how to use the Chapin hose end sprayer?
 

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/02...g?v=1576849903

so i bought this on the recommendation of a board member and it is more complicated than i thought....:rofl:

i wanted to ask if anyone could help me with the correct formulas because all i have done in the past is per gallon but here i have to figure out flow and that is like calculus and then i start shaking and crying.....:biggrin:

please break this down for me

i can tell you the value of the water i want coming out of it but i don't know how to figure that for the little bottle :dunno:

DC-- I mentioned on that other thread how I ended up doing it. I know Ray probably had a stroke. Between mine and Clawhammers 20-20-20 thread, it's probably what put him over the edge and prompted his new thread this morning. :lol:
All good by me and zero offense taken. I never once claimed to be an expert so honestly, I really hope Ray chimes in on this one because I'd love to hear what he says and if vastly different than what I'm doing I might change. Then again, I like the results I'm getting so I might not. :lol: But I am absolutely willing to listen to someone who strikes me as a scientific expert. He might be the Dr. Tony Fauci of orchids! :bowing

I use a similar hose end sprayer (cheapie from Scott's).

We use the 4 oz cap from a pesticide bottle as scoop/measure. Spring/summer/fall, we use full scoop of 20:20:20 (bloom booster in the fall); winter we use about 2/3 scoop. Then we set dispensing ratio on the sprayer at 4.5.

I don't know who calculated this originally, but that was the approach in the rental greenhouse I joined 8 years ago. Original tenants included a couple of well known AOS judges.

With this ratio, we get great growth, and virtually no leaftip 'burn'.

Do you have a TDS meter? Could be a good sanity check once you get it setup. Figure out the TDS of your tap water, your manually mixed fertilizer, and then test the bottle mixed solution to ensure the Chapin is mixing as expected.

I'm with DC... I'm crying and shaking now. And really thought I wanted one of these. Let me know when everyone comes to a conclusion DC, and it's figured out. I can't bear to watch.

The Chaplin sprayer comes from the factory set to deliver 1-7 or 10 tablespoons per gallon, based upon the dial settings. A tablespoon/gallon is a 1:256 ratio. (The orifice to make that teaspoons is screwed into the top, but if you use it to apply fertilizer, you’re probably better off with the tablespoons.)

What you have to do is fill the tank with the proper concentration based upon the dial settings.

Let’s say you want to use a pesticide at 2 teaspoons/gal. That means - for dial setting 1 - that each tablespoon of solution in the Chapin tank must contain 2 teaspoons of pesticide. As there are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon, fill the Chapin tank with 2/3 pesticide and 1/3 water.

Alternately, you could use 1/3 pesticide and 2/3 water and set the dial to deliver 2 tablespoons per gallon - in other words, there are two teaspoons of pesticide in every 2 tablespoons of liquid in the tank.

Same is true of fertilizer. Let’s say I want to apply K-Lite @ 100 ppm N. The manufacturer tells me that takes 2.9g or about 2/3 teaspoon per gallon. To make sure my concentrate doesn’t precipitate and I’m going to need about 10 gallons of solution, I’ll set the dial to 6 (6 tablespoon/gal), add 10 x 2.9 = 29g or 10 x 2/3 = ~7 teaspoons (close enough) of fertilizer powder to the tank, then fill it to the 30 ounce (60 tablespoons) level with water.

Clawhammer - be careful using TDS to check your numbers. Sure, that will tell you if the concentration at a dial setting of 2 is half of that at 1, but it cannot tell you if either one is what you’re seeking. READ THIS

first of all, thank you guys!

here is where i get confused. the mix will be the same regardless of the flow, correct?

I am getting stymied by the adjustment knob because i can kind of control the strength based on the concentration of the mix i put in the bottle.


Or am i over complicating it, just set the dial to any number (7, right in the middle) and then figure out the concentration i want to put in the bottle?

how do you know when it is out of juice too?

i feel like a child, wandering around lost, so forgive what are infantile questions

Thanks Ray, informative article as always. I was suggesting using the TDS meter as a sanity check to compare what the Chapin dispenses to his tap and manually mixed ferts (using the same fert). Just a sanity check, not a way to dial in the Chapin.

It's supposed to be. The Chapin is probably the most accurate about that.

You can control by both/either; whatever is more convenient.

The number on the dial tells you how many tablespoons of the tank mix will be in a gallon of the output. The tank is a quart (64 tablespoons), so can make from 6.4 (dial=10) to 64 (dial=1) gallons of final solution. Pick one and mix for that final volume.

