Wetting agent in wet well Cancel The title field is required!

1. Cecil Daniel

   

   0 posts
   
   6/12/2015 9:06 AM

   Is anyone putting wetting agent tablets in their pump wet well? If so, how do you do it and were the results noticeable?

   
   
   
   
2. Keith Lamb

   

   3 posts
   
   6/12/2015 10:06 AM

   http://www.pinnacleturf.net/floratine-pdfs/Wet-Well-Magnum.pdf
   
   http://bthbgcm.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html
   
   http://aquaaid.com/product/maxi-proportioner/
   
   http://www.aquaaid.com/pdfs/Literature/MAXPlit.pdf

   
   
   
   
3. Mark Patterson

   

   0 posts
   
   6/12/2015 3:06 PM

   I use Florentine Retain Tablets in dry season and switch to Prevade during the rainy season. I irrigate 78 acres and put 2 tablets in an old back lapping compound bucket. I tie it off so it sits about 6 feet deep in the wet well. The results are noticeable with in a few weeks. Watering less during dry season and less mud during rainy season.
   I place them in the wet well every 2 weeks and just run a 6 minute syringe program. Cost is $400 per month.
   I recommend it as I have limited resources for spraying.
   Hope this helps.

   
   
   
   
4. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   6/13/2015 8:06 AM

   Mark W Patterson said: I use Florentine Retain Tablets in dry season and switch to Prevade during the rainy season. I irrigate 78 acres and put 2 tablets in an old back lapping compound bucket. I tie it off so it sits about 6 feet deep in the wet well. The results are noticeable with in a few weeks. Watering less during dry season and less mud during rainy season.
   I place them in the wet well every 2 weeks and just run a 6 minute syringe program. Cost is $400 per month.
   I recommend it as I have limited resources for spraying.
   Hope this helps.

   
   
   
   Are you using the Magnum pellets, Mark?

   
   
   
   
5. Cecil Daniel

   

   0 posts
   
   6/13/2015 4:06 PM

   Thanks for the reply. A chemical rep told me about a couple of guys doing this in my area. He said that a 10 lb tablet would last two weeks. He said everyone just tosses it into the well. Just for kicks I put it inside a pool cleaning net. It was almost completely gone before lunch the next day. I like the idea of adding wetting agent to the irrigation and we are not set up to fertigate.
   How long do the tablets last inside of a bucket? This was the same idea I had after I noticed how fast it dissolved with nothing protesting it. Glad to hear you get noticeable results.

   
   
   
   
6. Anthony Nysse

   

   1 posts
   
   6/15/2015 8:06 AM

   Cecil K Daniel said: Thanks for the reply. A chemical rep told me about a couple of guys doing this in my area. He said that a 10 lb tablet would last two weeks. He said everyone just tosses it into the well. Just for kicks I put it inside a pool cleaning net. It was almost completely gone before lunch the next day. I like the idea of adding wetting agent to the irrigation and we are not set up to fertigate.
   How long do the tablets last inside of a bucket? This was the same idea I had after I noticed how fast it dissolved with nothing protesting it. Glad to hear you get noticeable results.

   
   
   Patrick at Georgia Southern University Golf Course was twetting about this last night. He may be your contract.

   
   
   
   
7. Anthony Nysse

   

   1 posts
   
   6/15/2015 8:06 AM

   Cecil K Daniel said: Thanks for the reply. A chemical rep told me about a couple of guys doing this in my area. He said that a 10 lb tablet would last two weeks. He said everyone just tosses it into the well. Just for kicks I put it inside a pool cleaning net. It was almost completely gone before lunch the next day. I like the idea of adding wetting agent to the irrigation and we are not set up to fertigate.
   How long do the tablets last inside of a bucket? This was the same idea I had after I noticed how fast it dissolved with nothing protesting it. Glad to hear you get noticeable results.

   
   
   Patrick at Georgia Southern University Golf Course was tweetting about this last night. He may be your contract.

   
   
   
   
8. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   6/15/2015 8:06 PM

   I know a bunch of guys that do it, but none get it to last more than a few cycles.
   
   We have been using a proportioner and injecting directly into the water. Somewhere in the middle of the night it's gone. We are assuming around 5 hours in.
   
   My biggest concern is since you are only using 10#, even at 100%/cycle, are you getting enough product out to do any good? If the smaller tablets are 4oz and only last around 10k sqft when using a hose, then 4 small tablets would last roughly an acre. So multiply by 10# and you get 10 acres.
   
   We also use an 11% a.i. liquid product and inject through the fertigation. If we assume it weighs 10#/gallon with 1.1#/a.i. per gallon, then it would take me about 9 gallons of product to roughly equal a 10# pellet with 100% a.i. At $3.50/gallon, the liquid would cost me $31.50/app. The pellets are around $80/each. The rate for the liquid we buy is 50-100gals/app, or 55-110#/a.i. to cover 100 acres, which is around .55-1.1# a.i./acre. Which is about what the comparison to the smaller pellets got me.
   
   The liquid seems cheaper and more effective based on my thinking. Am I missing something here?

