Im not sure about a sprayer, but how do you normally water your lawn? Do you use city water? How big is your yard?

I use watering cans for ACT, for other teas I use a siphon hose at the faucet . I donÂt know the answer, so why take the risk. I haven't owned a sprayer that lasted more than 1 year anyway. I would like to use rain barrels, but once again my big ideas where trounced upon by a need to be lazy, ...next year.

Hi skoot cat

I have an irrigation system that uses the city water source. I have approx. 1/2 acre. That leads me to my next question.........will the city water kill off the microherd that is already there?

Go to Petsmart or some other pet store and get a small bottle of Prime. This is a dechlorinator that will remove chlorine, chloramines, and any heavy metals that could potentially kill the bacteria you are trying to grow. Just add it to the water BEFORE putting in the tea. It is very concentrated and a small bottle will last a LONG time. It will be in the aquarium section.

HTH

HTH,
When recomending products we need to pause and ask ourselves how it will react with the organisms. I don't know the ingredients of this product or how it works, but there are only two products recomended for chlorine removal by those in the ACT business. One is humic acid which adds a host of benefits to the soil as well as complexing the chlorine in the water, and the other is ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Prime may very well be ascorbic acid, but without knowing for sure I would be hesitant to purchase it for fear that it may harm the microbes in my brew.

Greenjeans

You could use a hand powered pump sprayer that is often used to spray trees. The intake rests in a bucket and the pump will spray out 30 to 40 feet.

It's close to $50 at Amazon so it might not fit everyones budget.

But, using it makes the question of ... "will my chlorinated city water harm my compost tea?...moot.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trombone Pump Sprayer

I did a little research on the sprayer you mentioned and am a little concerned of the nozzle. I downloaded their catalog in PDF and zoomed in on the nozzle and it looks like it might have a 90 degree bend in it. That's not good for ACT application on any sprayer. You need the nozzle to be a straight through design. The nozzles with the 90 angle create a haven for bio-film build up and can lead to anaerobic organisms living in there and being applied each time you use the sprayer. Also, I'm not 100% certain on this, going from memory here, but I think the 90 degree nozzles also might beat up the organisms a bit. Causing some shredding of the bacteria and hyphae. Also not a good deal.

The best nozzles for ACT application are minimum 400 microns, to allow large fungal hyphae to pass unobstructed, and distribute big fat drops of ACT. If your sprayer is putting out a fine mist you're shredding the microbes as they pass through the diffuser. An impellor pump actually does far less damage to the microbes than using the wrong application nozzle.

Go figure, huh? I'd have thought a pump would beat the hell out of the little guys.

Greenjeans

Here is a link that might be useful: Trombone Sprayer, pg. 19

From what I recall reading it's not typically the bacteria that are so sensitive to damage from sprayer ejection but the fungal hyphae. I use a pump sprayer and try to adjust the nozzle for some big spray drops while at the same time pumping only minimal pressure to keep it easy on the fungi inside. I think you can administer a pretty good beating on the bacteria without killing them off.

True the damage is more so to the larger hyphae, but the big bacteria can also be shredded. At the same time though, even if only a fraction of the large bacteria make it through they reproduce so quickly the damage to the bacteria can be considered irrelevent, but I like to think if I go to the trouble to raise them I'd not want to be killing them if I can help it.

Greenjeans

Good reading, I was wondering about how I'm going to apply my compost tea. I guess I'll have to do a little more research on sprayers. Anyone have info on the 400-micron nozzles?

Well, I use a low tech approach, I put it in a water can and sprinkle it out.

Diluted it goes a long way. If you need more, make more. ??

The people I know who use mass quantities of compost tea use a number 20 nozzle on an ag sprayer. #20 is about 0.18 inches. 400 microns is .0157 inches.

The aquarium dechlorinator I tried was sodium thiosulfate. This chemical is an antifungal agent and at the recommended rate kills all the fungi. My tea wasn't very good.

I apply the way rcnaylor does. Letting your dilution water air out will help with chlorine but not with chloramine.

