How To Use a Hose-end Sprayer

 How To Use a Hose-End Sprayer 

 

 Hose-end sprayers are a great tool for spraying liquid garden products. You need to know a little bit about how they work or you will undoubtedly have a problem with over or under-applying your products.

 A hose-end sprayer is simply a tool that  siphons  out products from a bottle and mixes the product with water for easy spraying . All hose-end sprayers designed for use with  liquid  products (not powders or granules) work in a similar fashion.

 When you turn the sprayer on, water passes through the spray head on top of the bottle and shoots out the other end.  A s the water moves  through the top of the spray head, it creates a suction or vacuum that siphons the liquid product up the tube to the top of the spray head.  There, and  not in the bottle , it mixes with the hose water and gets sprayed out. Most hose-end sprayers have a knob or button that allows you to close off the hole on the siphon tube so you can spray water only if desired. 

 The size of the hole underneath the spray head will determine how many ounces (or teaspoons) of liquid product will be siphoned up for every gallon of water that you spray .  Sprayers will have either just one hole underneath, or they will have multiple holes (or settings) that you can choose from.

Adjustable hose-end sprayers have a dial on top that allows you to choose from multiple hole sizes, ranging from as low as 1 teaspoon per gallon to 8 oz per gallon. 

You can see the black dial on this one.

Adjustable hose-end sprayers allow you play around with different setting or to mix a product with water an exact specific rate if needed.  They generally are very easy to fill and easy to use. And, as you will see below, they allow you to spray out your products faster or slower.

There are numerous adjustable hose end sprayers on the market, with different designs.
 

 Many hardware stores carry their own brand. You can usually find the Ortho Dial N Spray or a Gilmour Select N Spray at one of the big box stores.

Pre-set or Fixed Rate sprayers are usually found on RTU (Ready-To-Use) products. There is just one hole in the spray head so it always siphons out at the same rate. 

An example of a Fixed Rate sprayer is the hose-end applicator we use for our liquid lawn aeration product called  Aerify PLUS , there is a small hole on this that siphons out just 1 1/2 oz of product per gallon of water.    

Since this bottle hold 32 ounces of product you would need to spray 32 gallons of water out over your lawn or garden to empty it.

If you have a hose-end sprayer in your garage that says something like "20 Gallon Sprayer", that tells you it is a fixed rate sprayer that will empty out after spraying 20 gallons of water.  A "10 Gallon Sprayer" empties after spraying just 10 gallons. Our Aerify PLUS sprayer would then be called a 32 gallon sprayer.

APPLYING THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF YOUR PRODUCT

Most garden product labels will recommended applying a certain amount of the product per every 1000 sf. But all hose-end sprayers are set up to siphon out in ounces per gallon- not ounces per 1000 sf. So, how do you go about getting the right amount of ounces per 1000 sf applied?

The key fact you need to know about hose-end sprayers is this:

 

The amount of product that gets sprayed out on a lawn is determined by both the sprayer hole (oz per gal) setting , and by how many gallons of water you actually spray on the lawn as you do an application.

And, because everyone walks at a different speed, sprays a wider or narrower swath and has different water pressure, there is always going to be some trial and error when using a hose-end sprayer.

Here is our advice on how to apply products with either a fixed rate sprayer or an adjustable hose-end sprayer :

1. Before you start spraying, get an approximate idea of the total area (in square feet) that is going to be sprayed. Walk it off heel-to-toe if necessary and measure length times width to get the area.

2. Once you have the total area, figure out how much of the product you should use. For example, if your yard is 4,000 sf and you want to apply our Aerify PLUS  at 4 oz per 1000 sf rate, you want to use 16 oz total on your lawn.

3. Attach your garden hose to the sprayer. Turn your water on at about ½ to ¾ pressure for best functioning of the sprayer. You can turn the sprayer to the Water Only setting while you get the pressure right.

4. If you are using a fixed rate sprayer, turn the sprayer to ON (MIX). If you are using an adjustable sprayer, set it to 1 oz per gallon (for Aerify PLUS) or whatever the recommended sprayer setting is on the label of the product you are using. Walk at a slow to normal pace moving your wrist side to side enough to spray a 6-8 wide swath over the lawn (or gardens). Spray enough to make sure all areas get wet on top. You do not have to soak these areas at this time. You can water it in later.

 

1. After you have sprayed a small area, say ¼ or ½ of the lawn, stop and check to see how much of the product you have used up. Figure out if you have sprayed too much or too little based on how much area has been treated. For example, if you have treated about 2000 sf and you want to apply at 4 oz per 1000 sf, you should have used approximately 8 oz (or 1 cup) of the product.

 

1. If you have used too little, you need to walk at a slower pace when spraying and/or spray a narrower swath. If you are using an adjustable sprayer you can simply increase the spray setting and walk exactly like you did the first time. Test another area re-adjust as needed.

 

If you have used too much, you need to walk faster and/or spray a wider swath. If you are using an adjustable sprayer you can turn it down to a lower setting.  

 

1. If nothing or very little has come out of the sprayer check to see that the siphon tube is still connected. If there is a filter tip on the end of the tube, make sure it is not clogged. Our filter tip can be cleaned out with a large paper clip. 

