or
HOW ABOUT AN EASY WINTER PROJECT
A few years ago when I pursued two professions and tended to 120 roses, it occurred to me that there ought to be a quicker way to spray my roses, quicker than the old pump for three minutes and spray for five. My sprayer capacity was less than 3 gallons so I would have to mix sprays twice making the project take even longer.
I started to shop around to see what the market offered in the way of a new sprayer for a reasonable price. Reasonable, being the key word here. There did not appear to be anything available in the 6 to 10 gallon capacity electric sprayer for under $250. I found this to be somewhat unreasonable.
I was looking for something very portable that included NO pumping and no clumsy extention cord. Hose end sprayers were eliminated from my list as they do not disperse spray mixes accurately. So thru the process of elimination, I began searching for the perfect battery operated pump sprayer with a mid range capacity.
I looked thru gardening magazines and The American Rose Magazine. I read ads and I watched sample videos. I posted questions on the infamous Internet but nobody seemed to make the perfect sprayer for that all pervasive "reasonable" price (like under $150).
It seemed to me that a sprayer such as I have described, could not be a very complicated device.
It would need to consist of a pump, a reservoir, a power source, a spray wand, some hose and some sort of rig for carting all this stuff around, plus maybe a few odds and ends from the hardware store. The heart of this project was going to be pump. If I could find a good reliable pump I was in business.
My search ended at a mail order company called Northern (1-800-533-5545). Northern's free catalog also offers assembled sprayers in different forms but with nothing less than a 15 gallon capacity. The subject of my quest was a 12 volt on demand motorized electrical pump for about $80. "On demand", meaning that a pump will automatically turn on and off to hold a prescibed pressure dispersed to the spray hose and wand.
So after a two year search for the perfect sprayer, I sent away for my first component this spring. The next item I needed was a reservoir. I found it while shopping at a Sam's Club in the form of a 6 gallon plastic bucket containing birdseed. I used the seed for my visiting feathered friends and mounted the pump with 4 screws to the lid of the pail. I drilled one small hole in the lid to act as a vent. On the inlet side of the pump, I attached a hose and ran it thru the lid long enough to reach the bottom of the bucket. I installed a barbed pipe thread hose adaptor on the end of the hose, covered it with a small piece of screen and held it in place with a hose clamp, acting as a filter to keep out any debri in my spray mix. On the outlet side of the pump, I attached about 25 feet of 3/8" hose with a spray wand on the end which I had salvaged off my old spayer. I was now past the point of no return as I had canibalized my pump sprayer. No love lost there!! For my energy source, I used a small 12 volt car battery which is readily rechargable with a car battery charger, purchased at any automotive supply store. Don't most of us have one of these around the garage anyways waiting for that dreaded winter day when the cold temperatures win out over the car battery's ability to get up and go? Here was a chance for me to use it in a more positive form. Now I needed something to put my creation on wheels for portability. I found exactly what I needed at a garage sale in the form of a child's wagon. It was an authenic red Hawthorn 800 for the very reasonable price of $15. Not a Radio Flyer but hey, it works for me!!
After putting the components in the wagon and wiring the battery to the pump with a toggle switch incorporated to manually turn the pump off, I was ready to spray. First time out it worked superbly until the bucket got down to near empty and it fell out of the wagon. Just a little top heavy! I used one of those elastic hold-down straps referred to as a bungi cord to remedy the problem by hooking it to the lip of the wagon bed on each side of the bucket. Now the bucket stays with the wagon much better. I have room enough left in the wagon for a second bucket to hold clippings and spent blooms that I am forever dead-heading while spraying. This was a relatively simple project that has worked great for me at the very "reasonable" price range of under $125.
Now when I'm spraying, I often thank my lucky stars, I'm not pumping my fool head off. For anyone who sprays more than 50 roses, you might consider this for a winter project. It will make life a whole lot easier when spraying your roses. If you have any questions as to the assembly described in this article, you can call me during morning hours after 9:00AM at 810-437-6678. Good luck!
Return to My Home Page