Wetting Agents

A liquid Wetting Agent

More Than Just Dry Soils

A waxy coating on grains of soil is responsible for the water repelling effects often seen in many soils around Australia. This waxy coating resists water entering the soil, resists water penetrating evenly throughout the soil, and finally, pushes the water out of the soil root zone in the only direction it can, down into the water table.

Dry Spots In Lawn and Soil

Alternatively, dry spots can occur in soils in our lawns and gardens, as well as in our pot plants. Once the dry spot develops, it becomes more water repellent, which in turn pushes the water away into the already moist areas of the soil. This is a cycle, which continues to compound the same problem where the dry spot keep getting drier.

Wetting Agents

Wetting Agents are similar to a detergent that breaks down the waxy coating on grains of soil, as well as aiding in the penetration of water into dry spots.

Results Of Wetting Agents

Once Wetting Agents are applied, soil is more capable of freely absorbing the water that is applied to it, water is more able to distribute itself throughout soils more evenly, and instead of forcing water away from the root zone. The soil will hold onto the water in a usable manner for longer.

The Application Of Wetting Agents

When you open the bucket of Wetting Agents, it has a distinct strong and sweet smell, the Wetting Agents themselves look like small light grains, similar to large grains of soil in appearance.

Once applied to the lawn or soil and watered in, the grains of the Wetting Agents can continue to be seen for days or even weeks later. This is because the grains themselves are not the Wetting Agents. The grains are simply grains of cork, which has the liquid wetting agent applied to them. When we water the Wetting Agents in, the actual Wetting Agent hydrates and releases itself from the cork and enters the soil, leaving the cork grains behind to naturally break down into the soil.

Wetting Agents Burning Lawns

Having been asked this question many times, it should be covered here at the conclusion. Unlike fertilisers that can burn lawns if left on the lawn un-watered for too long, Wetting Agents will not burn lawns.