The primary goal here is to determine the actual rate of application in gallons of water per acre.
Knowing the gallons of water per acre will allow you to accurately mix pesticides to achieve the labeled rate.
Consistency is key. You may want to do this test a few times to get the most accurate answer.
Travel at the same speed each time and make note of how fast you are walking or how fast your spray rig is moving.
Step 1: Measure out an area to practice spraying. We will use 1000 Square feet.
Step 2: Measure out a few gallons in your sprayer. It is important to know how much water was added.
Step 3: Spray the 1000 square feet with water.
Step 4: Measure how much water was used to spray the 1000 square feet.
Step 5: Multiply how much water was used to spray 1000 square feet by 43.56.
The answer of water used per 1000 square feet multiplied by 43.56 will determine your amount of water used per acre.
Example: If it took 1 Gallon of water to spray 1000 square feet. Multiply that by 43.56 and you get 43.56 Gallons to cover an acre.
You can now take your gallon per acre rate and divide the pesticides' labeled use rate to determine the amount of pesticide needed per gallon of water.
Example:
The pesticide calls for one quart per acre.
One quart = 32 Fl. Oz.
It takes us 43.56 Gallons to cover an acre
32/43.56 = 0.73
0.73 Fluid Ounces of pesticide per gallon of water