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Aggressive Reduction of LDS Conditions and Soil Salts

cartFinally, there is a way to easily and safely apply an aggressive treatment strategy to manage hydrophobic conditions and salt build-up in greens and tees. Introducing...The Aggressor!

The Aggressor is the first soil treatment application strategy that applies both pHAcid Soil Water Acidifier for the reduction of soil salts and Revert Water Repellency Management Surfactant to correct water repellency conditions in greens. This unique piece of spray equipment provides a mobile spray station that can blend these two products in recommended ratios that can then be applied via hand syringing, through spray applications or injected with hydroject machines.
The Aggressor also provides enough water to create a flushing event while applying Revert and pHAcid sprayable (a key feature when treating soil salts).

Problems with Bicarbonates and Carbonates

For many golf course superintendents, use of reclaimed, or other secondary water sources used for irrigation contains high concentrations of dissolved salts that are potentially toxic to turfgrasses. More importantly, the use of such sources often leads to a disruption of the soil structure (deflocculation) and blocking of pores of a soil – resulting in problems associated with poor infiltration, penetration and non-uniform movement of water through the soil profile.
Today, many soil scientists recognize that poor water penetration is directly caused by a chemical imbalance in the soil and irrigation water. Their recommendations now suggest that many cases involving soil deterioration should be addressed by first amending either the irrigation water in an effort to reduce the carbonate threat in irrigation water or amend the soils to correct salt conditions in soils and soil water.

Soil Water Repellency

The build-up of water repellent, non-polar organic coatings on mineral surfaces in the upper root zone has been identified by the general scientific community as the primary cause of soil water repellency (hydrophobicity). Development of water repellent organic coatings on soil particles is progressive in nature. As a result, these coatings exist as thin films on the particle surface (early stages of development) that progress to a layer-on-layer build-up (“caking”) of water repellent organic substances during later stages of development. The standard practice for treating water-repellent soils is the systematic application of nonionic soil surfactants. While the use of block copolymers have become the preferred surfactant treatment chemistries, it should be remembered that these treatments are used to address the symptoms of water repellency – localized dry spot, infiltration and water movement problems.To manage the progressive nature of water repellency, a more aggressive strategy must be undertaken.

Site Specific Strategies

Amending the irrigation water or treating soils with amended water in an effort to reduce the carbonate threat in irrigation water and in soils is often recommend by soil scientists.

This recommendation of correction does not imply that soil amendments be abandoned. Indeed, since the problems of poor pentration, infiltration and uniform movement of water into soils goes beyond correcting abnormal carbonate levels (i.e., water repellency), using a more aggressive site specific soil amendment approach through the use of the Agressor injection system may be more effective and less costly. Or you may prefer to use the Agressor site specific strategy to complement your plan to amend you irrigation water. It's a perfect match!