Which spray modifiers help individual spray droplets spread out on the treated surface?

• A. Stickers
• B. Surfactants
• C. Penetrants
• D. Drift Reduction

Answer: (B)

Wetting and spreading of droplets on a treated surface is enhanced by surfactants. Surfactants are surface-active agents that lower the spray solution’s surface tension, allowing droplets to flatten and spread out when they land. This improves coverage, especially on surfaces that are hard to wet, like waxy leaves.

Stickers help droplets stick to the surface and resist runoff, but they don’t actively reduce surface tension to promote spreading. Penetrants aid droplets in moving through the leaf cuticle rather than spreading on the surface. Drift reduction focuses on keeping droplets from moving off-target in the air, not on how they spread after landing. So the modifier that directly promotes spreading and wetting is surfactants.