Page 13 - Griffin Gazette - July 2026

Cool weather, outdoor fall activities, and vibrant garden the rather modest cost of supplementing the root zone with
decorations may be months away, but production begins in an additional wetting agent. A substrate drench with a liquid
the summer, during some of the most challenging weather wetting agent, such as AquaGro L and H2Pro, refreshes the
conditions. Cool-season annuals and fall vegetables are water retention of tired soils, leading to fewer wet/dry cycles,
popular choices for late-season greenhouse production, efficient use of water and nutrients, and less plant stress.
while outdoors, fall-blooming perennials, shrubs, and trees Granular products can also be incorporated into the soil,
need to be finished or maintained. including Reténu G Advanced which contains an OMRI-listed
carrier.
Aside from the heat of summer, growers are competing with
extreme light levels and weeds that are trying to become Shade Cloth & Greenhouse Coatings
permanent residents. All of the above rob the plants of
Shade cuts down the light intensity and can also reduce the
moisture, requiring increased irrigation. In this environment,
temperature within production spaces. Crop, retail, and work
root diseases, thrips, and spider mites can thrive if allowed.
areas can generally be shaded at 30-80% light reduction
A number of tools that may not have been needed or used
using woven shade cloth material or knitted cloth (stretches).
in the spring become valuable tools in summer to prevent or
Knitted cloths are offered in a variety of colors or reflective
mitigate the risks associated with these seasonal conditions.
aluminum to provide a myriad of options. Shade cloth is
custom-cut and finished to fit.
Shade coatings, commonly referred to as “whitewash”, also
work very well and can allow for more rapid deployment and
flexibility when needed. The percent shade can be easily
altered by the amount of product or thickness applied.
Additionally, aerial applications via drones are becoming more
common for applying as well as cleaning off shade coatings
for large production areas. Along with reducing heat stress,
ReduSystems offers a full line of liquid concentrate products
for manipulating light intensity, spectrum, and distribution.
It is important for growers to understand the range of liquid
and fabric shade solutions they have available at their
disposal. There is a specialized solution to help mitigate
plant stress in the summer environment for every location,

FIRST AID Wetting Agents

We all know that wetting agents incorporated into starting
soil-less mixes lose efficacy with time. This can be seen
as uneven growth among a group of plants that are being
irrigated identically, or show slow seepage into the soil
after irrigation events. Pop a plant out of its container after
irrigation - the dry pockets and water channeling become
obvious. When the wetting agent breaks down, water and
fertilizer are wasted, running out the bottom of the container
instead of being retained by the media. This alone justifies

GRIFFIN GAZETTE 20 26 | 13