Fertilizer Pistol 🔫 ( portable hydro cleanser)

[SADE2020]

Greetings from sunny Mallorca!

I saw this in a spanish Instagram profile of s professional orchid gardener, and the post said: "Hey you guys, no more excuse to no fertilize and vitamin your collection because the backpack is too heavy, now you can get this battery fertilizer gun....bla bla bla" ...... And I was like, ❤️ woow I need that, it will save me a lot of time and I heat the pumping.

I ask my sister that happens to have an orchid shop andd she said; "it is all over the internet, especially with China importers", so I went to Aliexpress. (They have it on Amazon for double the price) and got it for $35.

Honestly, the spray intensity is a bit strong for a household, but for a garden or greenhouse is perfect.

[Ray]

Interesting, but be aware that orchids are not particularly good at foliar feeding.

It might be convenient, but unless you’re able to drench the medium, it might be more of an orchid-growing hinderence than help.

[SADE2020]

Originally Posted by Ray

Interesting, but be aware that orchids are not particularly good at foliar feeding.

It might be convenient, but unless you’re able to drench the medium, it might be more of an orchid-growing hinderence than help.

Thanks Ray!! Yes you right. I know.

Maybe I miss the part of being suitable for hanging orchids; vandas and cattleyas in baskets. In my case, they are up-high and try to reach them with enough water with the Backpack Fertilizer is heavy.

However, the flow of water when spraying it is enough to fill those that are in Semi-hydroponics. In my case, wetting the leaves is not a problem because I have a lot of ventilation.

Directly related to your interests, I think it seems useful (always adjusting) the water flow pressure, to clean the clay (lecca) from the surface of some plants. I don't know if it could be counterproductive, but I tried it today and it's fine,

[tmoney]

omg! i would love to see my sigothers face when i start spraying that around the flat!!! hahahah, seroiusly, it would be worth filming for the chuckles alone

[Roberta]

That looks great! I use a sprayer to fertilize (a lot of mounted plants but not everything), I aim at the medium but of course hit leaves too. I figure that any fertilizer on the leaves will get washed into the medium the next time I water. So although the leaves get fertilizer on them, I don't think of it as foliar feeding. It'll get to the roots eventually because watering is from above, too. (It is not "foliar watering" either..., more like "rain" from a sprinkler)

[SADE2020]

Originally Posted by Roberta

That looks great! I use a sprayer to fertilize (a lot of mounted plants but not everything), I aim at the medium but of course hit leaves too. I figure that any fertilizer on the leaves will get washed into the medium the next time I water. So although the leaves get fertilizer on them, I don't think of it as foliar feeding. It'll get to the roots eventually because watering is from above, too. (It is not "foliar watering" either..., more like "rain" from a sprinkler)

Same here @Roberta, I can help to wet the foliar part and the bottom plants get wet as well. In my case, there is water or fertilized sprayed all over, but it gets dry quickly and as you say it will get washed next time.

Anyway, in the professional growers greenhouse, orchids are watered with an overhead sprinkler system. ?¿

[estación seca]

The orchids in the nurseries I've observed are watered with a hose and water wand. The hose usually is connected to an injector system for fertilizer and pH adjustment.

[Roberta]

I'm much lower tech... the sprinklers just dump. Yes, more efficient use of both water and fertilizer the way commercial nurseries do it, but not practical in my yard. And the orchids don't seem to mind. Actually, in nature, they get rained on from above and get their fertilizer that way too.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by SADE2020

Anyway, in the professional growers greenhouse, orchids are watered with an overhead sprinkler system. ?¿

Done more for convenience and time-saving that what is best for the plants.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Ray

Done more for convenience and time-saving that what is best for the plants.

The orchids forgive. The only commercial nursery where I have spent enough time to see watering in action (where I have to get out of the way) is Andy's Orchids. There are sprinklers (actually, high-volume misters) that run automatically on a schedule - depending on weather anywhere from daily in summer to twice a week or so in winter, in the early morning. Everything including the ground is WET. (Adds humidity all day) Fertilizing is from a hose - lots of volume, aimed at the plants so everything gets a bath...not surgically applied to the medium, impossible with 3/4 of a million plants. Deciduous Dens, etc. don't get special winter treatment since they are in with the general population. They are mostly mounted so they dry out, winter watering is less frequent generally, and that seems to work fine. One certainly can't quarrel with the result.

One can be more surgical with a few plants. I don't have as many plants as a big nursery (After I leave Andy's with a full car and an empty bank account, the gaps aren't even noticed) , but I am far beyond the point of being able to give each plant individual attention. The plants don't seem to care.

This Amazon.com looks a lot like the sprayer that SADE shows, for those of us in the US. THis one is powered by a car battery (12V), there are other units that look similar, mostly for more money but still not bad, that use battery power.