Frustrated with nozzles - any ones you love?

[KathyDC]

I am so frustrated with cheap plastic nozzles. I've had to buy a new one practically every year. The last one I bought, which was not cheap, I bought primarily because its housing was metal and I knew it would not fall apart as fast as some of the ones with plastic bodies.

Unfortunately the part that you squeeze was made of plastic and has just now snapped off right near the top, rendering it virtually unusable.

Can anyone recommend a good nozzle, preferably not plastic, that won't break every time a) the yard guy steps on it or b) I use it for more than a few months at a time? I like the kind of nozzles that have several spray settings.

Thanks,
Kathy

[feldon30]

Have you looked on Amazon at the star ratings for some of them?

[b54red]

I use the Nelson's Heavy Duty Fireman's Nozzle that they sell at Sam's Club. They are about 10 dollars and they don't restrict the water flow so you can water much faster with them and the stream is adjustable. They are very heavy duty and can take a good bit of abuse.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/high-fl...navAction=push

Bill

[habitat_gardener]

I use either the cheap fan nozzles (25 cents to $2, on sale), which I can leave at the community garden plots, or the Dramm water breakers, which I love.
http://www.dramm.com/html/main.isx?sub=475
They deliver a lot of water very gently, without disturbing the soil or plant roots. Around here, I've noticed the nurseries all use breakers for watering. There's no splash (so customers don't get drenched) yet you get max water flow. It's the most efficient way to hand water, and the best way to get under tomato leaves and make sure everything under the monster kales get some water. The only problem with the breakers is that when water pressure is very low, they don't work well. (But that's probably not going to be a problem at a home garden.)

I have a collection of nozzles and find that I almost always use only one spray setting on them, so I've stopped buying that kind of nozzle. The gentlest spray setting is not as gentle and doesn't deliver as much water as a breaker, and the output can't be directed as precisely as you can with a breaker. I sometimes use the mist setting for watering seed flats. I've played around with the other settings, but I haven't found any practical uses for them. They're either too harsh or too unfocused. Once the seeds are up, I use a kitchen baster to deliver a small amount of water exactly where I want it to each cell or pot.

I always use a flow regulator with any nozzle that doesn't have one. It's that thing that goes between the hose and the nozzle and has a lever to go from off to full flow. Costs a couple dollars. Invaluable when I see a small weed or some little thing that needs to be done and I need to turn off the water.

My soil has a lot of clay, so I can't use anything like a fireman's nozzle. The soil absorbs water slowly, so anything that harsh will just make holes in the soil and run off. At one of the community gardens, a neighbor uses a hardscape nozzle and the soil in her plot has deep gouges. I lost a bunch of garlic that got moldy from getting drenched regularly by her overspray/ splashback. I had to put up a sheet of plastic to keep my tomato leaves from getting drenched!

[tlintx]

I just fill a bucket with water from the hose and pour. Or I take a big paper soda cup (because it bends on one side) and scoop, then pour where I want the water to go. The turkey baster is genius!

I've also never had good luck with any kind of nozzle -- always blasts out or dribbles.

http://www.amazon.com/Dramm-11000-10...d_sim_sbs_lg_2

Those Dramm breakers have great reviews, I may need to pick one up to trial. Do you prefer the plastic or the metal?

This one seems to be even finer, for seedlings:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...cm_cd_asin_lnk

[jerryinfla]

Kathy - Like you, I went through several nozzles before I finally found one that I really like. It's called a Gilmour Metal thumb control adjustable tip nozzle and the only place I've found it is at Lowes. It has a pistol grip, a thumb adjustment for flow control and the nozzle end twists to adjust from fine spray to heavy pour. It's far and away the best nozzle I've ever used and after more than two years of near daily use I've never had to replace it. Here's what it looks like.

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by tlintx

...Those Dramm breakers have great reviews, I may need to pick one up to trial. Do you prefer the plastic or the metal?...

I've bought mine at nurseries, which don't have a great selection. I had a wand (from freecycle) and bought a metal head. Haven't used the plastic heads.

Also note that some of the nozzles are sold separately from the wands. So if the Amazon page just says "nozzle," the wand is not included. One of the reviews mentions using the breaker on the end of a hose with a ball valve (= same thing I'm calling a flow regulator). I haven't tried using the nozzle that way.