Trees and gly drift

jlane35

Well-Known Member
For those of you who plant trees near a food plot, how far are you keeping them from the plot? I don’t want to go through all the energy and money and just have them die off from drift. Is there any other precautions besides spraying on a very calm day and keeping the sprayer as close to the ground as possible?
 
I have yet to have gly drift impact on my fruit trees. I don't spray when its too windy not calm though either and I have about a 3' buffer of clover and chicory around the trees that are along the plots. The chicory and clover haven't been impacted by the gly either.

My boomless sprayer jets are 3' off the ground.

When I spray I just make sure that my outer spray is hitting my last soybean row of the plot and not the others mentioned above.
 
That's a very valid concern. Several things can make a big difference;
One thing to watch, you should avoid spraying during a temperature inversion; this refers to when the air at the ground level becomes cooler than higher air, unlike warm air that rises, cool air is dense and remains at the surface. Sprays applied in these conditions can become trapped in this cool air layer and can only move horizontally. Some of the seemingly best weather conditions for spraying are often the worst. For example, around sunrise on a clear, nearly calm morning, air temperature measured 5 feet above the surface may be 4 to 10 F greater than air temperature measured near the surface. Dew should serve as a warning that a temperature inversion may exist. Spraying when the sun shines creates less drift than when it's cloudy, so, sunshine several hours after daylight before it gets windy is a good time to spray.

Another thing to keep in mind is; what spray tips are on my spraying rig? There are tips designed to produce more of a fog, these are bad for spray drift. I am currently using Teejet AIXR11004 nozzles which have air induction technology for better drift management. These are best for systemic sprays like roundup and raptor, which are well suited to coarse droplets, but not quite as good for contact herbicides like Gramoxone.

Wind speeds below 10 mph, and knowing wind direction is a must, but wind is finicky and hard to predict. I declare every time I start spraying the wind kicks up. Keep a buffer zone from the downwind edge of the field if there is a breeze. Driving straight into the wind makes a lot of spray drift. Spray with the wind from the side if you can.

Keeping the sprayer booms lower helps a lot, just don't go so low that there's gaps between the individual spray nozzles. Driving slower leaves less small drift particles hanging in the air behind the spraying rig.
 
Excellent! Lots of great information, I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I will look into the tips available for my sprayer and also what’s currently in use.
 
i may be little overboard, but i have taken like 1/4" plywood 4x8 sheet w/ some door handles attached and had old lady stand in front of apple trees as i went along the edge of food plots.

probably not necessary if you keep the boom low and calm winds, but its all about bonding!
 
i may be little overboard, but i have taken like 1/4" plywood 4x8 sheet w/ some door handles attached and had old lady stand in front of apple trees as i went along the edge of food plots.

probably not necessary if you keep the boom low and calm winds, but its all about bonding!

That’s along the lines of what I was thinking. Just like Brushpile described when spraying around young trees, except he used cardboard.

But what is everyone’s thought on a safe distance? Or is there no safe distance? Is 40 yards plenty of space?
 
That’s along the lines of what I was thinking. Just like Brushpile described when spraying around young trees, except he used cardboard.

But what is everyone’s thought on a safe distance? Or is there no safe distance? Is 40 yards plenty of space?
I would say 40 yds is plenty of space...i would even say 10 yards is probably enough if things are not blowing around. i would think under 10 or 5 yards start enter some danger zone, but then again if really concerned it would not take much to go around edges by trees w/ hand pump sprayer where you can really control any drift.
 
This is what I’m thinking. 97C46F0D-9E3C-4364-BF2A-04B30580CEE3.jpeg

the blue line is my access and the black dot is an enclosed blind. The red box is 2 acres of food plot. And then before the gas line crosses the field at an angle the field has a slight incline and is very rocky. Without measuring I would say it’s 30-40 yards between the two acres and the incline. The remaining flat to the incline is roughly 3/4 of an acre. I would put the trees just before the incline, at that straight line, and put clover and chicory in that 3/4 of an acre before the 2 acre area where I rotate crops.

None of that picture is to scale but I do have each area marked off in the actual field for planting purposes.
 
That sounds safe,don't think I could talk my wife into being a chemical shield.Really very few chemicals have much drift except maybe 24D or paraquat and they may actually start misting off if it gets to hot before they settle
 
i may be little overboard, but i have taken like 1/4" plywood 4x8 sheet w/ some door handles attached and had old lady stand in front of apple trees as i went along the edge of food plots.

probably not necessary if you keep the boom low and calm winds, but its all about bonding!
I hope she had a suit, mask, and gloves.
 
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