I have been looking for YEARS for a watering wand that doesn't drip down my arm. Lots of people recommended Dramm, but it leaks. Washer, no washer, I'm halfway soaked by the time I water a few hanging baskets on my porch. Anyone have a non-drippy wand that they love?

Watering can: I have a couple of smallish cans that work just fine. I bought a galvanized 2 gallon can at Menards last year, and it leaked within a month. Returned it, same thing. I am now using it for a planter. I think I'd like a metal can, with a decent sized hole where the water goes in, with a detachable "sunflower" tip so I can pour or sprinkle. I'm open to a plastic can, but every single one I tried is just terrible, the Fiskars one made me so mad I almost threw it today. lol

Do you have a watering wand or can that you love? TIA!

I'm no help; I just bought the Dramm!

As a consolation prize here is one I found which may serve your purposes to water those hanging baskets -
Look for Rittenhouse 8 overhead watering wand:
http://www.rittenhouse.ca/asp/...

I'm not much help here. I've tried them all it seems. Of the wands I only tried a cheap one that was quickly discarded. I have my own fix but the picture is worth a thousand words best not wasted in typing, you have to "see" it. First one took about a half hour, it was the prototype. Second one didn't take much longer but I had practice and wanted something longer lasting. Heavy-Duty real rubber hose attached to my regular garden hose, coat hanger, and a variable adjust spray head. Plenty of gaskets and no leaks, soaked clothes.

I wish someone in China would hire a real engineer to construct a good (plastic) watering can. How hard can it be? Seems most, if filled to capacity, want to water from the fill hole. Nice that the plastic heads unscrew for cleaning, it would be nicer yet if they incorporated an O-ring to stop that annoying dribble. I haven't found a good can in years.

For your amusement: A few years back I found some annuals potted in old-fashioned style watering cans. Plants were in plastic pots and I thought "what a deal" as they were clearance priced, $10 each! And I'm thinking I just bought old-school 2 watering cans and annuals for $20. Woo-hoo! When the paint and blooms had faded I was as happy as could be with my new watering cans. Nope they had been drilled. Easy fix, I plugged the holes and loaded one up with Miracle Grow and started watering. shape and size, balance all good. And the sprinkler head fell off. Pressure fit, no threads. Decorative use only. LOL! The huge fill holes to accommodate the plastic pots should have been a dead giveaway

Both need a re-paint but they were/will be nice planters again. Curious to see what watering cans get the A+, I'll buy one. When I get to baskets I'll dig out my improvised "wand" and post pics.

It never even occurred to me to fabricate a wand. That's pretty awesome. I could bust into DH's duct tape...

But seriously, I'm glad it's not just me.

Celene said:It never even occurred to me to fabricate a wand. That's pretty awesome. I could bust into DH's duct tape...

But seriously, I'm glad it's not just me.

Duct tape would work for awhile. Seriously. First run was zip ties on basic hose and it worked fine. Perfectly fine. I wanted something sturdier. My garage is a mess of furniture, tractors, and commercial turf equipment combined but I'll dig for my "wand" amongst the thousands of pots and other things neglected so far.

Heavy rubber hose, wire coat hanger, pliers.

I found a well-reviewed watering can on Amazon for $85. Seriously? Eighty. Five. Dollars. for a glorified bucket. I'm still shaking my head.

Wes, we're making Ohio proud. I'm a zip tie kinda person, I color code with them. Ditto for duct tape, I have six colors.

I've gone back to using a small bucket dipped from the rain barrel. I won't lay out one more cent for wands that don't work. For seedling trays I use an inexpensive plastic watering can that fills on one upper side. I just lay it over in the rain barrel and it's almost instantly full. No waiting around for the hose to fill it each time. Not good for overhead watering, but works fine at ground level. Easy to clean out if the holes get plugged, and the hose no longer smashes my plants. During dry spells I still use the rain barrel...I just fill it with the hose. Very rarely do I need to drag heavy hoses that kink through the gardens...

@Celene, save your $85 for that watering can.
You can make a DIY watering can using a large plastic container with a handle, similar to the ones use for detergent or cat litter.
Save the lids from about 3 of the same type of container. Drill holes in the lids - smallest holes in one lide for fine watering as for seedlings, medium holes in another lid, and larger holes in the third, Interchangeable lids!

