hose end sprayer

Top 5 Tips to run the Ortho Dial N Spray

If you're like me, your lawn is the most important part of your home. It's the first thing people see when they pull up to my house and I take great pride in keeping it looking perfect. That's why I use Ortho Dial N Spray – it's an easy and efficient way to keep my lawn looking great all season long! In this blog post, I'm going to share with you my top 5 tips for using Ortho Dial N Spray. Stay tuned!

What Is the Ortho Dial-N-Spray?

The Ortho Dial N Spray is a hose end sprayer designed to make it easier to apply liquid fertilizers, aerators and even insect killers! It’s easy to use too! Instead of mixing garden products with water, you fill its tank with concentrate and attach it to a garden hose. The siphoning action of the hose does the mixing.

Hose end sprayer

To get the right amount of pesticide or fertilizer out of the sprayer and onto the plants, it's important to mix water and concentrate at the mixing ratio recommended on the product's label. Do this by setting the dial on the sprayer to the amount of concentrate recommended for 1 gallon of water. If the label says to mix at 1 tablespoon of pesticide per 1 gallon of water, then set the dial to 1 tablespoon. If the label says to mix at 4 ounces of fertilizer per 1 gallon of water, then set the dial at 4 ounces. As water travels through the spray head, it pulls concentrate from the sprayer at the rate the dial is set to for each gallon of water that passes through.

Tip #1 

Make sure the nozzles are properly aligned. A sprayer won't work if the nozzle isn't in the right position. The water pressure is too strong and it will leak out of the side or worse, break off inside your hose.

Tip #2

Don't spray when it's windy. The best time to spray herbicides, pesticides or fertilizer is when there are lighter winds. This will minimize drift from these chemicals as they move away from your target area and into other places on the field where you don't want them!

Tip #3

Adjust the pressure depending on what you're spraying. To apply at the correct rate, first calculate the size of the area to be treated in square feet. If the label recommends applying 4 ounces of pesticide per 1,000 square feet and your lawn is 2,500 square feet, then add 10 ounces of concentrate to the sprayer. Set the spray pattern to the fan setting to cover a wide area. Apply the product by moving across the lawn at an even pace using long, sweeping motions. Gauge your progress by stopping after you have treated one-fourth of the lawn. Check how much concentrate is left in the sprayer. Adjust your speed so the sprayer will empty at the same time you finish covering the lawn.

Tip #4

Go easy on the chemicals - too much can be harmful to plants and pets. Lucky enough for you, here at Covington we are committed to providing products which are safe for your entire family including your pets so when using our products in the Ortho Sprayer, you won’t have to worry about harmful chemicals! 

Tip #5

Keep the tank clean and stored properly between uses. By keeping your tank cleaned, it avoids the risk of mixing your pesticides and your fertilizers. Residue left in the sprayer can harm plants it is not intended for. Use different sprayers for different chemicals or wash the sprayer thoroughly with warm, soapy water between uses. Allow it to dry before using it again.

How to Use the Ortho With Our Products

The Ortho Sprayer makes it so easy to cover a lot of ground and covers with one simple step. Just pour your desired Covington product into the holding container, twist back on for now - we recommend setting it at 4-6ozs., turn on that hose! Once you start walking (and as long as there's water coming through), this sprayer will automatically spray out enough solution per gallon according to what's going through them which means no more buckets required when doing these tasks around camp/home etc. You can easily apply our Liquid Lawn Aerator with it too! 

Liquid Lawn Aerator

In Summary

The ortho hose end sprayer is a great way to get your lawn looking green and healthy. If you have any questions about how it works or what products are right for your yard, make sure to contact us! We can help you out with anything from fertilizing your lawn to getting rid of pests who might be causing damage. With our expertise in landscaping services, we’re confident that no matter the issue on your property, there will be an easy solution waiting for you when you call. You deserve the best treatment—and so does your home-sweet-home!