As we said,  there is always some trial and error when you spray with a hose-end sprayer. Even commercial lawn spray technicians have practice and make adjustments to get their walking speed and spray pattern down correctly. It gets easier after you have done it once or twice.

Hope this has been helpful.

 

Stuart Franklin

President of Nature's Lawn & Garden, Inc

If you plan to copy this, please give appropriate credit to our site  www.lawncaresimplified.typepad.com

 

 

Comments

[Stu]

You fill the sprayer with the product, and then set the dial to whatever rate the label says is needed for your tree issue. Eg, it might say 1 1/2 oz per gallon of water for fungus control. Normally you would spray just enough to wet bark, branches, and leaves if they are out.

[Robin Mrotek]

I have two flowering crab tree and want to use Bonide Fruit Tree Spray using a hose end Ortho Sprayer. The trees are 15 feet high by 15 feet wide. How much Bonide do I place in the sprayer?

[Stuart Franklin]

If the chart says 5 oz per 5 gallons, that is the same rate as 1 oz per 1 gallon. You need to measure your lawn to make sure you don't over or under apply. You might want to practice with just plain water instead of weed killer at first. If the area of weed to be sprayed is small, you could use a pump sprayer mixing at 1 oz per gallon, wetting the weeds well as you spray.

[Frank Streine]

Want to apply Weed Beater lawn weed killer concentrate using Ortho hose end adjustable sprayer. Chart says 5oz per 5 gallon for 1250sq ft. What is the rate set at the adjustable sprayer?

[Jonathan Williamson]

I can't seem to get my adjustable end sprayer to work with seaweed based seasol or powerfeed, even on the maximal setting as the filter keeps blocking. Any ideas?

[Vic Sanniota]

Is there a hose end sprayer that will dispense one part of "wet and forget" cleaner to
five parts of water?

Thank you.

[Stuart Franklin]

I often do it that way myself.  Or if I have some product left in the bottle after 1 spraying I simply add water to the bottle and go over the lawn again

[Ann]

I want to use a sprayer to apply an environmentally friendly deck cleaner. The instructions say to use a hose-end sprayer at a 6:1 ratio of water to concentrate. My sprayer holds 32 oz and has settings in tablespoons and ounces. What setting should I use?

[Stuart]

A gallon has 128 oz in it so the ratio for spraying is basically 1 part weed killer to 128 parts water.

A liter is 1000 ml, so if you divide 1000 by 128 you get roughly 8 ml per liter.

I can't swear I did the math right, but I'm pretty certain.

[David]

I have a dial sprayer and need to apply weed killer at 1 oz. per gallon. The sprayer is calibrated in ml per litre. Do you know how to convert it?

[The Gardener]

Ikike - EBay or amazon will have sellers that ship worldwide. Look for a Ortho Dial N Spray.

[shayke shafrir]

Ikike

I am a gardener living in Israel. I would like to know how I can order various of "Dail-a-Sparay" types/
please inform me.

thank sincerly yours

[Stuart Franklin]

Assuming your sprayer holds 4 cups (32 oz), set it to 3 /12 or 4 oz per gallon to spray it all out in one shot. If you are applying a fertilizer make sure 4 cups is not too strong for the area covered.

[ken]

i have 1000sqf lawn.i need to spray ten gallons of spray on i have a end hose sprayer that gose up to 8oz or 48tsp what seting do i use.iam talking 4cup of ingedents to 10 gallon per 1000 sqf.

[Stuart]

The product is probably siphoning out of the bottle with a darker color or some type of foam as you spray, and will come out as plain water once the product is used up. You may want to put the product in a better adjustable hose-end sprayer that is clear, and use that. Set the dial at 2 oz per gallon and see how that works for you.

[Rose lover]

How do you know when the hose end sprayer is empty? The plastic is not clear and is filled with concentrate from the store. It's for flowers and shrubs. It says it covers 192 roses?

[Stuart]

I don't think the product you are using is designed for a hose end sprayer. There are 128 ounces in a gallon so if my math is correct your 16:80 mix would be something like 25 oz per gallon of water. My guess is you need to use a pump sprayer for your application.

[Linda]

Hello, the application directions say to mix 16 oz. in 80 oz of water. The applicator (multi use hose end sprayer) says to set the dial to rate per gallon. So what would I set it to? The 8 oz, 6 oz, 5.5 oz, 4 oz, etc.

[charles Spinden]

Is there a application rate for lawns placement::For Gilmour 20 gallon lawn sprayer
Such as sf per gallon at a give per seconds at a give wt used ?

OR: Wt:/ tsp per gallons vs sf / syds area per seconds per sf or syds
Is 8 second per syds application standard OK

[stuart franklin]

Everyone walks at a different speed, has a unique water pressure and sprays a narrower or wider swath than the next guy. All that influences how much coverage you get. There is always going to be some trial and error when spraying. If you know how much product you want to use for a given area you can make adjustments to any of the above and get it pretty close. The lawn technicians that work for spraying companies have to work this out in the same way and usually practice with just water in their spray tanks until they get it right.