Yes, it was water in the spray bottle. The plants with vegetables on them that were sprayed were banana peppers and tomatoes. Other plants that were sprayed were basil, kale, and cilantro, as well as cucumbers and squash that don't have any vegetables on them yet. I don't usually use a spray bottle to water my garden, my husband was just misting the vegetables we just bought before putting them in the ground as it was too hot and sunny to water the garden. We usually water the soil and roots well. I do really have all these concerns and it does drive my husband batty, hence why I am asking these questions on here so I don't bug him about this. I live in southern Virginia and my full grown banana peppers were bought that way at a garden center. I also have a green tomato. The plant I'm most worried about being exposed to the Mean Green is my basil as it's something that can be eaten whenever, but after reading these comments I'm pretty sure it will be ok. This post was edited by valialee on Thu, May 29, 14 at 18:10

Hi guys, I just love spray bottles. Mostly. I have used a couple of 7 litre pump sprayers for the last twenty years - still the same ones, just had the seals replaced once in both of them when they got a bit worn. Each cost thirty bux-ish way back then, but hey, if they last twenty years, who cares. They are great for bigger jobs and have a long spray wand for getting into difficult-to-reach places, but their disadvantage is that they need both hands, one to hold the bottle and one to spray with. A couple of years ago I bought a few small pump sprayers, single handed bottle types around 1.5 litres, for doing a variety of odd jobs - mainly beacuse they were el cheapos in the discount bin at the hardware store and I just couldn't resist. Not long after, the whole nozzle assembly blew off one of them under pressure and very narrowly missed filling my face with dimethoate pesticide. Seriously, I probably would have been dead if the stream of pesticide had been a couple of centimetres closer. The el cheapo pump sprayers were introduced to a large hammer then went straight into the bin. Ever since then I have religiously used a full face shield whenever spraying pesticide using any type of device, and I would strongly recommend to everyone that you should NEVER, EVER, EVER even think of using an el cheapo pump sprayer for anything toxic. Re that Polyspray P2 in donalb's link above, you can find that in trade catalogues around the world, sometimes with additional brand labelling as with the one in the link. I've come across it through work via a bit of involvement with applying window tint films and it is a standard item in that trade. It is a trade-quality tool and the seals are some sort of super-slick, super-chemical-resistant, hi-tech polymer designed specifically to cope with aggressive chemicals. It's not yer basic stuff. So Andy, if you are having problems, I reckon this one would be worth a go. Not cheap, but you would be getting what you pay for. In my ongoing quest for small pump sprayers to use at home, about 9 months ago the local hardware store finally decided to range some that weren't cheap crap. They are in the middle of the price range between the el cheapos and a Polyspray and although 9 months isn't a long trial period, they have had a fair bit of use and aren't showing any signs of squeaks, sticking or leaking that would indicate wear. I don't know if this particular model is available elswhere, but it suggests that the middle price range might be worth exploring, if you can find it. These are the ones that I have. These little babies are the reason that I just love spray bottles. Actually, there are two reasons. One: it's just so convenient and satisfying to have a few of them loaded up with different things, so you can just grab one and give an appropriate quick squirt whenever you see the need, without having to go off and make something up. Two: they leave one hand free most of the time. This is critically important when you consider what might occupy the other hand, particularly if it is a glass of wine, in the evening after work, wandering around admiring the plants while giving them a creative recreational foliar feed. Beer and scotch also work well. I reckon a good single-handed spray bottle is an essential life-style accessory! Cheers, Paul

I use a mini hand-held for doing small jobs, like spraying my roses. Think it holds a little more than a quart. It makes a nice fine mist to a pretty good stream. I've had mine about 4 years now. Has the pump, a locking trigger and brass tip. The squeeze handle is plastic, so a little care is needed, but I'm happy with it. It's a different brand, but basically the same principal as these. (See row at bottom, too). I think I picked mine up at Lowes or Ace.

I had one plastic bottle fail. It was filled with a liquid that was mostly water. The botle had been dropped from a height of about 5 ft and landed square on its bottom on a hard surface. The shock force can be quite large. The bottle developed a split where the bottom meets a vertical wall and quickly spilled its contents. This surprised me but I can see why it might have failed. Most soft plastics have enough elasticity to dull the shock front, but some plastics may behave in a brittle manner if it required to stretch too quickly. Polycarbonates (tradename Lexan for example) can fail in unexpected ways after being exposed to certain detegents and solvents and then exposed to UV light. What seemingly was an elastic material can then behave more like glass. I know of a case where the polycarbonate top of an "iron lung" fractured sending shards to the face of the attending physician. According to the investigation, the material failed after being exposed to sanitation fluids and then having x-rays shot through it. The air pressure of the interior was modulated from low to about 1.5 atmospheres to cause artifical breathing by the patient. The cover 'exploded' on a positive pressure pulse.