Patent ID: 6245713
Filing Date: 2001-06-12
Classification: A01N

Abstract:
A plant treatment composition for application to foliage to elicit a biological effect, comprising(i) water; having dissolved or dispersed therein(ii) an anionic exogenous chemical substance in a biologically effective amount;(iii) one or more alkylether surfactants each having the formulaR.sup.12 --O--(CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n ((CHR).sub.2 O).sub.m --R.sup.13wherein R.sup.12 is a linear aliphatic saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbyl group having about 16 to about 22 carbon atoms, n is an average number of about 10 to about 100, m is an average number of 0 to about 5, one R in each --((CHR).sub.2 O)-- group is hydrogen and the other R is methyl, and R.sup.13 is a hydrogen, C.sub.1-4 alkyl or C.sub.2-4 acyl group; and(iv) one or more amine surfactants each having a molecular structure that comprises(a) a hydrophobic moiety having one or a plurality of independently saturated or unsaturated, branched or unbranched, aliphatic, alicyclic or aromatic C.sub.3-20 hydrocarbyl or hydrocarbylene groups joined together by 0 to about 7 ether linkages and having in total about 8 to about 24 carbon atoms, and(b) a hydrophilic moiety comprising an amino group that is cationic or that can be protonated to become cationic, having attached directly thereto 1 to 3 oxyethylene groups or polyoxyethylene chains, these oxyethylene groups and polyoxyethylene chains comprising on average 1 to about 50 oxyethylene units per surfactant molecule,the hydrophobic moiety being attached either to the amino group or via an ether linkage to an oxyethylene unit;the weight ratio of the alkylether surfactant(s) to the amine surfactant(s) being about 1:10 to about 10:1; wherein the alkylether and amine surfactants are present in total in an adjuvant amount of about 0.05 to about 0.5 parts by weight per part by weight of the anionic exogenous chemical substance, expressed as acid equivalent.