# My experience with Hydretain



## Green

I've used Hydretain for a couple of years...before the youtube guys started messing with it more recently.

I picked Hydretain ES Plus II. Reason being: the granular was too expensive for the amount of coverage compared to the liquid. And ES Plus II had the best technology of all the liquid formulas. It was available from AM Leonard for around $85 per gallon. I bought it in 2017, and still have a little bit left.

I used it in 2017 and 2018. The area I used it on is what I call the low-input area. It's around 6,000 square feet of grass that doesn't have irrigation. I water when I can, but usually it's in a water deficit in the Summer. The grass is Northern mix...lots of fine fescue. I'm not nuts about killing weeds in this lawn. Only when stuff gets really out of control or it's something noxious. I try not to kill the clover, unless it's really smothering the grass in a spot. There are usually some wild violets and other weeds, despite my trying to somewhat keep up with them. The soil isn't the best, but it's been on a soil remediation program for a few years and has gotten better.

I'm not sure if I used the Hydretain too late in the season both years, or what. In 2017, it did not save the lawn from browning out in the Summer heat. It did, however, seem to encourage the weeds...they grew better after applying. In 2018, the weather was harsher. Lots of 90+ weather, and the results were no better. In fact, despite applying Hydretain and watering 0.5 to 1 inch every 2 weeks or so where needed, I had a lot of grass brown out. In the early Fall, I overseeded, because a lot of it was dead and pulled out when I raked to prepare it.

So, the Hydretain did not keep it alive through the Summer, despite it being used at the label rate on Jun 27th, 2018. Again, I don't know if this is user error (maybe I should have applied it earlier before any drought stress happened, and then done a second app later...?) or just the limitations of the product under hot weather. Maybe it would have been even worse if it hadn't been used.


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## jdc_lawnguy

@Green Thanks for the write up. I have been debating using hydration and this gave me lots to think about. Are you going to bother puting what you have leftover down this year?


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## Green

jdc_lawnguy said:


> @Green Thanks for the write up. I have been debating using hydration and this gave me lots to think about. Are you going to bother puting what you have leftover down this year?


Absolutely, but probably before mid June to see if earlier works better.


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## MassHole

https://www.lawnsite.com/threads/hydretain.399145/

Lots of info there. Seems to work. You still need to water, just not as much.


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## j4c11

My experience with Hydretain is that it gives you some extra time - up to 2 days during peak heat (90+). So I could maybe go 4-5 days instead of 3 between watering. I don't have an irrigation system so I only water as needed to make it to the next rain - if it starts to wilt it gets water. Sometimes those extra 2 days means I can make it to the next rain without having to water. Most often it simply gives me some wiggle room to do the other half the next day, or to catch it before it turns if I come home late one day and miss the early signs of drought stress. It's been a useful tool for me during summer for the past couple of years, but Lesco has raised the price for the Moisture Manager RTS by about 50% last year. I will have to re-evaluate next year and maybe buy in bulk.

I guess the best way to think of it is a 30% boost to your current drought tolerance.


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## Green

j4c11 said:


> I guess the best way to think of it is a 30% boost to your current drought tolerance.


I guess. This past Summer was very NC/TN-like in terms of the humidity here, and also close in terms the temps (not quite as many days over 90 as you probably typically get, though still a good amount). That said, the grass in full sun did not do well, even with the Hydretain. I guess it was beyond the "boost" it's capable of. We also had a nice and rainy April, so the roots got going well. (But part of the area was badly affected by red thread as a result. Funny thing was, that area survived the Summer heat. Hydretain was used on both areas.)


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## NewLawnJon

From my understanding Hydretain is a soil drench. I have also seen products that are foliar to assist too (think a wax for the grass that keeps the water from evaporating through the blades). Has anyone experimented with the wax type products, or the combo with soil and foliar drought stress reduction methods?


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## Pest and Lawn Ginja

Personally I would start by doing a cup check and measuring the water output from the sprinklers. Hydretain is water dependent. If the coverage is spot on then you may have a point and the product may not be functioning as it did in the past.