I am in the process of making my own compost tea for my vegetable production. Have about 7 acres in production. The land has been fallow for 15 yrs and I am using organic practices. Need to be able to spray compost tea on the 7 acres, so hand spraying would be too slow. Is their any recommendations on building a sprayer that will hold enough ACT so I can distribute. Mainly needing info on types of pumps and where to buy the pumps and nozzles. Also any assistance on designing the spray rig would be greatly appreciated!

I saw Paul Tukey use a nifty device that goes between your faucet and hose connection, and has a tube that sits in the tea. It picks up the tea and mixes it with your water.

Now, if I could only find it

I thought I read somewhere that you could add a teaspoon of lemon juice to 5gal to de chlorinate water for compost tea. Has anyone else heard of this?

Mike in Richardson, visit your local farm and ranch store, the one with tractors, and see what they have in 25-gallon sprayers. It is probably a lot easier to buy than to make. Spraying with a normal ag sprayer is too slow, too. That's why the #20 nozzle mod I posted above was made. Aim that stream vertically downward at a piece of steel welded at a 45 degree angle and the stream turns into a fan and disburses as a spray. A JD Gator makes a nice rig to haul the little sprayer. You can dump the full 25 gallons in a few minutes so you have to keep the Gator moving.

Sheikyerbouti, the device you want is called a syphonex. Google it and make some calls to your local garden shops. That device has changed names and suppliers every 2 years for decades, yet the device sold today is the same one I bought back in the '70s.

jcjky, I am not a chemist, but I have some basic understanding. I don't see why lemon juice would have any affect on chlorine.

Worm's Way stores carry the syphonex (about $14 I think).

It wasn't lemon juice. I looked it up it was tang to remove chlorine.

No, it's the vitamin C in Tang or any citrus fruits that removes chlorine. Something I learned from compost tea yahoo group...

Lou, please tell us more about using the Tang or citrus. What is the formula?
Thank you so much --
Sunny

So has anyone gotten any good news about a compost tea sprayer that won't hurt the little buggers, has good spray coverage and adjustability, and holds sufficient amount of liquid?

Just joined GW. Been reading all about AACT for close to a year and am brewing this year. I got the syphonex (at least I think it's the same you are all talking about...brass with black rubber hose) and it works great when attached directly to the faucet. I also bought a chlorine filter for for the hose and when I attach the syphonex to the end of that, it no longer draws liquid from the bucket (or at least way too slow) I assume this is a pressure issue. I'd like to make it work because it is by far the easiest way to do a soil soak. Any good ideas? I've seen more expensive syphons out there but I don't want to take a $50 risk....

On a separate note about the brewer (sorry if I should ask this elsewhere), I ran an air hose from a 40 gallon pump to the bottom of the bucket and attached a T Valve there. I then attached two small pieces (one is 1 inch, the other 3 inches) so they reach different parts of the bucket. I can only get air to come out of one tube. Shifting positions changes which tube it comes out of but I can't get both. I think I could use a gang valve but I'm trying to reduce the amount of tubing going into the bucket and I saw this set up on Duely's brewer for the 5 inch airstones. I did not try equal length tubing after the T Valve...is this my issue? What simple physics issue am I missing?

Many Thanks for all the knowliedge everyone contributes!

Snachs

snachs, Sounds like something is blocking the flow in the syphon and in the pump. Pull all the hoses apart and blow through them to ensure they are flowing freely. Inspect the attachment points and run a wire, pipecleaner or something through them to be sure they are clear.

takadi, the sprayer I described above is specifically designed to keep from harming the fungi.

Are you talking about the # 20 nozzle? Is that attachable to any sprayer? Where exactly do I get that?

If you are going to use a 25-gallon ag sprayer, they should know about nozzles where you purchased the sprayer. Keep in mind that nozzle allows an unusually large stream of tea to flow out. They may look at you funny and ask what you are doing with it. What you are trying to do is not spend all day spraying through a small nozzle.

Actually, I have a pretty small yard, so an ag sprayer is overkill for my purposes. I was thinking of getting one of those backpack sprayers, and I was just wondering if the generic nozzles on those are suitable for this purpose (probably just for a foliar spray). I guess for lawncare purposes, it's probably best for me to just use a really big watering can