See tips from UF/IFAS on tank mixing fertilizers, pesticides, and more, to get the most out of your applications.

“In some crops, if every pesticide used went out as in individual treatment farmers might never be done treating!” That’s the reasoning behind tank mixing, according to a UF/IFAS blog that likened spraying each fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, and other one at a time to “driving the same field over and over like some bad Groundhog Day movie.” In addition to the benefit of “Increase in efficacy (fewer treatments needed),” the post maintained that growers could realize benefits from tank mixing like “Better pest control” and “More species controlled (broad spectrum.”) The post also shared tips for tank mixing fertilizers, pesticides, and more. See them below.

Tank Mixing Tips

The blog post maintained that there are a few reasons why some chemicals cannot be combined, including legal reasons, “Many products will restrict certain combinations or ban mixing all together;” chemical reasons, “Some products simply won’t mix well because they will bind to each other, or otherwise make the pesticides inactive;” and physical reasons, where the mixture would “form a paste, a solid, separate into layers. Basically, the products refuse to mix equally, which can be a big problem.”

Tips for these areas of tank mixing include:

  • “As with all things pesticides READ THE LABEL…However, FIFRA Section 2 (ee)clearly states that unless a label explicitly bans mixing, it is legal to mix various pesticides together, so long as you can follow ALL label instructions on ALL products. So, if one product tells you to use only 20 gallons of diluent per acre and the other says you must use 50…you can’t mix these. Furthermore, as endangered species rules and PULA’s show up on more labels you must be compliant with them as well. So read and follow ALL label instructions as it relates to the use of pesticides.
  • “The other thing you can do is a jar test and a small field test. For a jar test you essentially mix the pesticides you want to put in your tank into a jar and mix them there. That way you can see any clumping, layering, or other indicators of incompatibility. A small field test means testing a new combination in a very small area to test efficacy, selectivity, and any other observable issues that might come up.”
  • “There are also online tools and apps for the phone that can help find known incompatibility issues. The most widely used is Mix Tank, by Precision Laboratories (http://www.mixtankapp.com/).”

Proper Tank Mixing Order

The post also shares that there is an order that you should always follow when tank mixing. It advises: “The first key is to always fill your tank half full of your carrier (like water) and start agitating and keep agitating as you add products. Once you have a carrier half full and you are agitating add products in the AAPLES order:

  1. Ammonium Sulfate, acidifiers, other tank conditioning agents
  2. Powder solubles (dry fertilizers, soluble granules (SG), soluble powder (P)
  3. Powder dry (dry flowables (DF), water dispersible granules (WDG), wettable powders (WP), water soluble packs (WSP)
  4. Liquid flowables (flowables (F), micro-encapsulated products (ME), soluble concentrates (SC)
  5. Emulsified products (emsulsifiable concentrate (EC), oil-in water emulsions (EW), oil dispersion (OD)
  6. Solutions (solutions (S), Soluble liquids (SL)

Once all pesticide products are added you would put in any other adjuvants or surfactants like stickers, spreaders, drift agents. Finally keep agitating and add the remaining carrier (water) to the tank. Agitate throughout the application process to ensure products don’t separate overtime.”

Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions -or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.