Soil Wetter
Makes water soak in instead of running off.
Soil Wetter is Richgro EZI-WET Granulated Soil Soaker, 10kg net, treating up to 300 square metres. It lowers the surface tension of water so it soaks into the soil instead of beading and running off, which is the specific failure mode of dry Perth sand, and it stays effective for up to six months. Charlie Carp organic fertiliser and bentonite are blended through it.
Or call the yard on (08) 9434 2290
Real stock, not a swatch. Blended products vary a little batch to batch, so treat these as a guide rather than an exact colour match.
Soil Wetter details
Soil Wetter at a glance
- Product type
- Granulated soil wetter
- Brand
- Richgro, EZI-WET Granulated Soil Soaker
- Pack
- 10kg net
- Treats
- Up to 300m²
- Lasts
- Up to 6 months
- Blended through it
- Charlie Carp organic fertiliser, bentonite
What Soil Wetter suits
What can you use Soil Wetter for?
Water-repellent lawns
The classic case: dry patches that stay dry no matter how long the reticulation runs. That is repellence, not a lack of water.
Garden beds that shed water
Where water pools in one corner of a bed and the rest stays dry. The water is going somewhere, just not in.
Pots, tubs and hanging baskets
Potting mix that has dried right out is famously hard to re-wet. Water runs down the gap between the mix and the pot and straight out the bottom.
Gardens with a pond or frogs
Richgro state the surfactant is 100% aquatic safe and their trials show continuous use does not harm earthworms. Most wetters cannot say that.
How much Soil Wetter do you need?
One bag does most of a garden
Ten kilograms treats up to three hundred square metres, which is Richgro's figure read off the bag. That covers the lawn and the beds of a typical suburban block.
The rates behind it are thirty grams a square metre on gardens and fifty on lawns, so a lawn-heavy block gets through it faster than the headline number suggests.
Measure the area you actually want treated rather than the whole property -- treating ground that drains fine is money doing nothing.
| Area | Bags | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| A front lawn, about 80m² | Under half a bag | At the lawn rate of 50g per m², about 4kg. |
| Lawn and beds, about 300m² | One 10kg bag | The figure the pack is built around. |
| A large block, 500m² plus | Two bags | Do it in sections rather than trying to stretch one bag thin. |
| Pots and hanging baskets | By the pot | 6g for a 200mm pot up to 60g for a 500mm one. |
Water it in thoroughly after spreading -- the granules have to wash into the soil to do anything. Apply in the cool of the day and keep it off the foliage.
Soil Wetter in Perth
Water repellence is the Perth problem
Sand goes water repellent when it dries out, and Perth sand spends several months a year doing exactly that. A waxy organic coating develops on the grains, water beads instead of wetting them, and the bed sheds water that it desperately needs.
It is why a lawn can have a dry patch that stays dry through an entire reticulation cycle while the grass a metre away is fine. The water is arriving. It is running off.
Under a watering roster that matters more than it would elsewhere: the water comes on two or three fixed days, and if it runs off on those days there is no second chance until the next one.
This one is made for it. Richgro blend it at Jandakot, and it is listed as a Waterwise product under the Water Corporation's own scheme, which is a Western Australian test of a Western Australian problem.
Why Soil Wetter
Why choose Soil Wetter?
It treats 300m² for one bag
Ten kilograms, up to three hundred square metres. That is the lawn and the beds of most suburban blocks from a single bag.
It works on the actual problem
Repellent sand does not need more water, it needs water that can get in. Running the sprinklers longer is spending money on the wrong thing.
Bentonite and fertiliser through it
The clay holds what the water carries, and the Charlie Carp feeds while it goes. A plain wetter does neither.
Waterwise, and independently checked
It carries the Smart Approved WaterMark and is a Waterwise product under the WA Water Corporation scheme, which are assessments somebody else made.
Getting Soil Wetter home
How to get Soil Wetter
Collect from the yard
Open seven days at 222 Barrington St, Bibra Lake. The loader puts it straight into your trailer or ute, and someone will tell you whether what you have brought will carry the load.
Borrow one of our trailers free for two hours to get your load home. No charge, no bond.
Have it delivered
Across Perth's southern suburbs, seven days. For a quote we need the address, how much you need, and anything awkward about access — tight driveways, low branches and side access all change which truck we send. Confirm the current cost when you order.
Formats
- 10kg bag
Using Soil Wetter
How to use Soil Wetter
Spread it evenly
Thirty grams a square metre on gardens, fifty on lawns. By hand or through a fertiliser spreader on anything large. One adult handful is about fifty grams if you are working without scales.
In the cool of the day, off the leaves
Richgro ask for it early or late, and for granules to be kept off the foliage. Wash any strays off the leaves before you water it in.
Water it in properly
The granules have to wash into the soil to work. Water thoroughly after spreading rather than waiting for the next rain.
Repeat with the seasons
Gardens and lawns every six to eight weeks through spring and summer, every eight to twelve through autumn and winter. Pots and baskets twice a year, at the start of spring and the start of autumn.
When to choose something else
When it is the wrong product
- It is not a cure. It changes how water behaves for up to six months and then the soil is what it was. Clay is the permanent answer, and this is the thing you do while you get around to that.
- The bentonite through it is a helpful inclusion, not a clay treatment. Curing sand properly takes clay by the bag, dug through, and this is not that.
- It will not fix a bed that is genuinely short of water. If the reticulation is not reaching an area, a wetting agent does not help -- check the coverage first.
- Applied unevenly it works unevenly. A missed strip stays repellent and shows up as a dry line across an otherwise recovered lawn.
Customer reviews
What people say
Soil Wetter questions
Soil Wetter FAQs
Goes with Soil Wetter
Other products you may need
The permanent version of this fix
Clay changes the soil rather than the water.
Organic matter helps too
A soil with humus in it holds water without needing a wetter.
Feeding the lawn as well
If the lawn is thin as well as dry.
Guides for soil wetter
Planning your project
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Soil Wetter quote
Need Soil Wetter for your project?
Send us the quantity you need, your suburb, and whether you would like to collect it or have it delivered. If you are not sure how much, put your measurements into the calculator above and we will check it for you.
Or ring the yard on (08) 9434 2290
222 Barrington St, Bibra Lake WA 6163 · Open 7 days
Use the calculator above and the amount lands in the message for you.