So, if using a full quart of concentrate in the tank:
Setting 1 - add 64x the desired final concentration
Setting 2 - add 32x
Setting 3 - add 21.33x
Setting 4 - add 16x
Setting 5 - add 12.8x
Setting 6 - add 6.4x
Setting 7 - add 9.14x
Setting 10 - add 6.4x

To double the final concentration at any setting, add twice as much to the 32 ounces in th tank, or use the same amount in half the volume, giving you fewer gallons of overall solution.

Teaspoons to add = Final tsp/gal x (64/setting) x (fill ounces/32)

When the tank is empty! Fertilizers at least have a blue dye in them - when the output is no longer pigmented... You can also add food coloring, if you wish.

OK guys, I've re-done my math and I THINK this is what I'm doing. At least it's what I was attempting to get to.

In full disclosure........
My fert of choice calls for 1 tbsp/gl.
I mix 1 tbsp in 1/2 gl of water (effective 2 tbsp/gl) because I go through (4) 16 oz. sprayerfuls of solution in a feeding for all of my orchids.
I set the Chapin on 7 (7 tbsp/gl) thereby giving me (if my math is correct) roughly a 25% or 1/4/tbsp/gl end mix rate that's hitting the plants. Convoluted probably but that's how I figured out how to get to where I wanted to be ( a weak 25% rate) for a weekly fertilizer schedule without having to mix more in the big jug than I would use.

In further disclosure......I alternate 20-20-20 for 2 weeks with 6-30-30 for 2 weeks. I also include Ray's recommended dosage of Kelp Max the first feeding of every month mixed with my regular fert. (which I know he's not in favor of).
Every other feeding I include epsom salt at same rate as fertilizer (again all mixed together). I also include a few drops of a plant safe soap as a binder. In lieu of all the above for one feeding per quarter, I replace regular fertilizer with CalMag at same strength.

There, now you know all my secrets.
Well, almost all :rofl:

amazing info, Ray and KeysGuy...major thanks

I think i have it figured out and i will likely come back to have Ray confirm my math :)

Why would I not be in favor of that?

I thought I recalled reading something some time back where you felt by doing that there was some sort of potential for an interaction that could negate part or all of the content. I remember at the time not understanding how that could be.
If it wasn't you or if I misunderstood (which is always possible), I apologize.
And now I'll have one less thing I don't understand! :D

This involves far less thinking:
Dramm Syphonject
You screw it to the hose bibb, screw the hose onto the other end, drop the small spaghetti tubing into your concentrate bucket, and turn on the water. It needs fairly high flow to proportion properly.

The Web page says it dilutes approximately 1:20 but it actually dilutes 1:16. Numbers frighten people nowadays. There are 16 US Tablespoons (15ml per) in 1 US measuring cup. So if you want a final concentration of 1 Tablespoon per gallon of something, you put 1 cup of that something per gallon of water in the concentrate bucket.

In other words, put 5 cups of something into a 5 gallon bucket, and fill to 5 gallons. Mix. Drop in the spaghetti tubing. Turn on the water. Coming out the hose end is 1 Tablespoon per gallon of whatever you put into the concentrate bucket.

They used to specify 1:16...

I move away from one of those a long time ago because the mixing ratio varies a LOT with changes in pressure and flow.

They are venturi devices, which rely on a pressure drop across the device to work, so if you attach it to your spigot and then add a long, narrow (1/2") hose for watering, the pressure drop across the device is practically zero, and injection is drastically reduced. Larger and/or shorter hoses will have less impact, but it's still a reality.

I "calibrated" mine by filling a gallon "feed" jug with water containing a LOT of food coloring. Upon turning the water on, I filled 5 gallon pails over and over until the feed jug was empty. 16:1 would have filled 3 and a bit, but I saw almost 5, meaning I was at a bit under 1:25. When I went to a longer hose, I ended up with such slow suction that I gave up.

The alternative was to put the siphon device on the delivery end of the hose, but then you're stuck carrying the concentrate around as you water.

How long of a hose made the device unusable? I have a 50' hose (1/2"). I'm interested in this because I hate the Chapin nozzle, which sprays everywhere with the power of a pressure washer. Also the Chapin's flow rate dramatically effects dilution so reducing the flow as a solution would require a lot of guess work / potential risk. Plus I don't want to reduce the flow.

50' of 1/2" hose will render it basically unusable, due to the back-pressure.

I have an old Ortho Dial-and-Spray, with removable disperser, but I think that with the Chapin sprayer you can do what I do:

Get yourself about a 2' or 3' length of PVC pipe. I used 1/2" CPVC, but the spray disperser on the Chapin might require a slightly larger ID. Hold the pipe over the spray nozzle, point the other end into a pot, and pull the trigger. The pipe consolidates the spray into a steady stream that won't disturb potting media and allows you to keep the foliage dry.