Of course, if you'd rather not DIY, you could always send me the $85, um I mean 85 acorns and I will gladly send you one of these fine plastic 'watering cans' complete with 3 lids.

Sounds like a bargain to me, Greene! My cat litter and detergent come in boxes, but I work at a vet clinic, someone will use the plastic cans. And they're tres elegant!

The first watering 'thingy' that was given to me was made from a flattish juice bottle, like Ocean Spray juices comes in. The lid was peppered with very small holes. Because the bottle is flat it's easy to grab and squeeze with two hands and the 64 ounce capacity easily waters the porch plants in one go. It is also very handy for rinsing suds off a squirmy dog on shampoo day!

I just upped the game by using the larger cat litter container (with the molded handle) which was too darn thick and beautiful to discard or even to re-cycle.

Celene - I swear by my Dramm water wand, hose end sprayer and watering can. BUT - they are all nearly 30 years old. They are fabulous.

I bought a new Dramm water wand 3-4 years ago to put on the back of the house hose. It does not work nearly as well.

I guess even Dramm does not make things like they used to.

I have noticed my old watering can has a little leak around where the handle meets the body, if you push on it just "so" … It's heavy plastic so I am wondering if I could put some silicone or something on it if it gets worse. I LOVE that can. It's perfectly balanced. Has a lovely removable brass end for sprinkling seedlings.

@daylily,
If the hole in the plastic watering can is near the handle, in addition to the silicone, you may want to stabilize the area by using some plastic zip ties/cable ties to prevent flexing. You may also want to cut an extra piece of plastic and silicone it on top of the leaking area to add strength. Gotta keep the old tools working because the new stuff in the stores is....um, crap.

I just bought a sprayer end, not a wand, but it is by Ray Padula. It is the sturdiest and works better than any I have ever used. I have been gardening for decades. Got it at Kmart. I am going back to see what else they have by this manufactor.

A greenhouse operator years ago told me about this spray nozzle.

It does work extremely well. You turn it in a smooth motion to go from fine rain shower to almost a power wash. What I don't like about mine, and they may have changed it by now, as mine is t least 10 years old, is that it does not have immediate on/off. You have to twist it. This does not have "settings" like some hose end sprayers that might have 6 different spray patterns. This is one smooth turn until you get a pattern and flow rate you like. So, each time you twist it off, you have to locate the sweet spot, again, for the flow and spray you want. That is the only downside to this nozzle for me, though.

My workaround for that is to put it on the end of the newer Dramm water wand, then put a shut off valve between the wand and the hose when I need to use it for a lot of watering.

I don't have an irrigation system and have a well. So, I water "by hand" meaning that I go up and down the rows of daylilies with the hose.

This nozzle will put out a lot if water, yet can be set to be gentle on the foliage.

Wonderful tool for power washing dirt from dug up daylily clumps prior to division.

I bought the stainless, and it is heavy!

http://www.bon-aireindustries....

Oh, I have one of those! I have not yet tried it, but maybe now I will get a move on.

I have the wand part of a couple of Dramm wands, but it leaks between the wand and the hose, even with a washer. I love the look of that nozzle.

I tried Macgyver-ing a wand by snaking hose through pvc and putting a non-leaking spray end on it. It isn't pretty. It still leaks down my arm, though.

This won't fix a leaking washer, but there is a cheap and easy way to make any sprayer much more gentle.

Put a pressure regulator on your spigot, or on the hose near your wand or sprayer.

My city water is around 45 psi. When I used an $8, 30 PSI regulator, suddenly all my hand sprayers became gentle.

I'm not patient enough to use a 20 PSI regulator!

http://www.dripworks.com/produ...

Cactuspatch said: I just bought a sprayer end, not a wand, but it is by Ray Padula. It is the sturdiest and works better than any I have ever used. I have been gardening for decades. Got it at Kmart. I am going back to see what else they have by this manufactor.

I bought one of the Ray Padula ones at Menards last year on clearance. Water squirted from every single joint. It was guaranteed not to leak, and I returned it and got my money back, but it was bad on a kind of amazing level.

Sounds like it could be the luck of the draw when you pull one off the shelf...I saw the comments about the Dramm...I've had a short nozzle one for years, and I loved it so much that I got another with a longer wand a couple of weeks ago...So far, so good! I'm happy with it!

Hmmm...they know me pretty well at the nursery, maybe they'll let me test before I buy so I can find the mythical non-leaking Dramm.