Hydroforce Extend soil wetting agent.
Hydroforce Extend is a long term residual soil surfactant that has been developed and trialled in Australia. Its formulators are Indigo Specialty, and they wanted to develop:
- A long term soil wetting agent which performs in the extremes of the Australian climate and
- A product that gives a consistent long term performance.
The end result is an excellent water management tool with unmatched residual performance in both sandy and finer textured soils.
This soil wetting agent is based on an innovative new EO/PO block copolymer that improves water efficiency, and gets moisture too where it’s needed the most.
A unique characteristic of this polymer is it is resistant to UV degradation, and this is one of the reasons for its excellent residual performance.
Benefits of Hydroforce Extend include:
- Safe to use on cool and warm season turf with little chance of phytotoxicity.
- Exceptional long lasting water management.
- Strong re-wetting performance. It continues to work after alternate periods of wetting and drying.
- It helps to maintain moisture uniformity through the entire soil profile and not just at the surface.
- Unlike some products it contains 100% active.
Hydroforce Extend Trial Results.
Extended Soil Residual.
The below show wetting agent performance on a hydrophobic soil over an extended period of time. Each month, water droplet penetration tests (WDPT) were undertaken, with the results shown below.
These clearly show that HydroForce Extend has a significantly better performance over the untreated control at all assessment dates over a six month evaluation period.
Water Droplet Penetration Time (s) | |||||||
Product | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Mean |
Untreated Control | 45 | 47 | 44 | 44 | 45 | 51 | 46 |
Hydroforce Extend | 16 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 31 | 24.83 |
*WDPT Water droplet penetration time: Seconds required to penetrate a highly hydrophobic sand. | |||||||
Hydroforce Extend Rates of Use.
HydroForce Extend Rates of Use | |||
Situation | Rate per 100 m2 | Rate per Hectare | Comments |
To prevent Localised Dry Spot in Sportsfields and Fairways | 250-500 ml | 25-50 L | Use a minimum water volume of 400L/Ha of water. Irrigation is not critical but improves product performance. Repeat treatments at the desired application frequency. |
To prevent Localised Dry Spot in Greens and Tees | 200-400 ml | 20-40 L | Use a minimum water volume of 400L/Ha of water. Irrigation is not critical but improves product performance. Repeat treatments at the desired application frequency. |
Curative application of Localised Dry Spot (Green, Tees, Fairways and Sportsfields) | 400-500 ml | 40-50 L | Use a minimum water volume of 400L/Ha of water. Irrigation is not critical but improves product performance. Repeat applications fortnightly and continue as required until recovery occurs. |
Ornamental Garden Beds & Landscaped Areas | 15 ml per 10L water | Sufficient to drench area of up to 5m2. Water in well after application. Apply as necessary. | |
Other products in this range include HydroForce Ultra and HydroForce Rapid.
Rates of application range from 20 to 50 L/Ha with applications being every month.
