Water Management Tips for the Heat Wave
This July was the hottest month ever recorded in world history. The agricultural impacts are significant.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that July 2019 was the hottest month on record with average global temperatures the hottest since records began in 1880.
July is typically the hottest month of the year, but this hottest month keeps getting hotter.
Nine of the 10 warmest Julys have occurred since 2005, with the past five years being the five warmest on record, according to NOAA. (Read news here.)
The heat waves have an impact on agriculture, including growing turfgrass and particularly in terms of water management.
Some crops were not planted at all due to land being too wet with rain and floods, while other areas were struck with drought and wildfires, as Time magazine recently reported following record-breaking heat waves that also occurred in June. (Read that full report here.)
Water management is more critical than ever and soil surfactants, soil penetrants and wetting agents– different names for similar products– can help.
Choosing the best product requires knowing whether the water needs to be retained in the soil or whether the water needs to get moving.
Retain water or move water?
Soil surfactants are key to growers’ water management strategy.
Retain water with ProfaSorb and Humawet.
- Humawet assists with loss of water due to winds, run off and drought. It helps build organic matter in sandy soil and retains water in the plant’s root zone. Humawet is the best of the soil surfactants for soil with low organic matter, including new golf greens. Humawet is designed to decrease the surface tension between water, soil and plant while improving the growth and activity of micro-organisms necessary for a healthy soil environment.
- ProfaSorb is designed for fertigation or drip line irrigation to decrease the tension between water, soil and plant while also improving the growth and activity of micro-organisms necessary for a healthy soil environment. It is easy to use and its beneficial secondary effects of localized dry spots (LDS) are noticed rapidly. Not only are you improving the soil, but you are adding a long term effect to the turf to make it healthier and increase its disease and insect tolerance.
Move water with Penterra and HydraHawk.
- Penterra is the fastest acting of the soil surfactants on the market with long term added benefits. Penterra helps reduce crusting, loosen hard clay soils and aggregate sandy soil. Penterra allows water and oxygen to better reach plant roots by reducing the surface tension between the water and soil.
- HydraHawk helps water penetrate compacted or arid soils and aids plant life in the uptake of water and nutrients. HydraHawk is a natural performance-enhancing wetting and protective agent derived from fruit and vegetable extracts. HydraHawk contains unique natural surfactants that help the plants utilize water and survive in extreme heat, drought and soil salinity even in the severe climate conditions.
Still not sure how to choose, read more here.
If ordering before summer’s end, expect to save on these Geoponics products during their hottest sale of the season. Contact your sales representative or Geoponics now to order. 1877-ECO-GROW.
Another summer solution is Agriox, which treats anaerobic soils, working in ideal combination with the surfactants.
Learn more about the summer special here.