I did not.

 

I did not either. Just FYI, Lesco Moisture Manager is the exact same thing.

 

@Spammage @Mightyquinn
I figured as much. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

It will be really hard to see a difference in water use unless you leave an untreated control area to compare. Seasonal variation in watering is going to be a much bigger effect.

 

It also help on how well you know your lawn as in if you have areas in the lawn that you know get drier faster than other areas and you use something like Hydratain or another wetting agent on those areas and they don't dry out as fast but like @bernstem said, unless you have a "control" area you won't really know for sure.

 

I used it last year on 3/4 of my front yard. The whole yard got the same water, fert ... So, it's not that I used "less"

I did not notice a difference and will not be purchasing again.

 

I saw a lot of mixed opinions on Hydretain, so I didn't want to spend the money. Also it's crazy to think that a wetting agent can maintain activity in soils for 3 months (label says 9 oz/M every 3 months) so it may not be a bad product but it just needs more frequent application.

I am currently doing a 6 month trial of Soaker Plus from Helena. I'm applying it to two lawns and I also have plots set up including a control. 8 oz/M bi-weekly April-October on TTTF. I'll write up a post following the trial soon, but I think you should look into Soaker Plus. It's made by a serious company in the turf industry and I know there are supers that use it. Not all wetting agents are the same, some move water and some hold water. Soaker Plus is a holder and isn't phytotoxic (it doesn't need to be watered in immediately) and if you want help managing water and drought stress you need a chemistry similar to this one.

 

Matt Martin mentioned Hydretain on his "The Grass Factor" Youtube show Sunday night. Says it's legit but only should be used under certain circumstances. Listen for your self and make your own call. Go to 38:00 in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p57UGDl5_U

 

All good stuff, gentlemen. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. A control area isnt a bad idea. 🤔
@tommyboy, thanks for the video, too. Some street cred for Hydretain from a big player. Really wish he would've elaborated a bit more.

 

Here's another video re hyrdretain from Alan Hayne (LCN). Start at the 15:30 mark.

https://youtu.be/PMj51-jN698

 

Interesting result with the pots. I wish he would have done more pots in each group. The unhappy one might have had less roots, disease, or some other issue.

 

I actually had really good results in the brutal GA no rain summer last year. I did 2 granular applications and while everyone else was dormant and burned out around I was staying decent. The key is get it down mid June before the super drought hits and make second app 6 weeks later. I still watered but I noticed the water actually did it's job and hot spot areas improved a lot.
Buy the 50 lb bags of the pro product not the homeowner line. See link to planting tree where I get mine.

I have Never used the liquid so no opinion there.
https://www.plantingtree.com/products/hydretain-moisture-manager

 

Matt Martin touched on Hydretain again this week. Maybe more info, maybe not.
20:14 in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3k30OzHlZs

 

So maybe I'm interpreting this down incorrectly, but it seems that a wetting agent is not necessarily a water-reducing product that'll lower your water use in a noticeable way. It seems like it's something that lends a hand between standard regular scheduled waterings by "pulling in atmospheric H2O." I suppose it will never pull in enough water to consider it significant.
There's a bit of semantics there. I appreciate the replies, guys. 👍🏼

 

Wetting agents are a bit of a rabbit hole. Some open up soil to allow better drainage. Some hold water in the soil profile so it doesn't drain out. Some work to break down surface water repellancy (localized dry spot). They are all wetting agents/surfactants, and there are dozens of them. I"m not trying to confuse, but the topic is complex. Here is an introduction article:

http://gsr.lib.msu.edu/article/zontek-understanding-7-20-12.pdf

I can't tell what class Hydretain is, but it appears (based on the safety data sheet) to be mostly a sugar based plymer designed for water retention with some non-ionic surfactant mixed. It is not the same as SLS. The three months of activity is reasonable. Most wetting agents recommend re-application anywhere from 30-90 days.

 

Sorry I'm late to this party, I used Hydretain last year. I didn't water less, but I had a strip in my backyard that wasn't getting as much as water as the rest. Looks like a weakness in my sprinkler config. I didn't want to dig around to put more heads in just yet, so I used it. It got that section to bounce back during the Summer until the extra rain in the Fall. I'm going to try it again this year.

 

I may wind up curious enough to try it. If i give it a shot, I'll be sure to share what my experience is. Thanks again, gents.

 

I only have 1k sq ft so I bought the 3 lb bag and put some in my hanging baskets and planters and I'll put the rest on the lawn at the end of May here in PA