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PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 12:59 pm 
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Location: Friendswood,TEXAS
I have a nice back-pack style sprayer that has been used previously with mild chemicals (you know like round-up) :oops: Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can sanitize it for organic use, or is it time to have a ceremony with it, and burn it in the backyard :wink: Also, when using city water for organic recipes will allowing it to sit outside for 24 hours get rid of the chlorine, fluoride and other stuff the city adds or can this be done in less time :?: I hope to catch rain water in the future but am not there yet.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:19 pm 
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Don't worry about it! Use your old sprayer!

Keep in mind that all synthetic fertilizers are just the water soluble forms of the same insoluble forms of the same NPK nutrients in all composting and sustainable fertilizers and soil amendments. Synthetic fertilizers only last about 4-6 weeks, and that is on a good day!

Synthetic herbicides and pesticides and fungicides, normally only last up to 12 months. But still most all are biodegradable. Nothing to fear.

If in doubt, use lots of dry molasses in your future sustainable gardening tea recipes as a soil drench, in order to build up the existing beneficial aerobic microbes and earthworms, in your soil and from your homemade compost batches.

All soil organisms, especially aerobic soil microbes love sugary products.

Keep your soil loaded with plenty of mature compost and natural mulches in the future. Use various compost tea recipes as soil drenches as much as makes sense in your gardening system. With all that stuff working for you, it will totally neutralize all real or imagined fears of "polluting" your soil building system.

Happy Gardening!

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 5:06 pm 
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With all due respect Captain, it is my understanding that the active ingredient(s) in Picloram do not break down that easily. If a cow eats hay that has been treated with Picloram, the manure which comes from that cow, even after composting, is harmful. There have been many orchards wiped out due to the presence of Picloram in the compost used to fertilize them.

If it were me, I would get a new sprayer. You could also get some 35% hydrogen peroxide and dilute it with water (I am guessing 50 parts water to 1 part 35% hydrogen peroxide, but do some research on it first - and be very careful because it will burn you at this strength. Protect your skin, clothes, and your eyes).

check this out: http://ycdi.com/chemicals_greenhouse_field_nursery.htm

Other products could possibly have similar effects. Do be careful.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:04 am 
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In the cases that you mentioned above, did they just use animal manure and/or compost and no other good biostimulants?

Has any one done any indepth studies or research on the continuous use of dry molasses products and special aerobic compost tea soil drench recipes to help neutralize the toxins and pathogens in the soil caused by poor conventional farming practices?


Also what about growing special legume/grass/grain cover crop mixture varieties over the land to help neutralize and balance existing toxins in the soil caused by poor conventional farming practices?

Everytime I garden, I always use my rich homemade compost as a mulch and soil amendment, everywhere on my no-till garden beds. I always use gallons of aerated compost tea recipes as a foliar/soil drench on almost all my crops, as a better "guarantee" that I have the maximum populations of beneficial soil organisms, thriving in my soil and on my plants, for the best plant health and plant protection, that I can have on my sustainable farm.


Good sustainable farming and soil building is not just using compost and not using synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides anymore. It is a complex continous, year round, system of building up the chemistry, biology and physics of the soil, through the use of various composting, cover crop methods, companion planting, etc.

It is all about balance and moderation, along with good common sense wisdom, for respect for the biology in our gardening environment that God created.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:34 am 
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I would wash the sprayer throughly with soap & water, maybe add some orange oil to mix. Vinegar would clean it also. Regarding the city water, 24 hrs. will get rid of the chlorine but the other chemicals, etc. will remain. You could filter the water through one of those charcoal pitcher filters or something similar. If you want to neutralize the chlorine quick, go to pet store & buy the stuff used for aquariums.

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Last edited by khwoz on Wed Apr 12, 2006 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 8:05 am 
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Thanks KHWOZ.

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The entire Kingdom of God can be totally explained as an Organic Garden (Mark 4:26)
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PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2006 8:49 am 
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I am having to make the same decision. I have a pump sprayer that has had RoundUp in it for a couple of years now but I want to go organic and would like to use this sprayer, so I am debating the same thing.

I am kinda leary about using it even after all of the suggestions made because I would use it for spraying aphids and the such on my fruit trees and I would not want to kill my trees and definitely not poison myself or my family.

Honestly, I worked for Dow Chemical for 12 years and I would not trust a single word they say on their products and I am sure that Monsanto is the same way so, if you have not seen any actual tests, throw the bottle away.


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 Post subject: cleaning old sprayers
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:49 am 
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Here's an eye-opener from "big ag" applications.

Having equipment dedicated to organic materials is obviously preferred.

But this is the 'real world' and there is no reason not to use good functional equipment IF it can be cleaned well enough.

Large scale farmers and spray applicators apply organic materials to organic fields immediately after using conventional materials all the time.

Just think about trying to clean an airblast orchard sprayer or Ag Cat spray plane well enough before doing an organic application.
Last thing in the tank was a blend of Roundup and a couple of other herbicides. Yikes!

Not as bad as it sounds because they have to clean & rinse completely every time they switch any materials, conventional or organic.

The key thing is a product called Neutrasol or similar.
Every certifier I know will accept a cleaning procedure like this:
1> flush & rinse previous material
2> fill with Neutrasol, circulate, spray thru all hoses, nozzles, etc
3> then triple rinse, running thru the whole system each time

Obviously best done when the previous material is still fresh and liquid as opposed to any dried on residue.

Not sure of the ingredients in Neutrasol or similar neutralizing rinse agents, never researched that one.

Any time you can go from spraying herbicide to spraying insecticide without any burning from residual herbicide, you know the neutralizer did it's job.

Probably a bit shocking to think of an airplane spraying Roundup before lunch and organic legal spray like Aza-Direct or fish fert after lunch, but that's real life.
Not enough organic business to keep a plane dedicated to it. Same with big row crop sprayers and orchard blasters, many are shared use.

Personally, I'm not 'defending' such sharing, just relating some real world experience.
Myself, I would like to see all dedicated equipment in spite of the effectiveness of neutralizers.

If it makes you feel better, the organic inspectors look at cleaning procedures and records very closely, sometimes performing suprise inspections at changeover or cleaning time.

So, after all that, what about your garden sprayer?

Try a farm fert & chem dealer for a bit of Neutrasol or the equivalent, and "convert" that little death spray machine into a good organic tool. :wink:

Cheers,
Dave


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:14 pm 
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I can not express how wonderful trombone sprayers are! If you need a sprayer, this is the one to get. There are different styles, get one that has a "handle" to move the sprayer in and out. It is worth it!

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The Laws of Ecology:
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