Renewable Farming

How WakeUP outperformed two leading surfactants

Since 2008, we’ve been field-testing WakeUP’s effectiveness at translocating foliar-applied nutrients into crops. In general, we’ve found that WakeUP Summer adds a yield “bonus” to a micronutrient blend or NPK package. 

Example: Suppose a trace pack or other foliar nutrient formulation adds 5 bu. more yield. Including WakeUP Summer as a surfactant/penetrant/mobilizer typically stimulates another 4 bushels.  On average, the bonus is roughly 80% of the original nutrient package’s yield gain. 

In recent years we’ve begun testing WakeUP Summer in comparison with other surfactants. There are hundreds of “wetting agents” and “stickers” for sale, so we’re sticking with just the ones with excellent field histories. The chart below shows how WakeUP Summer excelled in delivering three key elements into corn metabolism, in comparison with two university-recognized surfactants.  

One is an organosilicone surfactant with a sticking agent; it offers excellent spreading on the leaf and reduces runoff. The other one contains methyl acetic acid and reduces pH of the spray solution. Both products have very firm warnings about handling, such as wearing protective clothing.

In fact, most of the surfactants on the market are considered hazardous to handle. 

WakeUP is much more user-friendly. We use WakeUP Summer as a household cleanser to wash fresh vegetables, clean surfaces and wash hands.

But the big difference betweenWakeUP and other surfactants is that we use a colloidal micelle “structuring” principle to reduce surface tension, open up the leaf cuticle and mildly chelate the nutrient “payload” so it’s carried into the crop. It’s what gets into crop metabolism that counts. 

So…  here’s the data comparing metabolic internal delivery of three trace elements into young corn.  Manganese, Zinc and copper were the primary content of the blended trace pack we used from BRT Ag & Turf in Ladora, Iowa.