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As a turf management professional, you know that understanding the intricacies of water chemistry and its interactions with soil is essential for maintaining healthy, resilient turf. Wetting agents, or surfactants, are a powerful tool in the turf manager’s toolkit, offering solutions to challenges such as localized dry spots (LDS), water repellency, and uneven water distribution. Here’s a closer look at the science behind wetting agents and how they can help you achieve better turf performance.
The Science Behind Water and Soil Interactions
Water, a dipolar molecule, exhibits unique behaviors due to its ability to bond with polar molecules while repelling nonpolar substances. A good example of this is water’s inability to mix with oil. This property plays a crucial role in the development of localized dry spots and soil hydrophobicity (water repellency), which often occur due to organic (nonpolar) coatings on sand particles and/or soil colloids. These coatings, typically the result of decomposing organic matter from intensive turf maintenance practices, create a barrier that prevents water from penetrating the soil effectively.
Another critical factor influencing water behavior is surface tension. Surface tension causes water molecules to be attracted to one another, resulting in spherical droplets that minimize surface area. This cohesive force is why water beads up on a freshly waxed car or why certain insects, like water skippers, can walk on water. Understanding these properties is vital for overcoming challenges like soil hydrophobicity and achieving optimal turf hydration.
Wetting Agents: How They Work and Why They Matter
Wetting agents, also known as surfactants or surface-active agents, modify the physical properties of water to improve its interaction with soil. By attaching a lipophilic (nonpolar) chain to the hydrophilic (polar) water molecule, wetting agents reduce water's surface tension, allowing it to spread more uniformly across the soil surface and penetrate more deeply.
There are four primary reasons to use wetting agents in turf management:
1. Alleviating Localized Dry Spots (LDS): Wetting agents help relieve LDS by improving water penetration in hydrophobic areas of the soil, ensuring more even moisture distribution.
2. Optimizing Water Management: "Making water wetter" refers to increasing water's effectiveness in different soil types and conditions. Wetting agents improve water’s ability to move through various soil profiles, enhancing irrigation efficiency.
3. Improving Drainage: Some wetting agents help water flow more freely through the soil, preventing puddling and promoting even moisture distribution.
4. Enhancing Pesticide and Fertilizer Efficacy: Wetting agents facilitate the movement of pesticides, fungicides, and other treatments into the soil, improving their effectiveness. For example, they are commonly used in Fairy Ring applications to help fungicides reach the fungal pathogen at deeper soil levels.
Choosing the Right Wetting Agent for Your Needs
Selecting the appropriate wetting agent depends on your specific turf management goals. Whether you’re aiming to address existing water repellency or prevent issues like localized dry spots, the right product can make all the difference. It's important to consider whether you need a preventative or curative approach, as well as the specific environmental conditions you’re working with. For example, cooler temperatures typically result in slower microbial activity in the soil, which means wetting agents may remain effective for longer periods during the winter months. In such cases, applying wetting agents before symptoms of LDS become visible could be a strategic approach.
Simplot Turf & Horticulture: Offering Advanced Wetting Solutions
Simplot Turf & Horticulture offers a range of high-performance wetting agents that can be tailored to your specific needs. Our expert representatives are always available to help you design customized programs that maximize results.
Here are some of the leading products in our PerformancePack® portfolio:
• Rely III™: A versatile, all-season wetting agent that helps prevent water repellency and alleviate LDS, while promoting overall moisture retention.
• Forté™: A unique surfactant with a protein-surfactant complex that reduces surface tension and enhances water penetration into hydrophobic soils. Ideal for use during heavy rain to ensure moisture moves efficiently through the soil profile. Forté™ also enhances the spread and placement of other surfactants such a Brilliance® to allow for more uniform distribution in the soil.
• Brilliance®: A powerful soil surfactant that alleviates water repellency in the root zone, with rate-dependent longevity for consistent results.
• CounterAct® Firm: A high-end surfactant that improves water movement in repellent soils and creates lasting moisture uniformity in the root zone.
• CounterAct® Retain: Similar to CounterAct® Firm but designed to promote more moisture retention to make sure the soil profile remains hydrated when rainfall or irrigation is lacking.
• Syringe® Ultra: A highly efficient surfactant designed to improve irrigation water penetration. It can be applied through both irrigation systems and spray equipment for flexible application.
• Compel® / Compel® Plus: Soil surfactant pellets ideal for use with hose-end applicators. These products are perfect for spot-treating dry or hydrophobic areas of turf, speeding up recovery and improving overall moisture distribution.
Whether you’re dealing with water repellency, localized dry spots, or uneven moisture distribution, Simplot Turf & Horticulture’s suite of wetting agents provides targeted solutions to meet your needs. Our team is here to help you select the right product and create a tailored program that ensures your turf remains healthy and resilient.
