Baby Shampoo – A great wetting agent for your lawn and garden!

Have you ever noticed when watering that the water just seems to roll off the soil without soaking in? You are not alone. Hydrophobic soils repel water which can lead to serious problems in the lawn and garden. How can you solve this problem? By using a wetting agent you can greatly enhance your soils ability to absorb water and nutrients readily and consistently.  A wetting agent is a detergent or surfactant that changes the surface tension of the water and allows the water to penetrate the soil, helping it to soak in deeper and more consistently.

Why Baby Shampoo?
The main reason for using a baby shampoo is there are no dyes, perfumes or anti bacterial agents that would harm bacteria in the soil. They are also pH balanced so they won’t mess up your soil’s pH. An added benefit is that it has a very pleasing smell when applied.

Benefits
After application of baby shampoo to your lawn or garden soil will accept water more readily and uniformly overall. It will allow water to soak in deeper which enhances deeper roots.

It also helps deter pests as they do not like the taste of the soap. Please note this is only effective in the short term. Nutrients will also be absorbed deeper and more consistently in the soil helping stimulate root growth.

Application
3 oz.(89 ml) Baby Shampoo / 1000sq.ft.
Add appropriate amount baby shampoo into sprayer jar. Fill the remaining space with water slowly as not to create too much foam. Set sprayer dial to 3oz/gal. setting. Attach hose to sprayer unit and apply solution evenly across lawn and soil of gardens. Apply either just before rain or irrigate lawn and garden with sprinkler. Try not to apply in direct sunlight or in very hot weather. You can apply this solution every month or so depending on your soil conditions.