   
   
   
   
9. Patrick Reinhardt

   

   0 posts
   
   6/16/2015 8:06 AM

   Cecil,
   If it was Dekle you were talking to, he was probably referring to me as Tony said. I started playing with the Amega Sciences HumWet tablets. I placed it in a bucket with holes in it so that I could monitor how it was breaking down. The tablet itself last over 2 nights. I believe the 2 weeks he was referring to was the length of time the product would be effective in the field. Manufacturer recommends 1 tablet every 2-3 weeks. I bought 3 tablets to run over the next 6 weeks. I ran the tablet Saturday and Sunday nights, and so far we have had very little wilt over the past couple of days, which is unheard of with out hard soils. We will see what it does over the next week as the water content of the soil diminishes. I'm not expecting it to be a cure-all, but if it helps me be able to adjust my water cycles, the $250-275/month isn't too bad.
   
   Andy,
   We don't have a proportioner or fertigation set up, so this is a better option for us in the time being. Do you run the liquid every irrigation cycle?

   
   
   
   
10. Andy Jorgensen

    

    1 posts
    
    6/16/2015 12:06 PM

    On wetting agents, we will run one night every 2-3 weeks and try to run out between 75-100 gallons in 500k of water. Concern with this, like you have mentioned before, is the first few heads to turn on won't have the product in the lines. Since the pump is already set at about 20%, it would be hard to just meter out a little at every cycle like we do when we run fertigation. The same problem exists when putting a pellet in the wet well. The first few heads won't have the product included.
    
    I have always been curious if the proportioner we use with the tablets is allowing too much turbulence around the pellet causing it to break down quicker compared to the minor turbulence in a wet well.
    
    I'm sure even with the minor amounts going out each night in your scenario, it is still working to some degree and making the water "wetter". If this is your only option, than it's better than nothing and I would be doing the exact same thing, but probably keep a pellet in there every 3-4 cycles to just make sure enough was going out.
    
    For someone that spends $30k-35k a year on wetting agents, I'm constantly scrutinizing our programs for value and efficacy. I'm all ears on new stuff as long as it works.

    
    
    
    
11. Daniel Stover

    

    0 posts
    
    6/16/2015 3:06 PM

    Im a bit confused as to why the first few heads during a cycle wouldn't have any wetting agent? Newer Fertigation systems run off the flow meter in the pump house, little flow = little fertigation which maintains the right ratio in the lines. Unless you are running your fertigation on a timer?
    
    I would also think that a wetting agent tablet in the wet well would actually have a higher percentage of wetting agent in the lines for the first few heads since the tablet would be breaking down during the day at a similar rate that it would at night but without full flow in the field.

    
    
    
    
12. Patrick Reinhardt

    

    0 posts
    
    6/16/2015 7:06 PM

    Daniel,
    Think of it like the hot water in your house. It has to move down the line before coming out of the head. A main line contains several thousand gallons of water which has to be displaced before the product comes out.

    
    
    
    
13. Michael Rogers

    

    2 posts
    
    6/17/2015 8:06 AM

    Andy, Are you able to put a program before normal run for roadsides or club house gardens, maybe practice range, out of the way areas that do not need the wetting agent? This way you can vacate the system on the days you put the wetting agent. The ease of this depends upon the configuration of your system. Got to go now, my 8pm supplementary program for fairway 2 irrigation somehow went on at 5 30 pm yesterday wetting some green fees. Whoops, it is 3 30 pm now.
    
    Saludos Mike

    
    
    
    
14. Daniel Stover

    

    0 posts
    
    6/17/2015 9:06 AM

    Patrick,
    
    There never should be a lack of wetting agent in the lines if your fertigation unit is connected to the flow meter. Whether it be the jockey pump coming on during the day to maintain pressure, spot watering during the day or the nightly irrigation the fertigation unit will pump out the right amount of product to maintain the right ratio within the lines. The only time you would have a lack of product within the lines is if you are running the fertigation unit off from a timer. Then your daily spot watering and jockey pump holding pressure would dilute the product within the lines.

    
    
    
    
15. Patrick Reinhardt

    

    0 posts
    
    6/17/2015 4:06 PM

    Daniel,
    Most people do not constantly inject wetting agent. It is an occasional use product, such as in Andy's case where it is being used every 2-3 weeks. In that case, it is as I described.

    
    
    
    
16. Anthony Nysse

    

    1 posts
    
    6/18/2015 5:06 AM

    Daniel Stover said: Patrick,
    
    There never should be a lack of wetting agent in the lines if your fertigation unit is connected to the flow meter. Whether it be the jockey pump coming on during the day to maintain pressure, spot watering during the day or the nightly irrigation the fertigation unit will pump out the right amount of product to maintain the right ratio within the lines. The only time you would have a lack of product within the lines is if you are running the fertigation unit off from a timer. Then your daily spot watering and jockey pump holding pressure would dilute the product within the lines.

    
    
    I would always want the lines "cleaned" after running a wetting agent and/or fertigation. I don't want it on greens or going through the hose while checking greens. Usually run a "flush" first thing in the morning on the range to pump it through.
    
    Certainly isn't something that Id recommend to constantly be in the lines.

    
    
    
    
17. Cecil Daniel

    

    0 posts
    
    6/18/2015 10:06 AM

    Patrick,
    Yes it was Jeff that I was talking about. I tried the bucket with minimal holes and got a few days out of the tablet.
    
    I am not worried about not getting uniform coverage with the wetting agent. Instead, I like the idea that the heads with longer run times get more. That is where I need it most.
    
    Thanks again everyone.