Aerate & Wetter application rates
Planning on getting an application of Aerate and Wetter 3W down in the next few days.
Heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow Saturday in Auckland.
My plan is to wait for the worst of the rain to fall (softening the ground a bit) then applying Aerate & Wetter so that the last of the rain washes it in. Is this the way to go?
Also, what is highest dose for each per 100m2? I see Johnny applied Wetter at 500ml/100m2 but Im not sure about Aerate – suggested dose is 10ml/100m2.
Further, I also have Penetrate on hand. When should this be applied?
My soil type is lawn mix over clay which seems to dry out and crust up quickly.
I am also in Auckland and my lawn can crust up quickly too, especially in summer. I would get it down now and let the rain soak it in. I have just applied wetter 3W and Aerate too for my small 50m2 kikuyu, the rate I used was :
Aerate - 5ml (to be honest it was probably more 10ml)
Wetter - 123ml ..ish
These application rates suggested by the NZLA app and I applied them both in the same tank mix. I would assume you could also include Penetrate? But not 100% on that one.
Hey mate, with the wetting agent I normally recommend 250 mL monthly from around September onwards. You can also apply 500 mL at the higher rate to give you a longer residual period, depending on conditions. This is off label by the way, don’t go any higher than this rate.
Personally, I do it slightly differently. My first application of the season is normally 500 mL, then I drop back to 250 mL monthly. If we get into a particularly hot or dry period, I might increase one of those monthly applications back to 500 mL.
The idea with wetting agents is to get them into the rootzone, where they help reduce soil water repellency and allow water to wet the soil profile more evenly. Over time their effectiveness declines, which is why we keep reapplying them through the season.
I like starting with the higher rate because I’m essentially going in strong with preventative application before the soil starts drying out and becoming hydrophobic. Then the monthly applications maintain that through spring and summer.
That’s just the programme I’ve always used on my own lawn and I’ve had really good results with it.
P.S I would apply those products you mentioned in the rain as soon as it starts!