Blog
Nov 21

Managing Sodium-Induced Soil Deflocculation

In a previous Blog post, we discussed how to assess sodium issues in your irrigation water and soils. In that entry, we noted that soil deflocculation is a concern for turfgrass managers dealing with fine textured soils.

In fine-textured soils, high concentrations of sodium can lead to a loss of soil structure and sodium-induced soil deflocculation, resulting in reduced permeability.

If your soil contains a high enough ESP (Exchangeable Sodium Percentage) to cause soil deflocculation and a loss of permeability, you must take steps to lower the amount of sodium in your soil as soon as possible. The following cultural practices and Aquatrols products will be helpful in lowering your soil sodium levels back to an acceptable range.

Cultural Practices:

  • Inject gypsum or apply granular gypsum to the soil to provide calcium cations (Ca2+), which will displace sodium cations (Na+) from cation exchange sites.
  • Leach the soil to move displaced sodium cations below the rootzone.
  • Use physical soil cultivation to break up soil compaction caused by loss of soil structure.

Aquatrols Product Recommendations:

  • If soils contain appreciable amounts of calcium carbonate, Blast Injectable or Blast Sprayable can dissolve the calcium carbonate and release additional calcium cations (Ca2+), which will help displace sodium cations (Na+) from soil cation exchange sites.
  • Apply Caltrisal ST to increase the solubility of applied gypsum.
  • Use an Aquatrols soil surfactant to aid in the leaching of displaced sodium cations below the root zone.

For more information, be sure to download our FREE Guide to Assessing and Managing Turfgrass Salinity Issues in Irrigation Water and Soils.

Aquatrols

About The Author

More than 60 years ago, Aquatrols introduced the world’s first commercially available soil wetting agent. Since creating an entirely new product category to address water management challenges and opportunities, the company has remained a top innovator and producer of high-performance soil surfactants and related technologies. Aquatrols’ advanced product suite optimizes soil-water-plant interactions in agricultural, professional turfgrass, and horticultural industries in more than 40 countries. Headquartered in southern New Jersey, Aquatrols also has offices in the United Kingdom and conducts business on six continents.

2 Comments

  1. […] If your ESP is greater than 10% in an arid region or 15% in a non-arid region, you’ll need to take action to manage your high sodium issues. […]

  2. […] testing your irrigation water as well as common problems related to soil salinity, high levels of sodium in irrigation water and soils, and the potential damage caused by the presence of toxic […]