantings. I'll use the booms if I have a whole acre at once - like pre-emergent herbicide before the tomatoes. I like the direct control I get with the backpack - never completely comfortable with the booms.

The sprayer is invaluable for applying liquid fertilizer - I can apply it most accurately right from the tractor seat using an ordinary garden nozzle and low pressure (20#) - 4 rows on each side of the tractor at a time. It's also good for keeping new seedbeds wet until they emerge and as a water source for mixing pesticides in the field.

Somebody said here a while back that you can't accurately apply pesticides with a back pack. Not true. Most the labels we use have mixing instructions for small areas with the stipulation not to exceed the max per/acre amount. You just have to do the math - An acre is 44K sq ft. but I use 40K for convenience (the error is on the side of safety) so I can do it in my head. So if I have 4k sq ft to treat, I simply apply 10% of the per/acre amount to that area. I have my backpack calibrated to my regular walking speed and can apply it just as accurately as with the spray boom - probably better, because I'm never quite sure just what's going-on back there at the boom - know what I mean? Nozzles plug-up, break, come loose etc - and with the backpack I have eyeball control.

If you don't want to calibrate the backpack by walking speed, you can mix the required amount - let's say the label calls for 6 oz/acre and you have 2.5K sq ft. That's 3/8oz oz to apply. So I put that amount in the back pack, add four gals of water, and make several rapid passes up and down the selected rows until the sprayer is empty. With the boom I'm never "quite sure", but with the backpack I KNOW what I put on there!

I never saw a label that prohibited backpacks as someone suggested here. They are, however, adamant about not exceeding the amount allowed per acre.

Jack

November 28, 2011	#11
JackE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Woodville, Texas Posts: 520	Six kids! Lord have Mercy! That's great - but good luck on getting them to do farm work in the times we live in now. My wife and I have two boys and that was more than enough for us to handle! Be nice to your wife and behave - I'd hate to write THAT child support check! I have a 100 gal trailer sprayer but I rarely use the boom on the back. Mostly I just use the hose and hand gun. With small areas like your's and mine - usually spraying only a few rows or etc - it's not practical to try and use the spray booms. That's for larger, single crop plantings. I'll use the booms if I have a whole acre at once - like pre-emergent herbicide before the tomatoes. I like the direct control I get with the backpack - never completely comfortable with the booms. The sprayer is invaluable for applying liquid fertilizer - I can apply it most accurately right from the tractor seat using an ordinary garden nozzle and low pressure (20#) - 4 rows on each side of the tractor at a time. It's also good for keeping new seedbeds wet until they emerge and as a water source for mixing pesticides in the field. Somebody said here a while back that you can't accurately apply pesticides with a back pack. Not true. Most the labels we use have mixing instructions for small areas with the stipulation not to exceed the max per/acre amount. You just have to do the math - An acre is 44K sq ft. but I use 40K for convenience (the error is on the side of safety) so I can do it in my head. So if I have 4k sq ft to treat, I simply apply 10% of the per/acre amount to that area. I have my backpack calibrated to my regular walking speed and can apply it just as accurately as with the spray boom - probably better, because I'm never quite sure just what's going-on back there at the boom - know what I mean? Nozzles plug-up, break, come loose etc - and with the backpack I have eyeball control. If you don't want to calibrate the backpack by walking speed, you can mix the required amount - let's say the label calls for 6 oz/acre and you have 2.5K sq ft. That's 3/8oz oz to apply. So I put that amount in the back pack, add four gals of water, and make several rapid passes up and down the selected rows until the sprayer is empty. With the boom I'm never "quite sure", but with the backpack I KNOW what I put on there! I never saw a label that prohibited backpacks as someone suggested here. They are, however, adamant about not exceeding the amount allowed per acre. Jack Last edited by JackE; November 28, 2011 at 06:49 PM.