We're running "lite" and have been sort of busy so something gotta give and it looks like it was the blog. Compounded by the fact that I seem to have misplaced my camera, I haven't posted anything new for a month. But I guess the good news there really isn't much going on; anything out of the ordinary, that is. Since last post we've aerated and top dressed all greens (despite the weather!), fertilized fairways and roughs, aerated/over seeded/top dressed some troublesome fairway areas, re-applied fertilizer to the tee's to cover the measles, added sand to some bunkers, and began a small landscaping project on 17 tee (a fence to block the view of the messy area where we keep the sand). Other than that it has pretty much been routine mowing.
You may have noticed the clover in flower in the rough and fairways this year. Clover is an indicator of low fertility and moist soils. I can talk to both those. With respect to fertility we only apply .5 to .75 Lbs of actual N/1000/application two times a year on fairways and roughs (i.e. 1 to 1.5 Lbs N/1000/year. Recommend rate is 1 to 3 Lbs/1000/year based on level of maintenance). We choose that rate because of budget not because that's all the turf needs. The proliferation of clover proves that. The moisture (120 mm for June alone according to the poo plant) is a no-brainer. Combined, those factors will give us a fine catch of clover for 2012. Go to here to learn something about clover you may find interesting. Golf course wise it is far from ideal to play out of so I have spot treated areas on the fairways. When it comes to the rough, however, budget, time (window of opportunity), and staffing means we won't get to treating clover growing in the rough this year. Those choices may haunt me next year but I know the solution if it gets out of hand.
Showing posts with label fertilizer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fertilizer. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Fakin' It......
Besides staring at the final budget numbers and deciding on how to make things fit, I've been occupied the last couple weeks with planning this year's fertility applications throughout the golf course.
The good news/bad news thing about pre-planning all the fertility apps is the club can take advantage of early booking and payment discounts totalling $ 1200; however, the bad news is I have to use my crystal ball to look ahead to make more than a few guesses. When it comes to macro nutrients it is not a huge deal since it is relatively common knowledge how much to generally apply over a growing season. But with respect to micros and products called biostimulants it is the condition of the turf that can dictate what to apply.
Once the snow has melted it is turf health that suggests which direction you need to push it. If everything is "rosy" then products that encourage root development and CHO (carbohydrates, i.e. food) storage are used so the turf can create lots of reserve CHO to cope with stresses later on in the season. However, if the stand of turf is weak it requires the application of products that promote density. If the damage is severe and areas need to be overseeded different products geared towards the fertility requirements of seedlings are needed. Even as the growing season progresses and these damaged areas have begun to recover, their fertility requirements may be different. Previously stored CHO will be depleted during spring recovery and the turf may not have the necessary reserves to cope with the stresses that summer can bring. As a result, nutrients need to be applied more frequently or at higher rates to try to keep the turf in good condition until the end of the season.
For some time we have been applying nutrients via a combination of spraying and granular applications and I have a general idea of what seems to work at KGC. However, in the past I've had the flexibility to adapt to the turfs needs as the season progresses and purchase products suited for developing conditions. Ordering all fertility products in February to save $$$$ is not a huge gamble but it definitely ties my hands and puts all my eggs in one basket so I guess time will tell (am I mixing metaphors?)
The good news/bad news thing about pre-planning all the fertility apps is the club can take advantage of early booking and payment discounts totalling $ 1200; however, the bad news is I have to use my crystal ball to look ahead to make more than a few guesses. When it comes to macro nutrients it is not a huge deal since it is relatively common knowledge how much to generally apply over a growing season. But with respect to micros and products called biostimulants it is the condition of the turf that can dictate what to apply.
Once the snow has melted it is turf health that suggests which direction you need to push it. If everything is "rosy" then products that encourage root development and CHO (carbohydrates, i.e. food) storage are used so the turf can create lots of reserve CHO to cope with stresses later on in the season. However, if the stand of turf is weak it requires the application of products that promote density. If the damage is severe and areas need to be overseeded different products geared towards the fertility requirements of seedlings are needed. Even as the growing season progresses and these damaged areas have begun to recover, their fertility requirements may be different. Previously stored CHO will be depleted during spring recovery and the turf may not have the necessary reserves to cope with the stresses that summer can bring. As a result, nutrients need to be applied more frequently or at higher rates to try to keep the turf in good condition until the end of the season.
