Posts

Adam Garr asked if there is a great resource on morning light for turf: Can anyone point me to a great resource explaining the importance of morning sun on greens that I can share with members?

“What about nutrients in the soil that are not available?” This is a common question. But I’ll admit it is a question that throws me for a bit of a loop, because the very purpose of soil testing is to find the availability of nutrients.

On sand putting greens, it is. The problem caused by sodium is a reduction in the downward movement of water in soils. This is caused by the deflocculation of clay in the soil.

In a conversation on Twitter, Carmen Magro and I showed a fundamental difference in thinking about turf nutrition. My approach, which I explain in Everything you need to know about turfgrass nutrition in 1 lecture, is summarised by this statement:

There is a fine article by Karcher and Richardson in GCM about the effect of wetting agents. In the article, they point out something important: It is often stated that some wetting agents move water rapidly through the root zone while other products retain considerable moisture near the surface, but the data to substantiate such claims is limited.

I really like the technical aspects of turf nutrition, specifically identifying just how much of each nutrient is required to produce the desired surface conditions. This necessarily involves numbers such as the amount of the nutrient in the soil, the amount applied as fertilizer, how much labor was involved with the application, and the cost of those nutrients.

When it comes to fearmongering in turfgrass, I’m not sure there is a bigger one than bicarbonate (HCO3-). One often hears of supposed problems associated with bicarbonate. I’m still waiting to see a soil or turfgrass problem associated with this ubiquitous anion.

… it doesn’t. In fact, there is one variety of manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) that consistently grows faster than bermudagrass in Southeast Asia. I’ve had occasion to study and measure this grass, and there is no doubt that it grows faster than bermuda here.

This concerns the use of saturated paste (water) or dilute water extractants for assessing soil nutrient content, and specifically if data from those tests are a good way to decide if an element should be supplied as fertilizer.

I did an experiment in a greenhouse in which I grew creeping bentgrass in four different sands. I collected all the clippings and measured what was in them. And I tested the pH of the sands, and I did soil tests to measure the soil nutrient content.