New Qualibra wetting agent
22 Feb 2012
Qualibra is an exciting new concept in wetting agent technology. With Qualibra, water quickly moves away from the surface, and then is held more evenly and to greater depth within the root zone for better utilisation by turf plants.
What makes Qualibra more effective?
Qualibra combines a unique and dynamic penetrant to move
moisture, with a powerful polymer to hold moisture. Most current
wetting agents are either just a penetrant type - with small
molecules designed to move water away from the surface quickly, but
not hold it - or large molecule block co-polymers, which hold water
effectively but are not so effective at moving and distributing it
through the root zone.
Qualibra has been designed with the ability to quickly move water away from the surface - to retain firm playing surfaces - then hold moisture deeper and more evenly in the root zone to prevent dry patch forming and invigorate root and plant health.
The colour of health
The result of the turf safety and enhanced plant health
has seen Qualibra treated turf retain green colour for longer under
the most testing conditions. STRI visual appraisal of treated turf
at The Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, showed the colour of
unirrigated fairway-type turf retained at 63% in mid-summer
assessments, compared to an unacceptable 45% on untreated
areas.
Potential for more efficient
irrigation
Further trials have shown that Qualibra treated soils
retain moisture more effectively in the root zone and can make
better use of irrigation resources.
After 10 mm irrigation on a hydrophobic dry soil core of a typical
sand used in green Construction, soil moisture content was 50%
higher with Qualibra, compared to the average with existing wetting
agents tested.
Qualibra returned the soil to optimum 15-20% moisture content
after 19 mm of irrigation - over 25% better perfromance than other
wetting agents. In fact, with some other wetting agents over 50%
more irrigation would have been required to get the soil back to
the desired moisture content.
