Berkshire, England: Penetrant wetting agents can be applied to sports turf at any time of year, but they’re especially beneficial during monsoon rains.

Heavy rains can wash away natural surfactants that are present on turfgrass blades, which can make it difficult for water to penetrate the soil. Penetrant wetting agents can help to replace these natural surfactants and improve the ability of the turfgrass to absorb water.

Water management on managed turf grass is extremely important to ensure adequate, but not excessive, levels of water in the rhizosphere for nutrient uptake and overall metabolic function.

Ensuring rapid movement of excess water from surfaces is vital to maintain suitable playing surfaces as balance of moisture plays a key role in reducing abiotic stress and preventing conditions that encourage biotic stress.

“The historical build-up of certain surfactant molecules that are not bio-degradable in soil profiles has been a concern,” said Brian Croose, ASEAN Regional Manager at Indigrow, a Full Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

“Therefore, every effort has been made to prevent this with Indigrow’s Magnum Forty-Four – specifically designed and formulated as a bio-degradable penetrant wetting agent with specific surfactant technology to open hydrophobic soil profiles and rapidly reduce excessive surface water,” he added.

Penetrant wetting agents, like Magnum Forty-Four, help each water droplet penetrate the soil more easily, enabling water to move through the surface layer quickly, and keep the top surface dry.

On hydrophobic soils, water remains on the surface in large droplets which cannot penetrate into the soil profile. Magnum Forty-Four helps to break down these large droplets, so that the water is spread more easily and thinly, allowing it to penetrate the soil profile and work its way through the root zone.

Croose said: “Trials were undertaken at an independent laboratory to analyse the effectiveness of Magnum Forty-Four against a competitor product.

“The ‘droplet penetration test’ method was used to evaluate the products, which were compared to water. Magnum Forty-Four outperformed the competitor product, even at lower than the currently recommended rates of application.”

*For more details on Indigrow’s products and latest trial results, please visit www.indigrow.com