Re: Misting Systems

     It's been a while, but I used to do softwood cuttings outdoors under
mist.  If you can't monitor closely, your best bet is an electromechanical
timer, I think.  I used one timer to turn on the system during daylight
hours and another to cycle the mist on for several seconds every few minutes.
     The biggest drawback of that system was that it delivered too much
water on cloudy  (even rainy) days.  Our water has lots of minerals and
iron which built up on the cuttings--it didn't do too much harm to them in
my situation, but I'm sure it didn't help.
     I had the best success with a gadget I built myself.  It used a
cadmium sulphide (cheap) photocell from Radio Shack in a circuit that
turned on the water more often when the light was brighter.  I adjusted it
so that it came on only about once during the night, but about once a
minute when the noon sun was blazing down.  Something like this may be
commercially available, but you might find an electronics hobbyist who
would build you one for a few bucks.

     I bought my electromechanical timers from a firm called Mist-O-Gation.
 I don't know if they are still in business.  Good luck.
  
Bebee

At 05:57 2/27/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear Group,
>We are planning on installing a mist prop bench this year (although we say
>that every year, but this year for sure!) and have been looking into a
>'Mist-A-Matic' control system.
>
>Our situation is that we do not live where the garden/nursery/prop bed will
>be and will not be able to monitor and change the misting with
>temperature/weather fluctuations.  The above mentioned system uses a
>stainless steel mesh, that when wet, is 'heavy' and turns the misting off.
>When evaporation takes place, the mesh is lighter, and therefore rises, and
>turns the water back on again, etc.
>
>We wondered if anyone out there has tried a system like this, and could
>tell us how well it worked  As well as what the pratfalls (in any) are with
>this type of system.
>
>If there is a similar system, or brand that anyone would specifically
>recommend, we would greatly appreciate it.
>
>Thanks for your help,
>
>Bill & Harvey
>SKID Plants  Zone 6  CT  USA
>
>
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