You’ve scouted the field. You’ve picked the right product. You’ve checked the forecast. But if you haven’t looked at what’s in your spray tank, you may be leaving efficacy on the table before the sprayer ever leaves the yard.
Water makes up roughly 95 percent of most herbicide spray solutions. Yet when applications underperform, the water rarely gets the blame. Products get switched, rates get bumped, and timing gets second-guessed, while the carrier itself goes unexamined. That’s the blind spot AgXplore’s water quality research is designed to close.
Two water-quality factors drive most of the problem: hardness and pH.
Hard Water: The Silent Binder
Hard water carries positively charged minerals, calcium is the biggest one, along with other cations that show up in well water and surface water across the country. Many common post-emerge herbicides are weak acids, meaning they carry a negative charge. Opposite charges attract, and that’s exactly what happens in your tank: the minerals bind to herbicide molecules before they ever reach the plant.
The result is reduced herbicide availability, limited uptake, and inconsistent control. The frustrating part? Nothing in the tank looks wrong. The mix appears normal, the spray goes out fine, and the problem only shows up weeks later in the field.
Practical fix: AMS.
Ammonium sulfate works by tying up the calcium and other cations first, before they can grab the herbicide molecule. That keeps the active ingredient free and available to do its job.
AgXplore offers two options depending on your operation:
Combust® — A premium liquid AMS replacement that goes beyond straight AMS. It’s a proprietary blend of high-quality anionic and nonionic surfactants and ammonium sulfates. Combust contains surfactants, defoamer, drift-control agent, and ammonium salts all in one product, and it aids glyphosate products in environmental stress situations. If you’re looking for a complete water conditioning solution — especially for glyphosate applications or products that call for AMS on the label — Combust is the premium choice.
Inciter 2.0 — AgXplore’s straight liquid AMS option, formulated at 3.4 pounds of AMS per gallon. Pourable instead of bagged, no surfactants or adjuvants stacked into the formulation — just AMS in liquid form. A straightforward, reliable tool when AMS is what you need.
If you’re applying weak-acid herbicides into hard water without one of these products, you’re likely not getting the full rate you paid for. Knowing your water source matters — well water in particular often has higher hardness, and a simple hardness test can explain more than a few disappointing application results.
pH: Small Numbers, Big Consequences
pH is logarithmic. A shift from pH 8 to pH 7 isn’t a small step…it represents a tenfold change in chemistry. Most post-emerge herbicides perform best in slightly acidic conditions, roughly in the 5.5 to 6.5 range. When spray water is too alkaline, a process called alkaline hydrolysis kicks in: the herbicide begins to break down chemically before it ever reaches the target.
A weak-acid herbicide mixed into high-pH water can start losing efficacy in the tank, and if the application gets delayed by weather or logistics, the product sitting in the tank is degrading the whole time.
Practical fix: Buffer your pH.
AgXplore has two acidifier options, each with a distinct role:
Linke® — A pH modifier and compatibility agent used to improve tank mix stability. Linke maintains compatibility and flowability when two or more pesticides are used, improves the stability of liquid fertilizers mixed with pesticides, and reduces hydrolyzation of pesticides in alkaline water sources. If your applications involve complex tank mixes, Linke is built for that situation.
pHuse® — A nonionic, multi-functional adjuvant designed to prevent alkaline hydrolysis by lowering the pH of spray solutions. It’s a low-foam penetrant that enhances activity and uniform coverage, improves deposition, and reduces drift. If your primary concern is dialing in pH for better herbicide stability, pHuse is a clean, focused solution.
Neither product is about adding unnecessary inputs. They’re about protecting the chemistry you’ve already invested in and making sure it reaches the plant intact.
Finding Your “Sweet Spot”
Here’s the practical reality: not every farm, every water source, or every tank mix needs the same solution. AgXplore’s approach is built around personalized recommendations, helping you identify exactly what your water and your program need to reach the point where your herbicides perform the way they were designed to.
That starts with knowing what you’re working with. Test your water for hardness and pH. It’s a simple, inexpensive step that creates a foundation for every spray decision that follows.
From there, the right combination of products can be matched to your specific situation rather than guessed.
When water quality is addressed upfront, herbicide programs are simply allowed to perform. That’s the whole point, and it’s why the question worth asking before the next application isn’t “did I pick the right product?” but “do I know what’s in my tank?”
Reach out to AgXplore to get a personalized water quality assessment for your operation.
