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Princeton, MN | There has been a lot of talk on here about using AMS or other products with glyphosate. I am going to offer my knowledge about interactions with these products that I have acquired from the university of MN and recently becoming a chemical salesperson.
Ammonium sulfate serves a couple of purposes in the tank mix, the main one is to tie up hard water cations. The sulfate group with its double negative charge attaches to free cations in the water and the ammonium group with its positive charge (cation) attaches to the glyphosate molecule. Ammonium does not tie up the molecule like metalic cations do. Glyphosate was first known as a strong soap because of the nature of it to chelate, which is a molecule that likes to cling tightly to another an neutralizing its electrical charge. By binding the ammonium group the glyphosate is still effective in the plant. The sulfate group also helps to lower the water pH, this helps to stop the transformation of glyphosate due to it being a weak acid.
I will skip around a little bit in the order of things happening, but lets say our gly molecule is now in the plant vascular tissue and working on getting to the meristem of the plant to do its job. There are also free cations floating around in the plants phloem that are just waiting to bind to your gly molecule. Good thing it is being neutralized by the AMS. Gly binds to EPSP synthase, which is an enzyme that allows amino acids to be formed, stop forming amino acids means the plant cannot build proteins, stop making proteins and the plant cannot grow or form enzymes that are essential for physiological functions. The molecule has a lot of work to do getting into the plant cell, which has a plasma memebrane that is designed to keep things out that do not belong. This is where the ammonium molecule comes into play. There are extra hydrogen ions that are used to modify the nature of the molecule from lipophyllic to hydrophyllic. I cannot explain it well here, so try this link and look at page 107 which shows a diagram and explains how this carrier is need to move the gly molecule into the cell.
http://books.google.com/books?id=MFOkkkYn8cIC&pg=PA108&dq=herbicide...
Those are the reasons AMS increases your glyphosate efficacy. Im sure many people get by without using AMS just fine, but I for one would not waste my time or chemical effectiveness to save $.50 an acre on AMS. Liquid AMS works just as well, but is more costly than the dry product.
A surfactant is a different story. Surfactants are in loaded gly products, the products with surfactants are usually labeled as "plus". Such as Cornerstone plus, Buccaneer plus, Glystar Plus, etc. Surfactant is shorthand for surface active agent. What these chemicals do is weaken the bonds that are present in water. This essentially makes the water "wetter". A good experiment to see how this works is to fill a bowl up with water on a level surface until it overflows (I suggest doing this in a sink) let it sit for a moment and then add a drop of dish soap to it, and watch what happens.
A leaf surface has a wax on it that must be penetrated for the chemical to enter the leaf. Look at a vehicle that has just been waxed and watch how water reacts, it beads up and runs off quickly, this is the same thing that happens on a leaf. A surfactant stops this beading action and allows the chemical to make a better contact angle with the leaf surface making it easier for the chemical to pierce the cuticle (wax layer) and anter the plant.
http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/exper2/exper2_10.gif
This is my explanation of these chemicals and how they work, I even recommend using a surfactant with a loaded gly product to make sure it works in the best way possible. Happy spraying this season! | |
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- Glyphosate, ammonium sulfate, surfactant information - braunt01 : 5/31/2010 17:50
- RE: Glyphosate, ammonium sulfate, surfactant information - LarryL : 5/31/2010 19:51
- Re: Glyphosate, ammonium sulfate, surfactant information - Mustard : 5/31/2010 20:23
- RE: Glyphosate, ammonium sulfate, surfactant information - Hayinhere : 6/1/2010 00:15
- RE: Glyphosate, ammonium sulfate, surfactant information - Jim : 6/1/2010 00:36
- Re: Glyphosate, ammonium sulfate, surfactant information - Traveling Man : 6/1/2010 01:50
- Re: Glyphosate, ammonium sulfate, surfactant information - Ed Winkle : 6/1/2010 13:12
- RE: Glyphosate, ammonium sulfate, surfactant information - Zach in Ala. : 6/7/2010 21:38
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Glyphosate, ammonium sulfate, surfactant information
