News: Wetting Agents – Improve Your Water Management – Every Drop Matters!
Wetting Agents – Improve Your Water Management – Every Drop Matters!
Wetting Agents in Different Formulations
If you want to improve the water management for your turf rootzones, one of the most important tools are wetting agents.
Wetting agents are used to:
- Improve moisture uniformity
- Increase water infiltration
- Improve conditions for preferred turf species
- Prevent localized dry spot (LDS)
- Increase rootzone moisture retention
- Reduce winter injury
- Enhance the efficacy of fertilisers
- Improve microbial activity in the rootzone
Wetting agents are surfactants. Surfactants have a hydrophilic “water-loving”, and a hydrophobic “water-fearing” part.
Different active ingredients with different ratios of hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics are combined to achieve the desired results.
Depending on the combination of surfactants in the product and how they work in the soil, they are sometimes referred to as either retaining or penetrating wetting agents.
The surfactants in wetting agents can:
- Reduce surface tension, leading to better infiltration, penetration and drainage of excess water
- Distribute water horizontally in the rootzone to increase moisture uniformity
- Retain and hold water in the rootzone
There is no one fits it all. Environmental conditions, the soil moisture levels, and the soils are different.
You can choose the right wetting agent depending on the intended use:
- Optimize holding and distribution of water
- Curative use
- Sward modification
- Infiltration and drainage
- Dew removal
1) Wetting agents to optimise holding and distribution of water – Every Drop Matters!
Turf that is exposed to drought becomes more susceptible to diseases when its energy reserves are depleted. For optimal root growth as well as optimal development and stress tolerance of the lawn plant, it is necessary that the roots receive sufficient oxygen. Therefore, it is essential to create a balance of sand particles, water and air in the root area.
TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting Wetting Agent is a uniquely formulated long term wetting agent. It works continuously and with a significantly increased long-term effect.
It is resistant to microbial decomposition even under adverse environmental conditions with sustained temperatures above 20 °C.
- Reduces the need for irrigation water
- Reduces water stress
- Reduces drought stress
- Drains excess water
- Less stress due to wet root horizon
Start with a wetting agent program with the recommended application rate before the soil goes hydrophobic. It is best to prepare turf in good time for a dry period. This might usually be end of April.
TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting Wetting Agent is also available as:
- TourTurf® LLT Respond® Extreme Long Lasting Tablets for precise hand watering
- TourTurf® LLG Respond® Extreme Long Lasting Granules for the specific treatment of dry patches in places that are difficult to reach with a sprayer, such as bunker edges, hard-to-reach greens and tees
The organic alternative, approved for organic farming, would be TourTurf® REO Respond® Extreme Organic Wetting Agent.
For some years, we worked on developing an organic wetting agent that is approved in organic farming. A huge variety of different raw materials have been tested.
After 3 years of research, TourTurf® REO Respond® Extreme Organic Wetting Agent is now on the marked and shows high potential. Its performance is very close to its synthetic counterpart, TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting.
During a trial, TourTurf® REO showed a reduction of water evaporation of 10% in comparison to 12% of the leading product TourTurf® ELL.
See the difference the product makes in evaporation:
The plants benefit greatly under stress conditions.
TourTurf® EFE Respond® Extreme Fairway ECO was developed for economical, large-scale applications on high-quality fairways and soccer pitches.
The changes in water availability and more frequent weather extremes make it necessary to use available irrigation water as efficient as possible on those large areas. Every Drop Matters!
TourTurf® EFE Respond® Extreme Fairway ECO can be mixed with iron and seaweed products.
2) Wetting Agent for the curative use on rootzones that have become hydrophobic already:
TourTurf® EXC Respond® Extreme Curative helps with localized dry spot and fairy ring problems.
In both cases, there is already a problem with hydrophobic conditions.
Localized Dry Spot (LDS) is not a pathogen affecting the grass. There is just not enough water in the soil to keep the grass green because of the water-repellent wax coating that has developed on the soil particles because of fungal activity in the soil. This wax layer can be formed by organic decomposition products that are produced during the decomposition of thatch.
LDS appears mostly on sand based rootzones and is more severe when there is a thatch problem. The irrigation settings used to make the greens as firm and fast as possible can contribute to the development of this problem.
If there is a problem with fairy rings, the Basidiomycota feeding on the thatch layer make the soil water-repellent. In all those cases, applications of TourTurf® EXC Respond® Extreme Curative in connection with thatch management, aerification, and optimisation of irrigation will help to reduce the problem.
3) Wetting agent for sward modification:
TourTurf® FTE Respond® Extreme Fine Turf Enhancer adjusts the moisture levels in the rootzone in a way that finer, desired grass species are promoted.
Grasses like Festuca and Agrostis on golf greens and Poa pratensis on soccer fields are capable of developing a larger and deeper root system.
TourTurf® FTE Respond® Extreme Fine Turf Enhancer gives them an advantage over shallow rooting Poa annua, considered a weed on many playing surfaces.
Read this article to learn more about sward modification.
4) Wetting Agent to improve infiltration and drainage:
TourTurf® EPT Respond® Extreme Penetrator is formulated in a way that water tension is reduced.
Thanks to TourTurf® EPT Respond® Extreme Penetrator water easily penetrates the soil and in the case of extreme soil moisture, water is drained out of the soil profile.
This function is especially useful for high-profile soccer pitches with that get a lot of play outside the vegetation period. Excess water must be drained out of the rootzone as soon as possible to minimize mechanical damage to the pitch.
5) Wetting Agent to remove dew:
TourTurf® EDC Respond® Extreme Dew Control uses the basic function of surfactants, namely reducing surface tension of water in combination with a sticker, to achieve a dew control effect for as long as possible.
If the surface tension of the water is reduced, dew can easily run off the leaves and penetrate the soil profile.
A drier leaf keeps the plant healthy, especially in times of the year when it is under attack from Dollar Spot.
During the autumn months and into the winter, the plant greatly benefits if the leaves are as dry as possible. The sticker keeps the product on the leaves.
It is important to apply TourTurf® EDC Respond® Extreme Dew Control when the leaves are as dry as possible to get it to stick to the plant. It will be removed by cutting or heavy rainfall and will have to be reapplied regularly.
