View Single Post
Old October 26, 2011   #59
JackE
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Woodville, Texas
Posts: 520
Default

Moon --

I called Irrigation Mart once to get some silver plastic when we had TSWV problems with the tomatoes (the reflected light was supposed to deter the thrip). Frankly, I didn't find them all that helpful. They were very busy and real short and curt with me. I got the impresion they aren't much interested in small growers like us. I'm dealing with Dripworks in Calif on this project.

I waded through the Toro instructions (very hi-tech). Is the following right?

The injector installs in the main line on the garden side of the 12# regulator (NOT the high pressure side, right?)

Clear tubing will show me if fertilizer is flowing. It will be blue color in the line out of the injector. When it flows clear, the fertilizer will be done? With the sprayer, I mix 100 gals at a time and have complete control over how much I'm applying per foot of row by regulating tractor speed. But that injector would save us a lot of labor and $4 diesel fuel.

So, if I want to apply 1/4# of soluble fertilizer to each of 12 100' lines in a zone, I put 3# of dry 20-10-20 in the injector tank and run the water until it flows clear. There appears to be settings on the injector - what setting would I use?

I guess what's baffling me on this is how to make sure it's going on the crop uniformly. My wife uses a hose end, suction-type applicator to fertilize her flowers. She puts a pound of Miracle-Gro in it and it comes-out way too strong (real DARK blue) at first and then gradually weakens - no uniformity at all! I'm worried this injector is going to behave like that thing!

Jack

PS - Do you have problems with the soluble fertilizer getting real hard in the bag? We buy a large order once a year to get a good price and within a few months it's hard as a rock - we have to put it in a big tub and beat it with a sledge hammer! This is a very humid climate. We used to use Peters 20-20-20 and it didn't harden as quickly as the 20-10-20 does. We switched to the lower P formula because it was $10 a bag cheaper. There is a worldwide shortage of Phosphorous and it's gone through the roof.

Last edited by JackE; October 26, 2011 at 07:29 AM.
JackE is offline   Reply With Quote