Surfactants play a significant role in using chemicals for plants. These wetting agents are natural or synthetic substances that impart a liquid-like consistency to the surface of solids, liquids, and gases.
They have a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail and act as the primary chemical helper by reducing the surface tension on plants, letting the chemicals penetrate through leaves and branches with a wax-like coating, making the chemicals more effective.
Using Surfactants for Herbicides
Using surfactants can very much benefit planters in getting rid of pesky weeds that continuously invade the garden or lawn. Its primary work of helping chemicals penetrate the plants has dramatically improved every gardener’s haven.
A good portion of the products you spend your hard-earned dollars on go to waste. But with the surfactants, there’s no need to worry about whether or not you’re unknowingly wasting your chemicals away when applying them to your plants.
Which Surfactant is the Best?
Southern Ag Surfactant
The Southern Ag Surfactant for Herbicides is the best surfactant to use. It’s a wetting agent with 80% non-ionic surfactant for increasing the penetration, coverage, and overall effectiveness of almost any herbicide. It can be used with nearly all herbicide sprays. It works best when sprayed onto leaves, which are then allowed to dry for a few minutes before herbicides are applied.
Professionals use this product in golf courses, greenhouses, nurseries, and other agricultural uses.
Unlike other wetting agents, Southern Ag Surfactant for Herbicides is non-ionic, which means it will not clog spray nozzles. This non-ionic wetting agent also reduces water’s surface tension, which allows the herbicide to penetrate better and increase its effectiveness. The increased coverage area resulting from this penetration helps you save time and money.
How To Use:
Use Non-Ionic Surfactant with most herbicides to ensure more uniform coverage by reducing the surface tensions of spray droplets, for most herbicides, such as 2,4-D Amine, Trimec R, Brush Killer, Reward R (Diquat R), Asulox R, Image R, and others.
Most Herbicides use one teaspoonful per gallon (1 -2 pints per 100 gallons of spray).
For Round-up use: 1 Tablespoonful per gallon (2 quarts per 100 gallons of spray).
For MSMA herbicides, use: 1 Tablespoonful per gallon (1-2 quarts per 100 gallons of spray)
You can get this surfactant on Amazon for an affordable price, which makes it one of the less costly garden items you can get your hands on
The Southern Ag Surfactant for Herbicide is a very effective wetting agent. It works so well on sprayed areas of the garden or lawn. Instead of beading up, this surfactant sticks to the weeds and coats the leaves well.
It makes water-based chemicals much wetter, making the waxy, oily, or thick skin on the leaves and stems of the plants more penetrable.
It lets the weed killer stick to the leaves longer than with the dishwashing soap, and the areas that have been sprayed were noticeably different. Clover and other weeds will disappear within a week.
This is an easy-to-use product that helps get the job done. It dramatically increases the effectiveness of the treatments you use on your plants so the other chemicals can do their job more effectively.
Recommendations
The Southern Ag Surfactant may be the chosen surfactant by most planters, but two other surfactants are considered an alternative and most bought and used by planters from all over the country.
Liquid Harvest Surfactant
The Liquid Harvest Surfactant is specially formulated to help herbicides break through the waxy coating of the plant and stick around longer. This allows for more even dispersion on the leaf surface, resulting in better plant coverage.
With Liquid Harvest Surfactant, you can cut herbicide use in half and get even better coverage. It’s the only surfactant approved by USDA for use on food crops. It helps your herbicides and algaecides break through the waxy coating of the plant and stick around longer.
To use this surfactant on your herbicides, add 1 tsp of Liquid Harvest Surfactant to every gallon of spray solution.
The Liquid Harvest Surfactant works with all types and brands of herbicides and algaecides, including glyphosate and 2, 4-D. It also helps your herbicide stick around longer, so weeds don’t have a chance to grow back.
What’s more to this surfactant is that it increases Product Coverage, Product Penetration, and Product Effectiveness.
Sprayer’s Non-Ionic 8oz Liquid Harvest Surfactant for Herbicides
The Liquid Harvest Surfactant for Herbicides is formulated to allow solutions to penetrate the plants more effectively. It’s ideal for use with weed killers and other herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, fertilizers, and many more.
This wetting agent works by breaking down waxy surfaces for better liquid application. Applying herbicides and other liquid plant treatments can be quick and more effective when using a durable and quality-tested sprayer, making this wetting agent work best with PetraTools Sprayers.
With this wetting agent, there’s undoubtedly going to be an improvement in the nutrient absorption of your plants. This surfactant contains ammonium sulfate that helps plants absorb nutrients better. You’ll even see healthier growers with less fertilizer.
This surfactant is made with enhanced weed-killing ability, giving it a higher advantage than other surfactants. Not only does it break down waxy surfaces, but it also helps herbicides and other liquid treatments stick longer.
It also prevents solutions from sliding off and wasting products and your money.
Conclusion
Many gardeners/planters choose the most popular surfactant in the market, but it doesn’t mean that you should follow the herd. You can still choose to use whatever surfactant for herbicides that work perfectly for the chemicals you spray onto your plants.
When selecting a surfactant to mix with your herbicide, it is recommended to use the nonionic surfactant. Thus, the surfactants mentioned above are chosen by almost all planters.
We know that many plants are seen as pests in homes and businesses, but they are actually living organisms that need to be treated with care and respect.
We hope that this article helped you understand the importance that surfactants play in the life of plants and how they can be used to help make plants more efficient.
Keep checking back as we have many more blog posts coming soon, with topics on plants and weed management. If you have any questions, please email us at www.homebounties.com.