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## Green

Pest and Lawn Ginja said:


> Personally I would start by doing a cup check and measuring the water output from the sprinklers. Hydretain is water dependent. If the coverage is spot on then you may have a point and the product may not be functioning as it did in the past.


I did my best to water the recommended amount after applying it. The coverage may not have been perfect, but it was close (oscillating sprinkler; watered around 1/2 to 1 inch; measuring cup positioned about halfway between the sprinkler and edge of coverage).

It did seem to do something, though...subjectively, the weeds grew better again in 2018 after spraying vs. before.


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## Green

NewLawnJon said:


> From my understanding Hydretain is a soil drench. I have also seen products that are foliar to assist too (think a wax for the grass that keeps the water from evaporating through the blades). Has anyone experimented with the wax type products, or the combo with soil and foliar drought stress reduction methods?


Hopefully I was using enough water when I applied it. I tried to use more water than I would ordinarily, say when spraying an herbicide. Then again, it shouldn't really matter since it's watered in after.


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## Pest and Lawn Ginja

Green said:


> NewLawnJon said:
> 
> 
> 
> From my understanding Hydretain is a soil drench. I have also seen products that are foliar to assist too (think a wax for the grass that keeps the water from evaporating through the blades). Has anyone experimented with the wax type products, or the combo with soil and foliar drought stress reduction methods?
> 
> 
> 
> Hopefully I was using enough water when I applied it. I tried to use more water than I would ordinarily, say when spraying an herbicide. Then again, it shouldn't really matter since it's watered in after.
Click to expand...

It's interesting to me that you say the weeds thrived. I would do a soil probe and check to see how deep the water is penetrating. You may be dealing with a compaction issue as well.

You're right about getting the product watered in. If its not watered in really well it doesn't activate and do what it's supposed to. When I put my hydretain granular down I use 1 to 2" of water to push it down. From what I recall, I could be wrong, but the liquid also needs multiple applications. From what I remember it was recommended every 4 to 6 weeks or so during the hotter months.


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## Green

Pest and Lawn Ginja said:


> It's interesting to me that you say the weeds thrived. I would do a soil probe and check to see how deep the water is penetrating. You may be dealing with a compaction issue as well.


I see what you're getting at, since most of those weed types don't root deeply. I did not take soil cores before and after watering, so I don't know how deep the water was actually going. I will have to check it out in the Spring. Thanks for the advice. If it turns out the water isn't getting down as deep as it should, I won't be able to blame the Hydretain. We will see in a few months.


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## Pest and Lawn Ginja

Good luck. Keep me informed. Love to hear what the primary issue is.

[/quote]

I see what you're getting at, since most of those weed types don't root deeply. I did not take soil cores before and after watering, so I don't know how deep the water was actually going. I will have to check it out in the Spring. Thanks for the advice. If it turns out the water isn't getting down as deep as it should, I won't be able to blame the Hydretain. We will see in a few months.
[/quote]


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## Green

@Pest and Lawn Ginja, what have your Hydretain results been like? Do you use it professionally much? I assume your climate is drier than mine (which gets fairly humid in Summer at times, though usually less humid than, say, Florida).


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## TN Hawkeye

I've been looking into some soil conditioners to use on my lawn whether it be penterra or moisture manager but I've been struggling to find out the right one to use on clay soils. If I dig 1" deep I hit bright orange clay. I know that clay holds moisture but also keeps some nutrients from being available. Should I be looking at the GCF line or something else?


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## Pest and Lawn Ginja

Green said:


> @Pest and Lawn Ginja, what have your Hydretain results been like? Do you use it professionally much? I assume your climate is drier than mine (which gets fairly humid in Summer at times, though usually less humid than, say, Florida).


I tried it out on my lawn for 2 seasons. At the time I had a lawn that was 12,000ft2. I went from watering 28 minutes per station down to 22 minutes per station and maintained the same color and overall health of the lawn. I saved about 20% on my overall water consumption. I applied the granular once at the beginning of June. Both of the years I chose to apply the products were considered hot months. We sit at about 4300ft elevation. I was very pleased with the results.


