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I've heard of this being used to help a surface that's not absorbing water. Can't see why breaking it up physically wouldn't be better, though.
im a greenkeeper and we use alot of wetting agents, the wetting agents do have other properties aswell but the appearance/characteristics seems similar to washing up liquid, i have heard before about washing up liquid being used but never tried it, in theory i assume it would work as a cheap alternative, breaking down the surface tension of the water,
for dry patch we use wetting agent in a applicator gun which mixes it with water as it released which makes a foamy liquid on the area which works very well,
like the previous post I would also first spike the area e.g. sarrel roller/spiker board to also help penetration of the water and then apply the washing up liquid mix to help any hydrophobic areas
We used washing up liquid as a water softener to help the water penetrate the hard surfaces of the golf greens. But that was back in the 70's when we had to put out Rainbird sprinklers by hand, before pop-ups were installed.
Washing up liquid contains salt so it's not recommended long-term.
Phil how did you guys apply it?
I use alot of granular wetting agent it works well part of the Autumn programe when you are hollow tinng and again in the spring with solid tinng and in the mid summer top up with a liquid . I come across to many people think one application of a liquid will do the job ,it becomes part of a programe
It's such a long time ago Robbie. I can only think, we must have used a watering can.
From memory, the problem areas were the high spots...something we later ironed out by lifting.
A few years after I left and was operating as a contractor, I became an agency selling water absorbing crystals. We trialled hollow tining the historically dry areas and brushing in a mixture of crystals and compost/soil.
I do remember re-visiting the test areas shortly after the first rains to monitor how the crystals had reacted - which were capable of swelling to 10x their size- and see them oozing up through the turf:)
Robbie @ PremierLawnsni said:
I have a client that wants to turn his lawn into a green, i had tried to steer him towards using wetting agents ect at the stat of the season.
It's a hard sell, until the dry patch starts.
But at that point its nearly to late for this season anyway.
Not sure if I would be comfortable applying fairy liquid onto his lawn with a watering can, I know its the same principles but could be a costly error...