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

Choosing the Right Ryegrass Variety for Fall Pasture and Forage
Oct 20, 2025
Annual ryegrass is one of the most widely used cool-season forages in the Southeast. Its versatility, quick establishment, and grazing potential make it a cornerstone of fall forage systems. But not all ryegrasses perform the same. The choice between diploid and tetraploid varieties — and their specific traits like cold tolerance, disease resistance, and regrowth — determines how well pastures hold up through winter and into spring. 
Italian Ryegrass: The Cost of Delayed Control
Sep 25, 2025
Italian ryegrass is emerging as one of the South’s most persistent and costly weeds, with resistance to glyphosate and other herbicides spreading quickly. Experts warn that delaying control until spring results in inconsistent herbicide performance, higher resistance risk, and significant yield losses across corn, soybeans, cotton, and rice.
Don’t guess, test: why every field deserves a lab report
Sep 23, 2025
Heavy spring rains left many Tennessee and North Alabama producers with rain-damaged hay of uncertain quality. GreenPoint Ag agronomist Zane Troxtel stresses that hay testing is essential to understand crude protein, energy, and fiber levels before winter feeding. Testing helps match hay to the right class of cattle, reducing unnecessary supplementation and protecting herd performance. At just $15–$45 per sample, it’s a small investment that can save producers significant feed costs and improve profitability.