The first wetting agents were used to help water move into the soil profile by reducing surface water repellency and hydrophobicity. Many were excellent at doing this but were also likely to cause turf damage if not watered in immediately.
Over time the chemistry has improved so that now soil wetting agents help water move evenly through the soil profile but also have plant health benefits. That's a key difference with Hydroforce Ultra.
Not only is it an excellent soil wetting agent but it has many secondary benefits such as improving root volume and turf health.
The soil chemistry of any wetting agent will influence how it performs. For example, in a US study of 15 wetting agents a modified polysiloxane gave the lowest surface tension. This reduces water surface tension to a third of tap water! Examples of this include Consume and Scrubwet.
Our current wetting agent trial is now starting to give some pretty interesting results with most products retaining moisture in the soil profile compared to an untreated control.
[caption id="attachment_245252" align="alignleft" width="267"] Soil wetting agent trial result showing how wetting agents can impact on soil moisture. Treatment 6 is the untreated control.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_245253" align="alignleft" width="267"] How soil wetting agents can effect soil moisture content. Treatment 6 is the untreated control but Treatments 5 and 7 are two commercially available products marketed as helping water movement away from the soil surface.[/caption]