For some time we have been applying nutrients via a combination of spraying and granular applications and I have a general idea of what seems to work at KGC. However, in the past I've had the flexibility to adapt to the turfs needs as the season progresses and purchase products suited for developing conditions. Ordering all fertility products in February to save $$$$ is not a huge gamble but it definitely ties my hands and puts all my eggs in one basket so I guess time will tell (am I mixing metaphors?)
Friday, July 2, 2010
Fertilizing Fairways
The past 10 days or so have been very busy with lots of maintenance getting done. This post will touch on the recent fertilizing of the fairways and roughs.
It takes about 2 to 3 days for us to fertilize all the fairways and rough using anywhere from 2.5 to 4 metric tonnes of fertilizer. Ideally, you want to fertilize in the spring when soil temperatures have risen to around 55 degrees F (or 10 degrees) and the turf has just started its first growth cycle of the season. That way there is sufficient nutrients available for uptake for development of new tissue. We were late by a couple weeks mostly because of the weather and other matters kept us from fertilizing any sooner.
Spreading Fertilizer on 9 Rough
This particular application has the analysis of 21-3-21 (FYI the numbers on a fertilizer bag represent the percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium a.k.a NPK. They don't add up to 100% since NPK are only the individual elements of the compounds that make up the whole fertilizer product). We apply at a rate ranging from .5lbs to 1lbs of actual N per 1000 sqft (another FYI: actual N is calculated by taking the weight of the bag multiplying it by the the number representing nitrogen on the bag and dividing by 100. For e.g. 21-3-21 comes in 55lbs bag so: 55 x 21/100 =11.55 lbs of actual N in one bag. At a rate of 1lbs/1000sqft one bag of 21-3-21 can be applied to an area of 11,500 sqft. This same calculation can be done for Phosphorous and Potassium as well.) After we have decided on a rate we need to calibrate the tractor spreader (and walk behind spreader) to achieve the desired rate. We use a big bag and run the tractor spreader for a set time at a set speed and then weigh the fertilizer collected. We do this over and over until we have the desired setting. That is stuff is probably only interesting to me but it applies to any rate calculation for any granular fertilizer so feel free to use it for your yard.
The biggest hurdle we have faced recently has been the cost increase of fertilizer by 40%. A couple ways to control cost is to use different fertilizer types. More expensive fertilizers have more nutrients and/or different nutrient formulations (e.g. methylene urea's) than a cheaper brand with the same NPK analysis. There is a trade off with using cheaper formulations and usually this is the length of time the fertilizer works (i.e. a fertilizer with a higher percentage of quick release Nitrogen is cheaper than a product with more slow release) and the compounds used in creating the fertilizer are usually higher in something called the "salt index" which can have deleterious effects on the turf. The other more obvious way to deal with cost increase is to fertilize less area. We are doing both when we fertilize. Those rough area with an increasing population of clover are areas which have not seen a high quality fertilizer or, in some cases, any fertilizer for a few years.
Our next major fertilization will take place in late summer/early fall when the turf enters its second major growth cycle before going dormant. The analysis will be similar with more micro nutrients and a different Nitrogen source which will still be available in the early next spring when soil temperature start to climb.
There is way more information to cover with respect to fertilizing and plant nutrition but I can tell peoples eye's are glazing over so I'll leave it there. Click the following link and read what the USGA had to say about the greens at the US open and see if the first paragraph sounds like any other place you might know of.
http://www.usga.org/news/2010/June/Beauty-In-Eye-Of-Beholder/
It takes about 2 to 3 days for us to fertilize all the fairways and rough using anywhere from 2.5 to 4 metric tonnes of fertilizer. Ideally, you want to fertilize in the spring when soil temperatures have risen to around 55 degrees F (or 10 degrees) and the turf has just started its first growth cycle of the season. That way there is sufficient nutrients available for uptake for development of new tissue. We were late by a couple weeks mostly because of the weather and other matters kept us from fertilizing any sooner.
