Wetting Agents, Surfactants, Buffers and Penetrants

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There would be no grass without water.  As temperatures rise, humidity is lowered. By mid-afternoon, grass plants are losing more water through their leaves than they can take up through their roots. Grass plants start to wilt and characteristically turn a purplish blue. A keen eye will recognise the symptoms and be prepared. Wilting grass can be brought back to health by syringing. This is a very light application of water, administered by a hose and a cooling nozzle or by the syringe cycle of a watering system. Over time, greens develop brown areas of wilted grass. The soil under these areas becomes dry and cannot absorb water.

Wetting agents were introduced to break down the viscosity (thickness) of water. They make water droplets smaller and wetter so water can penetrate into the pore spaces. A Wetting agent causes a liquid to spread more easily across or penetrate into the surface of a solid by reducing the surface tension of the liquid. Not every surfactant or wetting agent is the same. Is it to rewet a dry soil? Is it to prevent dry spots from developing? Is it to make, “water wetter” and to try to move water through the soil? Is it to improve irrigation efficiency and turf performance using less water? Is it to use wetting agents as an adjuvant when applying chemicals? Is it to improve or reduce leaching?  Your major surfactant chemistries are anionic and blends with anionics, non-ionic surfactants, cationic surfactants and new chemistries.

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