AF Additor is an effective pH corrector and regulator that buffers tap-water to improve compatibility. It ensures pesticides are less impeded by water quality (alkaline, hard, or brackish) or contaminated with insoluble deposits. Most fertilisers and pesticides are negatively charged and therefore sensitive to water hardness, this is caused by the presence of Calcium and Magnesium bicarbonates in hard waters. AF Additor neutralises specific cations, leaving the active ingredients completely free and ready to perform.
Available pack sizes
20L, 200L, 600L, 1000L
Contains
Proprietary combination of organic and inorganic acids.
Water is the primary carrier for applying crop protection products and constitutes more than 95% of the spray volume. Water quality can be affected by both hardness and pH, but the effects are quite distinct.
For most of the UK, hard water is the primary issue. Reservoir and ground water nearly always have something dissolved in them, such as carbonates, bicarbonates, sulphates, or nitrates. These affect the pH and hardness. Glyphosate is a prime example of where performance can be impaired by hard water, it is highly soluble, it’s an excellent chelating agent, which is where the chemical compounds react with metal ions to form a stable, water soluble complex. When added to hard water, the chelates in glyphosate bind with the cations to become locked up which makes them unavailable.
With most herbicides, the solution is to add a cation-complexing agent. Uncorrected, hard water can reduce the efficacy of certain herbicides by up to 30%.
The pH of the water is a different issue, but one that needs consideration to maximise herbicide performance. In some situations, the pH of water may be too high to fully support the herbicide, because drinking water regulations specify that water at the tap should be between pH 6.5-9.5. In most cases, water leaving a treatment works is between pH 7-8, but it can change as it passes through the network of reservoirs and pipes.
Even at the lowest allowable pH for tap water of pH 6.5, the pH is still too high for most post-emergence herbicides. Many are classified as weak acids, so work best at a pH in the range pH 3-6. Above pH 7, certain pesticides can be affected by a process known as alkaline hydrolysis and this renders them permanently inactive.
AF Additor is a water conditioning product and thus should be treated as such. Typical application rates are as follows:
All agricultural crops: Always add AF Additor to the spray water before adding agrochemicals or fertilisers. Tank mix: 1. Spray water 2. AF Additor 3. Agrochemicals or fertilisers.
Soft water: 25ml per 100L
Medium/hard water: 60-75ml per 100L
Hard water: 100ml+ per 100L
Always add 1L per 100L of wash water. Always be sure to check samples of water regularly as pH of water sources can vary over time.
Aiva Fertiliser uses Flex Fertilizer System technology where the liquid fertiliser contains nutrients in a form that can be taken up by the leaves and utilised by plants highly efficiently. The nutrient content is put into complex compounds using complex chemistry. This formulation results in nutrients being kept available to the plants for a longer period of time and are not lost to leaching or evaporation to the same extent as traditional fertilisers.
