As we all know, water helps a plant to transfer essential nutrients to other parts of the plant. Nutrients from the soil reach other parts of the plant, but without sufficient water in the soil, the plant tends to dry up and ultimately dies. Water is essential for a plant to stand. Dissolved sugar and vital nutrients are carried by water from the soil to different parts of the plant.
There are many types of equipment which helps to water a plant. A watering wand is one such product that allows to water the plant without causing any changes in the volume of water.
What is a watering wand?
There are many garden tools, but one of its kind is a simple tool that looks like a wand used to water plants. It is a wand-like tool. The end of a hose is attached to the handle so that there is no water flow obstruction. The water further reaches the head of the water sprinkler/breaker, and it comes out like rain to water the plants.
The watering wands are also known as watering lance or rain wands. They have a wooden or rubber-coated handle at their end. Depending upon the kind of watering wand, these handles consist of a trigger, or sometimes a shut-off valve is also attached. There is also an aluminum shaft or rod attached over the handle. The length of the wand will depend upon the need for watering. There is a more significant curve at the end of the watering wands, which helps water the plants. You will also find adjustable heads in some watering wands.
Types of the watering wand
There are different types of water wands available in the market. You may find water wands where you can adjust the flow of water where you will be able to spray gentle mist or rain-like water on plants. There are also modern watering wands available that are coated with aluminum and have a handle that looks like walnut.
You will also find wands with different handle lengths where you can adjust the length according to your need. Wands to prevent pain in the hands are also available with a trigger lock.
How do you use a water wand?
The gentle rain-like sprays that come out from the watering wands make it easy and well-known among users. It does not create any problem for the pulverizing and blast seedlings fragile and the newborn plants and tender flowers.
You can water the plants with the help of the long wands of the watering wands at the plant’s base without bowing down, bending, or using any ladder. Plants get a cold shower from watering wands when the temperature is scorching, minimizing drying out and transpiration.
Pesticides like aphids and mites are also sprayed on top of the plants using these wands to spread equally without harming the plants. Just as the name implies, this watering tool is shaped like a wand and designed so that the hose’s end is attached to the watering rods’ handle. This design enables to water the plant like a sprinkler or a rain-like shower.
How do you make a watering wand? Homemade way
There are four necessary steps you need to follow while making a watering wand at your home. It is a straightforward and painless procedure. Let us have a look at the steps:
Step 1:
Arrange the parts needed to make the watering wand such as a 3/4″ female screw-on adapter, 3/4″ copper pipe, 3/4″ male screw-on adapter, coupler, spray head – 3/4″, rubber grip, 45-degree bend, and a valve.
Make two pieces of the copper pipe of 36 inches for the principal handle and 3 inches for the handle’s end. You may decide the measurement according to your comfort. It will be useful for you as a little longer handle will minimize the need to bent down much.
The valve is situated between the hose and the wand, thus enabling a proper flow of water. You can get the spray and the valve from hardware stores, nurseries, or from an old wand. You can arrange the rubber grip from your old watering wand, or you can also replace it with a rubber bike handle. The grip protects the watering wand from getting hot due to the scorching heat of the sun.
Step 2:
The next step is to collect the hose ends. The cooper fittings which you have arranged must be transudate to make a seal that will be watertight. You can use a PVC glue or PVC to replace a copper pipe if you don’t find a transudation copper pipe.
Step 3:
The watering ends must be assembled in this step.
Step 4:
This is the final step, where the wand starts to function. It would be best if you connected the hose and the wand with an adapter. If the wand is more massive, it can be left in the garden when not in use; still, it won’t get damaged like commercial wands.
Your homemade watering wand is ready to be used.
Is it better to hand water or use a sprinkler?
In hand watering, a watering container or a hand-held hose is used to water the plants. The watering container or the hand-held hose is physically held, and this process cannot go on unattended by anyone.
Hand watering requires a lot of energy and is full of a hassle for different reasons. You need to drag the hose first and then water your plants, but unexpectedly your plants will not receive the required water. You need to adjust the quantity of water that the plants need.
Hand-watering is a much tricky job because hand and foliage do watering that must be kept dry by applying the water lightly to avoid bounce up of water and letting the lower foliage remain dry.
Sprinklers distribute the water in the form of rainwater spray. This is most preferably used in gardens and irrigations because water is distributed equally by sprinklers, just like natural rainfall. There are three types of sprinklers available: low volume, medium volume, and high volume sprinklers.
Sprinklers are ideal for all kinds of soil except clay soil. Less use of land because of sprinklers enables more land for gardening or irrigation. Water is distributed efficiently and accurately with high efficiency. You can also add fertilizers and pesticides soluble in water inside the sprinklers, helping spread them equally. It is straightforward to operate and requires no labor cost.
Thus a sprinkler is any day better than hand watering due to all the reasons stated above.
Wand vs. Spray Nozzle? Which is suitable for you?
Water wands and spray nozzles are irreplaceable. Both a water wand and a spray nozzle has a similar function. The priority of a water wand over spray nozzles depends upon the kind of plant you have in your garden, their demand for water, and height. If you have tall plants, then a water wand or a spray nozzle wound not make much difference.
If your garden has low height plants and most of the plants are in pots, then a water wand is the best option as it will save you from bending and crouching. Let us have a look at which one is better.
The water wand is easy to use as it can reach the soil located below the foliage as the wand’s length will help the water coming out to be near the ground, thus preventing splash out. On the other hand, spray nozzles increase the chances of getting the foliage wet if you don’t crouch or bend over.
Spray nozzles waste a lot of water, but watering wands uses water according to the requirement.
In general, a water wand is far better than a spray nozzle when it is about watering the plants. They are easy to use and work very fast to water plants in large numbers without creating any hassle or wasting water.
Conclusion:
The watering wand is much better than any other watering equipment because it has more advantages than disadvantages. It not only helps to water the plants more efficiently, but it also makes comfort for you. For starters, it can also help to save water. Using the wand enables you to distribute water around the area of the plants.
This wand will also help you to spread pesticides and fertilizers equally. They can also help break the soil into the mist, responsible for harming tender and young plants. You must avoid high-volume sprayers and opt for water wands of high-grade quality according to the need of your garden.