5/7/2021 - By Mike Hess

One of the largest problems superintendents face on the turf are hydrophobic conditions in soil restricting water from being distributed throughout the soil profile. Water will stay on top of your soil, move under it, around it, between it, but it will refuse to be truly absorbed into the soil itself. This is where wetting agents are important, their role is to uniformly distribute moisture throughout hydrophobic soils. Although some soil profiles are more uniform than others, no soil in nature (or synthetic) is 100% homogenous or uniform and able to accept moisture to its full extent. They need some help, and that’s where wetting agents come in.

In the image above, there are six samples of very dry, very hydrophobic peat with water added to the top. The water in samples 2 through 6 have all been treated with different wetting agents and sample 1, the control, is regular water. Sample 1 exemplifies hydrophobic conditions, while each of the wetting agent samples demonstrate water distribution. As the wetting agents lower the surface tension of the water, it is more freely absorbed into the soil and, more specifically, into the rootzone where plants and turf need it the most.

All of the Harrell’s® wetting agents here are penetrating the soil at virtually the same rate and, though you cannot see it in the images, all of these agents contain different organic acid removal products, designed to help water penetrate the soil or retain moisture in the upper areas of your soil. Make no mistake, even though to the eye they appear similar here, each wetting agent has its own situational uses.

Talk to your Harrell’s Territory Manager today to find out which wetting agent is best for your specific soil conditions.  

Watch the full video demonstrating the role of wetting agents in hydrophobic soil:

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Products used in the demonstration:

• Hydro-Inject®
• Hydro-Cure®
• Hydro-90®
• Symphony®
• Fleet®