A cannister sprayer will be fine. If you have some great way to make enough tea to drench the soil and a good way to put it on, go for it. I just use a tank sprayer with the nozzle set to more of a stream than a fine spray. I just walk backwards across the lawn and wave the wand back and forth to spread it.

I prefer to use the Hozon Brass Siphon tube and about 1 cup of humic acid per gallon of tea. Then apply it through the garden hose. Much easier than filling and dragging a sprayer around, plus the garden hose cleans itself. No extra clean up required.

The Hozon dilutes the tea to 16:1 but that's okay because it's only a medium to transport the microbes to their new homes. It gives plenty of time to distribute microbes evenly across everything including soil drench and foliar applications. It also provides plenty of water for the microbes to swim to where they need to go. It takes about one hour per 5 gallons of tea depending on water pressure and volume.

The humic acid that I add to my brew before distribution is to neutralize the chlorine in my city water. If you're on a well, no worries, but if you're on city water you'll need to add the humic acid to change the chlorine to harmless chloride.

Greenjeans

I have an old Miracle Grow Sprayer. Will this dilute the tea too much if use it to apply to the lawn?

bump for greenjeans... that siphon mixer sounds like an fantastic alternative to a backpack sprayer etc... the humic acid really takes care of the chlorine? Because I'm on city water so that's definitely a big concern....

Thanks!

Hello Coyotewi,/greenjeans

I too am intrigued by the siphon mixer. I also use city water, and I understand that the humic acid added to the brew neutralizes the chlorine during the brewing process, however will it also neutralize the chlorine while being distributed through a garden hose??

P.S... where does one find humic acid?

I make 55 gallons at a time in a big drum, then transfer it to a drum on wheels, use a 12 volt water pump, and a shower head . trail behind my tractor spraying the lawn.

if anyone is interested let me know i will go into more detail

good luck

what happens if you don't dilute the tea? Is it ok to brew some tea in a 5 gallon bucket, then pour it straight from that bucket into a sprayer or watering can, and use it undiluted around the garden and lawn?

This if from Deuley's Compost Tea site.
Using your tea
As a foliar spray, five gallons of tea will cover a full acre of lawn or garden. As a soil drench five
gallons will cover about 10,000 square feet of lawn or garden. It doesnt really matter how much
water you use to dilute and spread the tea. The water is only a carrier. Just remember to stay in
the area to be covered until you run out of tea. I have never heard of any time when too much tea
was used so donÂt worry about over doing it. You can spray tea every day, every week, or
monthly.
HTH

thanks. So its ok to spray it on the lawn undiluted then.

Can the tea be sprayed onto the lawn with a cheap hand held pump sprayer that has a big enough nozzle opening, or do you really need a more expensive diaphragm backpack sprayer? Are the cheaper sprayers that pressurize with a piston instead of a diaphragm ok?

I used a watering can because when some of the holes clogged, some of the other holes were not clogged.

dchall, I know your'e one of the experts on compost. How do you apply compost tea to your lawn?

I tried compost tea many years ago. I didn't see any change so I took my tea brewer apart and never tried it again. Since then I have learned that the aquarium dechlorinator I used is an a fungicide, so that was probably a problem.

To answer your question I used a watering can. I tried it with the 'rain' head on it and that clogged up. I ended up just with the watering can and no shower head.

Figured I'd post this as an FYI, as other municipalities may be doing the same thing, and also may not have the means of notifying all their users.

The original poster of this press release also added the following - I have not verified in any way. This is in regards to the temporary increase in carcinogens: "Last year _after_ the month of chlorine, one
Alexandria official said the water is within EPA
limits on average if you average out the 12 months." I interpret this to mean that for the month, the chlorine amounts exceed the EPA limits. (I'm more than willing to stand corrected if anyone has additional data to add).

I'm posting this as an FYI, as I'm not sure if the increase in chlorine will kill off more organisms than usual if sprayed through a garden hose or other source of city water, even if humic acid is used.

