Soil Surfactant Rescue Applications with Precision Labs
Managing turfgrass is always challenging. Weather plays a large role in the management of turfgrass – some years are extremely wet and others drier like this year. With this year’s drier periods of weather, we have much different challenges to maintain soil moisture. In recent wetter years, we mainly needed to move water off the surface. Although the desire to provide firm playing surfaces continues into 2020, this year we also need to be concerned about keeping enough moisture in the root zone. Localized dry spot (LDS) is much more prevalent. A good water management plan with soil surfactant applications can help maintain the deepest roots and healthiest turf. Best results occur with a solid programmed approach with initial treatments in May or early June to proactively manage LDS issues. If a proactive program was not employed, rescue treatments can be effective, but understanding how products influence the behavior of water at the surface and in the soil will help give us more control over turfgrass conditions and playability relative to water management.
Precision Laboratories breaks soil surfactants into two basic categories; hydration & infiltration. Hydration chemistries increase soil volumetric water content and will provide additional help in overcoming localized dry spot caused by hydrophobic or water repellent soil. Infiltration surfactants help push water off the surface to distribute irrigation water both vertically and horizontally in the soil profile. Some of the best water management products combine various ratios of hydration and infiltration to give the user more flexibility when gauging the amount of moisture to retain in the soil and move off the playing surface.
Precision Laboratories offers a variety of products that can be customized to unique situations. Time tested reliable products like Cascade™, and Duplex™ continue to perform, while Alypso™ Plus, Vivax™, and Triplo™ are innovative new formulations to deliver more solutions to evolving needs in water management. Vivax is a unique combination of two hydration and two infiltration chemistries, while Triplo has three different surfactants. Alypso Plus is an infiltration surfactant with an acid for addressing pH and bicarbonate issues commonly found in irrigation water. Choosing the right chemistries for your water management needs will yield positive results in the most challenging years. Contact your Advanced Turf Solutions representative to explore these options and help you choose which are best for your growing needs.
Below is an example of Vivax and Alypso Plus performing in a rescue application. The superintendent inherited some issues, specifically, his irrigation system was not functioning properly. On June 12th he made his first application of soil surfactants using Vivax at 4 oz/1000 tank mixed with Alypso Plus at 1 oz/1000. Using both products in combination sped up infiltration and recovery time. The turf started looking better the next day, with most areas recovering in 3-4 days.