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## craigdt

This is a really interesting product.

It seems like its one of those really high level products and it's sort of difficult to cut through the shills who are selling the stuff.

How does this interface with the usual Kelp Help and BLSC?

A completely different use? Replacement? Would they all work together nicely?


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## Green

I was watching one of LCN's recent videos on Hydretain, and he applied it with a hose end sprayer, and watered it shallow immediately after with the sprayer. I wonder if doing that would give me a better result with it, instead of applying with the hand sprayer and then setting up a sprinkler. He said you don't want it to dry on the grass. I wonder if that might that be why it didn't work well for me. Any thoughts?


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## Killsocket

Green said:


> I was watching one of LCN's recent videos on Hydretain, and he applied it with a hose end sprayer, and watered it shallow immediately after with the sprayer. I wonder if doing that would give me a better result with it, instead of applying with the hand sprayer and then setting up a sprinkler. He said you don't want it to dry on the grass. I wonder if that might that be why it didn't work well for me. Any thoughts?


I did the hose end sprayer on my front yard and side yard only and watered in with sprinkler about 3 weeks ago, maybe more. Where I was I had some significant drought stress (no rain, but decent temps 80 or under typically). For me, my front lawn recovered nicely with little irrigation and my backyard struggled to get out of stress/dormancy with the same irrigation. I'm sold.


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## Green

Killsocket said:


> I did the hose end sprayer on my front yard and side yard only and watered in with sprinkler about 3 weeks ago, maybe more. Where I was I had some significant drought stress (no rain, but decent temps 80 or under typically). For me, my front lawn recovered nicely with little irrigation and my backyard struggled to get out of stress/dormancy with the same irrigation. I'm sold.


Ok, I'll give the hose end sprayer a try, then drench it with the same sprayer, then set up a sprinkler after. Notice more weeds with the Hydretain? I did. Like in my case, it helped the weeds germinate and grow more, but not really the grass. Makes me think it somehow got hung up in the top soil layer.


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## Killsocket

Green said:


> Killsocket said:
> 
> 
> 
> I did the hose end sprayer on my front yard and side yard only and watered in with sprinkler about 3 weeks ago, maybe more. Where I was I had some significant drought stress (no rain, but decent temps 80 or under typically). For me, my front lawn recovered nicely with little irrigation and my backyard struggled to get out of stress/dormancy with the same irrigation. I'm sold.
> 
> 
> 
> Ok, I'll give the hose end sprayer a try, then drench it with the same sprayer, then set up a sprinkler after. Notice more weeds with the Hydretain? I did. Like in my case, it helped the weeds germinate and grow more, but not really the grass. Makes me think it somehow got hung up in the top soil layer.
Click to expand...

No more than previous years. Just on the edges by driveway and street. Nothing in the meat of the lawn. Based on my little sprinkler gauges, I put down about .4-.5 inches of water on top of it.


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## ksturfguy

Ive never used it but i just think you didnt water enough. Its not a miracle product. If you only water once every 2 weeks in the summer your going to have brown grass no matter what. You still need to water just slightly less.


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## Green

ksturfguy said:


> Ive never used it but i just think you didnt water enough. Its not a miracle product. If you only water once every 2 weeks in the summer your going to have brown grass no matter what. You still need to water just slightly less.


This Summer I'm going to have to water a bit more often, due to the overseed on that area last Fall that's still hardening off and maturing. It's not perfect, but came in really nicely overall. That overseed was needed because a lot of the grass died last Summer. We had more of a transition-zone Summer with a lot of 90s, and mid/high 70s dew points, and I watered once in a while, but it wasn't enough. See photos here: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3351&hilit=dormant&start=80#p84068
And then I had a river after overseeding and had to rake germinating grass out and repeat the seeding in some spots a few times: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3351&hilit=dormant&start=200#p107864
But after repeating a few times, and good care in the Spring including more seed in the Winter, it came in pretty well.

I bought the Hydretain a couple of years ago, and I believe I have a little left. Not sure if it's enough to use on that area, though.


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