Summer can be a very stressful season for turf and for turf managers. Heat stress, drought stress, and disease pressure are just a few of the issues this time of year brings.

In order to effectively deal with these issues, your turf needs the right amount of moisture and the right nutrients.

Keep Water Where It Needs To Be

When water isn’t sufficiently retained in the soil profile, it can lead to localized dry spots, disease, and dead patches. Soil surfactants can make a difference.

These range from penetrants, which promote downward movement of water into the soil (infiltration), to hydration chemistries, which allow the soil to hold more water for plant availability. There are also combination products that pull water down into the root zone while maintaining soil moisture for longer periods.

Products that focus on infiltration, such as HydroPak Command and Aqueous, help push active ingredients into the soil quicker, and work well on heavy soils that are chronically wet and hold moisture. These are most beneficial when you’re dealing with too much water.

Products like Adapt and Percolate (both of which are combination products) are what most may think of when they hear ‘soil surfactant.’ These products are very beneficial during the summer. They are best applied using a program approach, with the first application made before the soil becomes extremely dry. Recovery of hydrophobic or ultra-dry soil can be very difficult, so it’s best to apply the product early to avoid that scenario. Timing can vary, but a good rule of thumb is to make monthly applications during the summer. Using hydration surfactants does not eliminate the need for irrigation or rainfall. However, they can significantly reduce the demand for irrigation while providing a more consistent soil moisture level, resulting in higher-quality turf.

Achieve Effective, More Targeted Fertility

Turf plants have a hard time taking up and making use of the nutrients they need under stressful conditions. A foliar spray program can make a measurable difference, though.

Foliar-Pak’s liquid nutrition products use targeted micronutrients and amino acids to support plant nutrition and improve uptake. They provide essential elements for cell growth, root growth, and chlorophyll production, leading to an overall healthier plant that’s able to handle summer stress and recover more effectively. Some of them are designed to replenish specific nutrients or cater to different needs.

For instance, Gold Standard 45 is designed to support the plant’s immune system, which is essential during periods of stress. If traffic and wear damage are a big concern, CSi L improves cell wall strength and turgor, helping grass remain upright and endure heavier traffic and stress. Microsync and Armament Concentrate are two other popular and effective choices, and there are many more. All of these products tank mix well, and can be paired with fungicides and other chemistries, including soil surfactants. This simplifies applications by allowing you to get everything down in a single pass.

Great Alone, But Better Together

The value of using Foliar-Pak and HydroPak products together is that each one supports a different part of the same challenge. Foliar-Pak liquid nutrition products deliver targeted nutrients to your turf and increase nutrient uptake, delivering stronger growth, color that lasts, and healthy turf at a time when it’s traditionally very difficult to achieve. HydroPak soil surfactants improve water uniformity and optimize movement and retention, helping turf make the most of a very precious (and often limited) resource.

Together, Foliar-Pak and HydroPak products make sure your turf has the right nutrients and the right amount of water during the ups and downs of summer. When both of these factors are handled, your turf is in a much better position to handle stress.

To learn more about these product lines and how they can help you deliver healthier, stronger turf, reach out to your ATS sales rep.