watering and tools

[KateL]

My husband used to be an engineer, so this is my watering system. There are pipes to two spigots and a pressure tank so the water can be delivered at an even pressure in the upper most part of our yard. We hand water; no irrigation or misters. But adding a siphon for in-line fertilizer has saved us a ton of time.

 

[BrucherT]

I carry my trays to the sink and spray them one at a time.View attachment 24894View attachment 24895

Aggh water on Brachy leaves??!?!?!

 

[BrucherT]

to my husband's dismay i caved and bought a pump sprayer like y'all originally suggested. it has cut my watering time down from hours to minutes! he was hoping we wouldn't have to buy and store a new orchid-thing-a-ma-jig in the house, but it is worth 1000x it's space and weight.

Curious to see yours.

 

[merc]

Curious to see yours.

I got a little 1 gallon Solo brand sprayer like Paphlvr posted since I only have a handful of plants. Nothing super big or fancy.

 

[Duck Slipper]

We have 2 like in Paphluvr's post, but only 1.5 gallon size. But we have lots of plants. It takes my GF 5-6 hours for full water and feed days.

Good GF!!

 

[Duck Slipper]

I’ve wondered how everyone handles all the watering and wastewater issues. About two years ago I made this water cart. I bought the cart, chemical tank, hose and battery off of Amazon, and the pump motor from an on line retailer. The tray is custom made by a local heat/air business. I empty the 5 gallon buckets by hand

 

[tomp]

My husband used to be an engineer, so this is my watering system. There are pipes to two spigots and a pressure tank so the water can be delivered at an even pressure in the upper most part of our yard. We hand water; no irrigation or misters. But adding a siphon for in-line fertilizer has saved us a ton of time.
View attachment 25298

Kate, looks like your husband not only was an engineer but still is a fine one. I was/is also and that’s a very impressive system.

 

[BrucherT]

I’ve wondered how everyone handles all the watering and wastewater issues. About two years ago I made this water cart. I bought the cart, chemical tank, hose and battery off of Amazon, and the pump motor from an on line retailer. The tray is custom made by a local heat/air business. I empty the 5 gallon buckets by handView attachment 25440View attachment 25441

This is killer. I have no tech abilities. I would pay you to set this up for me. Just the cart; I handle the waste water by reusing it on nonorchid plants all winter and weed all summer.

 

[Duck Slipper]

This is killer. I have no tech abilities. I would pay you to set this up for me. Just the cart; I handle the waste water by reusing it on nonorchid plants all winter and weed all summer.

Really isn’t a big job. I decided on a battery operated motor compared to 110v so I could use it on outside plants and also all the orchids get moved out for the summer. This motor pumps a rated 3.7 gpm. For indoors I might go a like smaller to keep splashing down, but it is great for outdoors or if you have a greenhouse.
Buy a motor with a pressure switch so you can control it with a hand operated water wand. I use a Dramm 1000 water breaker and tried a smaller breaker but it had to much pressure with this motor and splashed too much.

 

[richgarrison]

Really isn’t a big job. I decided on a battery operated motor compared to 110v so I could use it on outside plants and also all the orchids get moved out for the summer. This motor pumps a rated 3.7 gpm. For indoors I might go a like smaller to keep splashing down, but it is great for outdoors or if you have a greenhouse.
Buy a motor with a pressure switch so you can control it with a hand operated water wand. I use a Dramm 1000 water breaker and tried a smaller breaker but it had to much pressure with this motor and splashed too much.

check tractor supply for the tank and pump setup.. they have some rigs waiting for a battery and a cart... check here i was surprised when i saw how reasonably priced they were...

 

[Djthomp28]

I used tank that is close to this for the main orchid area. Mine is 15 gallons, but 25 would be better. I also have a couple of 2 gallon manual pump sprayers for the auxiliary areas and the occasional chemical application. there is enough room in the bottom of the trays to water in place. generally the water evaporates, but occasionally I have to siphon it out. I water a few things, like baskets and mounts, over a 5 gallon bucket.

 

[Duck Slipper]

check tractor supply for the tank and pump setup.. they have some rigs waiting for a battery and a cart... check here i was surprised when i saw how reasonably priced they were...

I looked at tractor supply and use rigs like that. Probably the best deal. There is a wide variety of pump motors available That you could use when the pump burns up. You will be turning your pump on and off a lot, compared to spraying consantly. That’s what will make your pressure switch go out or just the pump. Then you could upgrade to a better pump.

 

[merc]

We have one of these guys that I tote around with a Gorilla garden cart for watering the outdoor plants where the hose doesn’t reach, which is basically everywhere. Heh. I borrow/steal the battery from our boat’s fish finder device to power the pump/sprayer.

https://www.agcareproducts.com/prod...MImoaEvIH97gIVAz2tBh3w7A4yEAQYAyABEgIlxvD_BwE
This would be overkill for my current orchid setup, but thought I would share because I just looked up prices for a water tank on wheels and they’re ridiculously overpriced, especially on Amazon. I second checking out farm supply stores over big box retailers for more reasonable prices for this kind of stuff.

 

[merc]

I used tank that is close to this for the main orchid area. Mine is 15 gallons, but 25 would be better. I also have a couple of 2 gallon manual pump sprayers for the auxiliary areas and the occasional chemical application. there is enough room in the bottom of the trays to water in place. generally the water evaporates, but occasionally I have to siphon it out. I water a few things, like baskets and mounts, over a 5 gallon bucket.