Sprayer for fruit trees

[djayz]

I'm looking for a medium sized sprayer, backpack type, to spray my fruit trees (mainly supplementary minerals, organic repellant neem oil, etc.). Any suggestions? I have looked on lazada, but the selection seems very limited (unless of course I typed in the wrong search function). 

About 20 litres is okay, as mentioned above, one I can carry on my back and either powered by a small battery powered motor or by hand is okay. 

I want something reliable. Am fed up of the <deleted> I get at the hardware stores here. 

Thank you for any suggestions. 

[farmerjo]

Djayz,do you have any local drone operators.

 

[IvorBiggun2]

9 minutes ago, farmerjo said:

Djayz,do you have any local drone operators.

I came across 2 guys using a drone to do spraying a few weeks back. Seemed very professional and got maximum coverage.

[kickstart]

Where I am,it how many do you want,try your local agri store that sells fertilizer ,chemicals etc .

Or in Thai, a Ran -gann-ger-set, an agriculture shop that sell hose pipe, rope ect will probably have some strimmers hanging up .

They will have them both hand pump and battery ,as for the quality ,I have had my hand pump now  for some years ,seen plenty of battery one around see a lot  spraying weeds in  cassava fields ,so they should be ok.  

[IvorBiggun2]

Drones are the future IMO. To see how fast they could work and the ground they could cover has to be very cost effective and precise. Also there is no need for workers to get exposed to toxins etc.

[djayz]

Thanks for the feedback. I should have mentioned that I only have a small orchard, 50 - 60 small trees max. Drones would be OTT in my opinion. Besides, I enjoy walking around hand spraying the plants as this gives me a chance to see them up close and check for signs of problems. A 20l backpack would be ideal for me. 

[CLW]

I have same experience as you, the battery electric sprayers sold at DIY stores and local garden stores are absolute garbage. We hade five or so that we bought at several outlets and all returned for cash within a few days because they didn't work.

 

So now for outside we opted for a generic two-stroke petrol sprayer 20 liter (Kanto brand, but other are mostly similar) and a Makita battery powered sprayer 5 liters for the greenhouse.

 

Both work like a charm but to be honest the petrol sprayer is pretty heavy with full 20 liters tank

[drtreelove]

Drones only spray from the top down, which doesn't get important coverage of the underside leaf surfaces. Drone  spraying is okay for field crops and chemical pesticides that kill everything in the vicinity. 

But with an organic program using biopesticides, like botanical insect pest repllents and biological fungicides, and especially foliar fertilizers, the primary target surface should be lower leaf surfaces.  

 

I spray from the bottom up through the canopy. Some spray will blow up through and settle back down on the upper surfaces, but then I back off and mist over the upper surfaces too. Use a light spreader-sticker.  Also, hard to find here, but if applying foliar fertilizer, use a nano-particle fulvic acid adjuvant as a translaminar carrier, otherwise foliar ferts get very little absorption through the stomata and leaf surfaces. 

 

I prefer a hydraulic tank sprayer and dragging spray hose, and avoiding repeated mixing, but a backpack is useful for the type of job you describe.  A simple backpack sprayer is adequate in the short term until your trees are bigger and you need more pressure and height for full coverage. 

 

I prefer hand-pump backpacks over motorized,  because I often sprayed all day with hilly terrain and the weight is more of a factor than any pump action fatigue.  

 

I haven't been in the  market here in Thailand in recent years, but there should be good Japanese, Thaiwanese or Korean design backpack sprayers available, I'll look into it at two shops I know in Chiang Mai when I get back there next week. Limsakdakul and Sriyont.  

[IvorBiggun2]

On 11/3/2022 at 7:08 AM, djayz said:

Thanks for the feedback. I should have mentioned that I only have a small orchard, 50 - 60 small trees max. Drones would be OTT in my opinion. 

No problems. Others may benefit from your question.

[djayz]

In the meantime I've bought a 20l backpack from TOTAL. So far, so good. 

[CLW]

17 hours ago, djayz said:

In the meantime I've bought a 20l backpack from TOTAL. So far, so good. 

electric or gasoline engine?

[kickstart]

AS I said I use a hand pump  sprayer the  only problem I have is the seals get dry makes pumping hard work ,I take them out and put some grease on them ,it really does make the job easier .

I find a full 20 litres too much to carry, I find 15L is plenty ,I tied 2-3 feed sacks folded up on to the sprayer ,gives my back a bit of padding.

[djayz]

On 11/9/2022 at 1:13 PM, CLW said:

electric or gasoline engine?

Elbow grease ????