I have thought about permanently attaching the pipe to the device, but I use if for pesticide sprays, too. Maybe I'll do that anyway and buy a new one for pesticides.

Thanks Ray, great idea, I'm off to work on that project now. Any way to keep concentrated solution from flowing out of the little holes in the chapin?

I don't use it for my indoor orchids, but I use it frequently for outdoor plants with an open 50' x 1/2" hose and no nozzle. It siphons well. I haven't measured the dilution.

Good to know because I ordered it anyway :) I'll upgrade the hose if I have to.

I also read that I can put it between two hoses to make the length of nozzle to injection shorter to increase the psi

Mixing ferts is the most tedious part of orchid keeping for me for some reason. I just want to water lol

Mix your fertilizer in a large container. I mix 5-10 gallons at a time for orchids. I mix in a 32 gallon plastic trash barrel for plants in pots outside.

What is your grow space Clawhammer? Curious, and you’ve probably said, but I don’t remember...

I grow in a 15' x 15' room in my basement. I recently plumbed in the drainage so skipping the fert mix is the next step in making my life easier

Do you use RO or tap water? Either way, why don't you just water from a large reservoir if you're set up for drainage?

I use tap, our water here in Portland is lower TDS out of the tap than my water was back in Ohio after RO (27 ppm).

I have a hose running into my grow room and that's what I want to use to water because that is the easiest and most effective.

Question though, how are you suggesting getting the water from the res to my plants? Is there some kind of sprayer that I can use directly from a res, maybe with a pump that goes into the res? I have a large rain barrel that would be perfect as a res.

Yup, that's the reason I was asking. I was using a 75 gallon rain barrel before I moved my grow space. Now I have a 70 gallon tote. Let me take some pictures, and I'll get back with ya later today.

Okeydoke. Here's the 70 gallon tote. I'm using it now, as I can fit it under the first shelf at bottom of window height.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...um/Res1_2_.JPG

The RO runs off the sink, direct into the reservoir. You could just fill the reservoir with a hose instead. Note it's reinforced with threaded rod and a board. That's to avoid the bulge effect. On the right side, you see a black no-kink hose. It's connected to a submergible pond pump. Didn't take a picture of the pump, because it's way bigger than you need. It's one I already had and has a ball valve on it to dial it down. No one really needs a 2000 gallon per hour pump to water orchids. :rofl: One end of that hose connects to the pump, the other end is just hose, and what I water with.

The pump is plugged into a remote plug. It's the little rectangular box you see right below the retractable cord reel and it's plugged into one of the reel outlets. There's a hand-held remote with it, and you program for each plug so you can water and turn the pump on/off as you need while watering. It's hard to see, so at the bottom I'll put the info on it from Amazon, where I bought it.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...um/Res1_3_.JPG

I'm in process of hooking up a MistKing to the reservoir to auto-mist a few select plants, and there's a pond mist fogger floating in there that I use instead of humidifier. So the reservoir serves four purposes: water, fertilizer, auto-mist, humidifier.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...um/Res1_1_.jpg

Here's the remote plug:
Amazon.com

WaterWitchin: Thank you so much for taking the time to post this! I actually have all the needed equipment from my discus fish keeping days.

A couple questions:
* Does the fertilizer water in the res get funky over time?
* Is running a humidifier with fertilizer water pose any danger?

By the way that pond mist/fogger you just posted is the answer to my humidifier filling woes!

I use that amount of water weekly at least, so I wouldn't know. Just don't put more water in the reservoir than you plan on using in a few weeks or a month. I used to mix Klite into a gallon jug as a concentrate to use over time, and it never got nasty.

I wouldn't know if it's a danger... I'm not dead yet. :biggrin:

I used to use a separate tank for the mister/fogger, a 20 long aquarium, and a 25 gallon tote for the MistKing, no fertilizer added of course. I'm just using the same reservoir for all as a space saving option.

The fogger probably won't last quite as long, but they're cheap. ($10-12) and you can clean them a time or two before they go belly up. Make sure you get a float for it as well. Here's links to them...

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

The float, of course, is used over and over. When I had it in my basement and it was a large open area I just two of them. Kept the humidity really crankin'

And no problem with the details... that's what we're all here for. Learn, ask, teach.

There are a several ways to do that.

Cheapest: In a 15' x 15' room, you only need about a 25' hose. Just put the Dramm Siphonject in between the "supply" hose coming in and the 25' "irrigation" hose inside.

More reliable: Use an injector pump instead of the venturi device.

Most flexible: Fill the reservoir tank (in which you can mix chemicals) with the hose, use a pump with integral pressure switch to pump the water through your irrigation hose.