News And Insights > Agronomy News > Best Tank Mixing Secrets Your Farm Should Know

Best Tank Mixing Secrets Your Farm Should Know

May 02, 2019

Best Tank Mixing Secrets

Raise your hand if you’ve ever snotted up a sprayer tank or made cottage cheese. If you haven’t , consider yourself lucky or really knowledgeable , because most of us have made a mess or four when mixing chemistries at some point in our careers. That’s pretty normal considering tank mixing can be really tricky. It is , after all , real-life hard chemistry , and unless pesticides are your passion , you may not know the right order for products to go in the tank. The good news is , I would say 85% of the calls I’ve received about tank mixing issues could have been prevented , and I’m here to share some of the best management practices for tank mixing.

  • Water. I cannot encourage you enough to fill your tanks half full before adding any active ingredients into the tank. Ever heard the phrase “dilution is the solution to pollution?" Well , it’s also very often the solution to preventing clogged up tanks , booms , inductor cones , nozzles , etc. If water had a #1 fan , it would be a happy tank mix.
  • Time. Allow plenty of time between ingredient additions. Hot-loading concentrates of active ingredients can lead to a big , bad tank mix mess. 
  • Remember your WALES and DALES:
    1. Wettable powders (or Dry flowables)
    2. Agitate
    3. Liquids
    4. EC formulations and then
    5. Surfactants
  • Mixing order matters.
    1. Water first
    2. Any defoamers/antifoamers
    3. Water conditioners (Your local GreenPoint AG rep can get your water tested if you’re unsure of the hardness)
      • E.g. Class Act Ridion for dicamba or Class Act NG for non-dicamba systems
    4. On-Target™ (This is an exception to the typical WALES and DALES. While On-Target™ is a DRA and therefore a surfactant , it takes the product time to activate and provides the best performance when added after the water conditioner)
    5. The Ws and Ds of WALES and DALES
      • WSP - Water soluble packet
      • WP – Wettable powders
      • DF – Dry Flowables (Authority®First , Authority® MTZ)
      • WDG – Water dispersible granule (First Rate® , Rowel® , Rowel®FX , Valor®SX , Valor®XLT , Zidua®)
      • SP – soluble powder
      • DG – dispersible granules (Authority® MAXX , Authority® XL , Classic®)
      • EXT – Extruded Granule (Dimetric® EXT)
      • WG – Wettable Granule (Optill® , Sonic®)
      • Dry Fertilizers
      • SC – suspension concentrates (Prowl® H2O , Pursuit® , Sharpen®)
    6. Agitate
    7. Liquid flowables and suspensions
      • F/FL – Flowables 
      • Suspension Fertilizers
      • SE – suspo-emulsions
      • SL – soluble liquid (Ascend®SL , Caparol® , Direx® , Extreme® , Reflex® , Staple® , Valor® EZ , Zidua® PRO)
      • Max-In® Boron , Max-In® Zinc , Max-In® Sulfur , Max-In® Cotton NF 
      • XtendiMax®/Engenia™
    8. Emulsified Concentrates
      • EC – Emulsified Concentrates (Cleanse®2EC , Framework® , Cobra® , Section® Three , Select®Max , Outlook® , Prowl®3.3EC)
      • ME – Micro-encapsulated (Warrant® , Warrant® Ultra)
    9. Glyphosate (While not a part of the official WALES and DALES , glyphosate is that last pesticide product to go in the tank.) 
    10. Surfactants/Adjuvants
      • HSOC-MSO (Destiny®HC)
      • HSOC-COC (SuperB® HC)
      • NIS (Preference®)
      •  Drift and Deposition (InterLock® , StrikeLock™)
    11. Top off with water to fill up the tank. 
    12. When in doubt , jar test and read label directions. A jar test can save you time , money and a headache later on.

This article adapted by Sara Smelser , Agronomist. If you have questions regarding tank mixes feel free to reach out at sara.smelser@greenpointag.com

Read More News

Maximize Herbicide Performance with Class Act®NG®
Feb 10, 2025
If you’re farming in the Southern U.S., you know weed pressure is relentless. Hard to kill weeds like Palmer amaranth, tall waterhemp, and morningglory thrive in our hot, humid conditions and many of the grasses we have managed easily for years are now becoming difficult to control. But here’s the thing: It’s not just the weeds.
Sustainable Nitrogen Management: A Win for the Environment and Your Wallet
Jan 22, 2025
When we talk about sustainable nitrogen management, we’re not talking about cutting corners or sacrificing results. Instead, we’re focusing on smarter practices—ones that ensure our crops get exactly what they need while protecting our land for future seasons. Here’s how you can manage nitrogen effectively and why it’s worth the effort. 
How GreenPoint Ag Connect is Transforming Farm Management for Growers
Oct 08, 2024
GreenPoint Ag has launched the GreenPoint Ag Connect Customer Portal, a new agriculture operations platform designed to streamline daily operations, enhance customer service, and provide farmers with real-time access to critical business data.