Very Cold water in sprayer - Effect on the Chems?

General Fruit Growing
1

I remember discussions about adjusting the PH of the water in the mixing tank.

But, I don’t remember any discussion as to the preferred temp of the water in the sprayer tank. I think that it is also pretty safe to say that hot water should not be used.

However, what about cold water?. How cold is too cold? Well water comes out quite cold. Is there a need to warm it up before adding the various pesticides/fungicides etc.

Thanx
Mike

2

I don’t think cold water would be an issue certainly not well water cold. It might slow mixing if it included something that needed to dissolve like adding ammonium sulfate to Roundup. Even 120F hot water would cool off enough on spraying so as to not bother the plant.

There might be a few special situations where cold water could matter. But I never saw anyone concerned where I used to work. And one guy sprayed experimental and standard herbicides most days all yr around.

3

When I spray roses, I use two chemicals, one is a liquid, while the other is a
powder. I always premix the powder, along with the chemical in hot water,
before pouring it into the sprayer. The hot water helps in the mixing process.
Then I fill the tank with water from the garden spigot. Sometimes the spigot
is hot, while other times it isn’t. It doesn’t really matter to the roses, and I’ve been doing this for over 20 years.
When I spray my fruit trees, I follow the same procedure, with the same results.

4

@fruitnut , @rayrose

Ok thanx. I realize that solids don’t dissolve as well in cold as opposed to warm water.

In re-reading my post I realized that I was inartfull in the way I asked the question. I didn’t clarify what was my concern. I suspect that TOO hot water would have a negative effect on the chemical.

What I was wondering was if there was a negative effect from too cold water.

Mike

5

Mike,

I’ve read it can. Supposedly even letting a tank sit in the sun on a 90+ degree day can warm the water enough to increase degradation rate of some pesticides.

I’m not aware of any issues with cold water, other than the one everyone’s mentioned, slow mixing.