Text of release begins here:

Temporary disinfectant change in drinking water

Annual temporary change helps keep DC, Arlington
County and Falls Church water mains clean

For approximately one month, from April 7, 2008
through May 12, 2008, citizens in the District of
Columbia, Arlington County, Va., and Falls Church
City, Va., (including portions of Fairfax County
served by Falls Church City) may notice a slight
difference in taste and smell in their drinking
water. That taste is chlorine. During this
period, there will be a temporary change in the
chemistry of the disinfectant added to drinking
water at the water treatment plants. The
disinfectant kills bacteria in the water and
helps keep the pipes in the distribution system clean.

The temporary change in water chemistry will not
affect the safety of water for drinking.

The Washington Aqueduct, a division of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, is the organization
responsible for treating the water. The Aqueduct
will temporarily switch the disinfectant it uses
in the distribution system pipelines from
chloramine to chlorine. This temporary change is
part of the regular process used to keep water
mains clean and free of potentially harmful
bacteria throughout the year. This periodic,
scheduled change in disinfectant is a standard
water treatment practice. As always, the
drinking water will be regularly monitored to
ensure that the water delivered meets or is
better than federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards.

People and businesses that normally take special
precautions to remove chloramine from tap water,
such as dialysis centers, medical facilities and
aquatic pet owners, should continue to take the
same precautions during the temporary switch from
chloramine to free chlorine. Most methods for
removing chloramine from tap water are effective in removing chlorine.

Disinfection Byproducts

The short-term use of chlorine in the
distribution system will temporarily increase
disinfection byproducts. Disinfection byproducts
are unwanted chemicals, suspected of causing
cancer and other health effects that are formed
when chlorine reacts with natural material found
in rivers and other water supplies. So that
long-term exposure to disinfection byproducts can
be reduced, chlorine disinfection in the
distribution system is not used all the time (and
chloramine is used most of the time).

It is important to note that the temporary switch
in disinfectant from chloramine to chlorine will
not affect the safety of the water for drinking.
The water will continue to meet federal health
standards. Early concerns that there might be a
link between disinfection byproducts and
miscarriages have not been confirmed by
scientific studies. However, women who are
concerned may wish to use an alternate source for
drinking water during this period.

If your water has a noticeable chlorine taste
during this period, you may be able to reduce the
taste by refrigerating a pitcher of drinking
water overnight. Some customers may notice a
slight change in water color. This discoloration
should also be temporary. Simply run the cold
water from your faucet until the water is clear.
In the unlikely event that your water remains
discolored and cloudy, we encourage you to
contact your local water authority at
703-228-6570 (Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m.) or 703-228-6555 (24-hour).

For those of you who will/want to use a hose end sprayer: I asked Dr. Ingham years ago if a hose filter would remove enough chlorine when using a hose end sprayer.

She said "that should be fine". Don't know about those of you that have chloramine in your water.

I'm new to this, so take it for what it's worth, but I wanted to use a hose-end sprayer for mine too... What I did was run to Lowes and pick up a "whole house filter" for about $30. They have a 3/4" female pipe thread on the in and out. In the plumbing section where all of the brass fittings are, I found a 3/4" male NPT --> female hose fitting, and a 3/4" male NPT --> male hose fitting. Each were about $4. Popped those on either end of the filter and hooked up a water hose to either end. Decided to just leave the filter there permanently so that we can water our potted plants with less chlorinated water.

I have a picture of the setup in the link below...

hi tex_jas, how is the water pressure with that filter in between 2 garden hose?

Hello v1rtu0s1ty,

I no longer have a pressure guage to give you a scientific answer, but I can give you a subjective "the pressure is fine". :)

I know that my pressure here at the house is about 110psi (pretty high). Between my faucet and the hose reel is a 25ft hose, then the chlorine filter, then a 100ft hose. With an Ortho hose-end sprayer at the end of that, I can easily get a stream up to the top of my trees (currently about 15ft). That's just with the unadjustable fan-spray of the Ortho.

In short, I really don't notice any difference in pressure now that I have the chlorine filter in-line. Your mileage may vary, depending on the water pressure at your home.

Using the siphon pump is going to undo a lot of your brewing if you're on city water.

