By DoMyOwn staff
How do I tell how many ounces per gallon of water to use on my lawn? Getting it right relies on calibrating the equipment you are using appropriately.
Hi, I'm Amber. And I'm Heath. And we're here today to talk to you about how to calibrate your sprayer for a broadcast application for turf care.
Heath: The first thing you need to do is measure out your turf. You need to find 1000 square feet, so what we did is took 30 feet by 34 feet long and that got us to about 1020 square feet.
Amber: Once you have your area measured out, the next step is gonna be to whatever sprayer you are going to use for your application whether it is a herbicide, insecticide, or fungicide, you need to fill it with just water. This is the important first step. We're not adding any chemicals in until we know exactly how much water volume it's gonna take to cover that 1000 square feet. Now, I'm 5' 7” and Heath is 6' 1” - we're both going to be using two different types of equipment. And while in this case we're gonna be applying to the same turf area, you and your neighbor for instance may have a different turf density. So everybody's application is going to be different.
Heath: You wanna keep in mind there are 3 important parts of this - the tip that you're going to be using for your sprayer, the pressure you're using for your sprayer, and most importantly your pace. Try to keep the pace from start to finish. We're gonna show you that with our application and show you how much water was used between myself and Heath.
Amber: Okay so now that we've put our water down on the area that we measured out, let's talk about the differences between my application Heath's. When I did my application I used a 1 gallon pump sprayer. For me, I had to refill my sprayer to get about a gallon and 3/4 of water to cover that entire area.
Heath: For me on the other hand, I walked at a quicker space so it took about a gallon for me to spray the same 1000 square foot area.
Amber: Heath also used a battery operated hand pump sprayer whereas I used a manual hand pump sprayer. This also changes the fact that you'll have a different output rate and flow rate whereas Heath's application is a little more consistent because the backpack spray will keep the flow consistent the whole time he's doing it.
Amber: Once you've done the same steps Heath and I have done, you'll know exactly how much water volume you specifically will use with your equipment for your lawn. This is really key to make sure you are doing an accurate application. So if for instance you have a herbicide that says you need one oz per thousand square feet, you know that whatever water volume you just calculated is is how much water you are gonna put that product into. It's not gonna be an amount per gallon because everybody's lawn is different, the speed at which they walk, and the equipment that they are using. Everything is going to change so you want to make sure you are doing it right to see the results you are looking for.
Amber: As always, if you have any questions you can contact the pro team at DoMyOwn.com and any of our staff would be more than happy to help.
Heath: And if you liked this video, please click the subscribe video and check out our other videos.
Amber: Thanks for watching!