Spreading Fertilizer on 9 Rough
This particular application has the analysis of 21-3-21 (FYI the numbers on a fertilizer bag represent the percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium a.k.a NPK. They don't add up to 100% since NPK are only the individual elements of the compounds that make up the whole fertilizer product). We apply at a rate ranging from .5lbs to 1lbs of actual N per 1000 sqft (another FYI: actual N is calculated by taking the weight of the bag multiplying it by the the number representing nitrogen on the bag and dividing by 100. For e.g. 21-3-21 comes in 55lbs bag so: 55 x 21/100 =11.55 lbs of actual N in one bag. At a rate of 1lbs/1000sqft one bag of 21-3-21 can be applied to an area of 11,500 sqft. This same calculation can be done for Phosphorous and Potassium as well.) After we have decided on a rate we need to calibrate the tractor spreader (and walk behind spreader) to achieve the desired rate. We use a big bag and run the tractor spreader for a set time at a set speed and then weigh the fertilizer collected. We do this over and over until we have the desired setting. That is stuff is probably only interesting to me but it applies to any rate calculation for any granular fertilizer so feel free to use it for your yard.
The biggest hurdle we have faced recently has been the cost increase of fertilizer by 40%. A couple ways to control cost is to use different fertilizer types. More expensive fertilizers have more nutrients and/or different nutrient formulations (e.g. methylene urea's) than a cheaper brand with the same NPK analysis. There is a trade off with using cheaper formulations and usually this is the length of time the fertilizer works (i.e. a fertilizer with a higher percentage of quick release Nitrogen is cheaper than a product with more slow release) and the compounds used in creating the fertilizer are usually higher in something called the "salt index" which can have deleterious effects on the turf. The other more obvious way to deal with cost increase is to fertilize less area. We are doing both when we fertilize. Those rough area with an increasing population of clover are areas which have not seen a high quality fertilizer or, in some cases, any fertilizer for a few years.
Our next major fertilization will take place in late summer/early fall when the turf enters its second major growth cycle before going dormant. The analysis will be similar with more micro nutrients and a different Nitrogen source which will still be available in the early next spring when soil temperature start to climb.
There is way more information to cover with respect to fertilizing and plant nutrition but I can tell peoples eye's are glazing over so I'll leave it there. Click the following link and read what the USGA had to say about the greens at the US open and see if the first paragraph sounds like any other place you might know of.
http://www.usga.org/news/2010/June/Beauty-In-Eye-Of-Beholder/
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Green Measles
If you've been lucky enough to get golfing in between snow days last week you may have noticed green dots on some of the greens:
.
Those dots are indicative of the turfs response to aeration. Aeration will come up lots and there is always plenty to talk about but for now I wanted to show the obvious benefits of aerating greens. Everybody knows that plants leaves absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen (photosynthesis) but sometimes people forget that the plants also need to absorb oxygen to make the energy (respiration) for cellular reactions occur. I am going to be fast and loose with the facts but a fairly "true" statement is all parts of the plant need to absorb oxygen in order for the plant to survive. Roots absorb oxygen to help fuel the transportation of nutrients into and throughout the plant. Some nutrition can be foliar absorbed but strong, healthy turf needs a strong, healthy, functioning root system. Each green dot seen in the first picture is the exact spot where an aerator tine penetrated the turf and left behind a open column down which water and air can travel. I used a cup cutter to "slice" through one of these columns to reveal the growth of roots over five inches deep on a mostly Poa annua green. If you look back to "Bent vs. Poa" post in February you can see pictures of Poa annua roots that are barely two inches. If you double click the following picture you can get a better look. Yeah, I know it is not a great picture but for this green, number 7, that is pretty impressive. You'll just have to take my word for it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)