I was thinking of adding the whole house filter, then right after the whole house filter is the hozon bras siphon. I remember, the PSI here in our area is standard which is 55psi. I do have a meter and it does show that it is really 55psi.

I'll just be doing the thumb over garden hose's hole. Or maybe dual ACT source from Ortho at 2oz and from the ACT in the bucket that is being sucked by the siphon.

What do you think folks?

I've considered doing that too... Im having to reload the Ortho way too much!

My only fear is that since the level of the tea won't be visible to me right there in my hand, that it will get clogged in the 5 gal bucket and I won't catch it until I've already sprayed a huge section with pure water. :) I use a paint strainer to filter it, but I was having problems today with the finer silt slowing down and sometimes even stopping the siphon.

I'm still very new to this, so I'm not sure what to think exactly on the chlorine bit, but I still have an opinion :) To me, if the best reply that Dr. Ingham can offer is "that should be fine" then I interpret that as an educated guess and not something that had been formally studied (at least at the time the question was asked of her). If Dr. Ingham is guessing, then I think we all are.

What complicates it for me is that Im not finding very helpful information on how much chlorine is actually removed in these 10-inch filters. The claims are only "reduces chlorine taste and odor". Does it accomplish that vague promise by removing 1% or 99.99% of the chlorine?!? If the latter, then Hozons and hose-end sprayers should be every bit as good as other application methods (in my opinion!).

Suppose the filters only reduce the chlorine by 50% though If you use a Hozon, will the extra few seconds of "mixing time" in the water hose kill more microbial life than if the tea meets the water for the first time in a hose-end sprayer? I read the other day (on this forum I think?) that spraying water removes some of the chlorine (not so much for chloramines though) I believe the reply was regarding water sprinklers and why watering the lawn didnt eradicate the microbial life, so it was implied that it happened fast.

If thats true (I have not read more on that yet) then it seems to me like even if the water is still relatively chlorinated by the time that it reaches the hose-end sprayer, the tea is going to be siphoned up into the water stream and then out in the open air literally a split second later where this further de-chlorination takes place. Will some still succumb to a chlorine death before they hit the ground? I dont know how fast chlorine works, but Ill take a guess and assume that a small percentage will sadly call the molasses I fed them their last meal.

According to an article on gardens.com though, "less than 1/4 teaspoon of good compost tea has been shown to contain over a billion bacteria". By my math, if I make 7 gallons of good tea, that comes to 21.5 TRILLION bacteria per application. If the weaker ones get culled out in delivery, so be it. That just means Ive assembled an army of the strongest!

At least thats what I tell myself! Ive probably been out there spraying 100% chlorinated tap water and 21.5 trillion bacterial carcasses. :)

The advertising for various hose-end filters state they eliminate chlorine an average of 85 percent IIRC.

I notice improvement in disease resistance and plant health using a hose-end filter. I notice no difference when using a back pack sprayer with water that has already been dechlorinated.

Tex Jas's set-up looks great IMHO.

My advice is to get a hose-end filter and try it. Don't get one if (1) you have chloramines in your water or (2) if you're worried that some of the microbes won't survive.

I forgot to post a link to one popular hose-end filter. I have one, and another brand also, they both work fine IMHO.

http://watershed.net/gardengro.aspx

rdak,

I want to purchase a hose-end filter. Have you been pleased with the garden'Gro? I have had Brown Patch disease in my lawn for the past few years, and I water my lawn twice a week. I am thinking I need to get a hose-end filter to hopefully not be killing the good organisms in the soil, when I water. I contacted one company and he said that by the time the water hits the lawn from the sprinkler--the chlorine has been removed.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Betty

I'm hoping to revisit this. I purchased both the garden grow filter and the brass siphon and found that it did not pull my tea at a reasonable rate. I read that the filter reduces pressure to effectively filter the water and I assume that is what prevented the siphon from working well. I tested the siphon without the filter and it worked great.

My question is would a whole house filter likely produce the same effects of is it worth the $35 risk hoping the pressure will be sufficient?

Many Thanks