planet turf winter seminar taking the pulse of turfgrass

PLANET TURF WINTER SEMINAR

TAKING THE PULSE OF TURFGRASS

PLANET TURF

Sales Reps Jason Otto – W. WA, OR Jim Connolly – E. WA, ID, MT, International Jared Whitaker – E. WA, ID, WY, MT

Distributors Turf Health Products, Canada Riken Green, Japan Total Green, Korea

Sales to… PNW, Asia, Guam, Malaysia, Kansas, Missouri

JIM CONNOLLY

Owner, Planet Turf since 1999 BS Agronomy WSU, 1974UCONN, environmental scienceWSU Crop ScienceUSGA agronomist, 6 yearsOwner, Planet Turf since 1999 Superintendent – Oregon, Korea, Japan

PRODUCT LINES

FOLIAR AND SOLUBLE POWDERS MADE IN PASCO

HOMOGENEOUS GREENS FERTILIZER MADE IN CALGARY BC

SOIL AND TISSUE TESTING OTELLO WA BY KUO TESTING

GRASS SEED JACKLIN SEED COMPANY

JACKLIN SEED POST FALLS IDAHO, SOON TO BE OTHELLO WA

PESTICIDES UNITED TURF ALLIANCE PESTICIDES, NUFARM, QUALIPRO, BASF, ARYSTA, MONSANTO

PLANET AIR CERES/CTI TINES EAGLE ONE

STANDARD GOLF, PAR AIDE, FOREPAR, WITTEK

TODAY’S AGENDA

Ways we try to measure and monitor factors that affect plant health

Ways to directly measure the content of plant nutrients – the blood test

Ways to measure the mineral content and make up of soil – environmental test

Laboratory ProceduresData

WHAT IS THE PULSE?

THE STATE OF HEALTHBLOOD PRESSUREFLUIDSMEASUREMENT OF HEALTHMEASUREMENT OF PRODUCT APPLICATION

EFFICIENCY

SOIL HEALTH

The Capacity of the Soil to Function – NRCSIt is like a factory full of workers with more workers

in one teaspoon of soil than people on earthGood, Healthy Soil

Organic Matter Balance composed of 2-10% Organic Matter Balanced Minerals Water entry and storage – balanced capillary and non

capillary Maximize microorganism populations – absence of disease Productive Enhances community well being

Refractometer $100 -$400

Useful? Probably Not

Used for measuring sugar in my beer

Refractive index of a glass prism to measure the refractive index of a liquid

Limited use for turf

REFRACTOMETERS

INFRARED THERMOMETER

$<40 at Harbor Freight

SPAD $2500.00 Measures

Measures green color – chlorophyll - - red

Leaf N contentWeb MappingUsed mostly by

researchers

CHLOROPHYL METER

$2790.00

Detects stress earlier than visual monitoring “Point-and-shoot” technology to instantly measure relative chlorophyll content

MOISTURE STRESS METER, NITROGEN LEVELS

$99 PHONE APP

Manage nitrogen needs

Computes the dark green color

DGCI numberFor corn now

PHONE APPS

$1100 $50

SOIL TOOLS

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG …WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR?

LOW YIELD - clippingsDISEASESLOW RECOVERY FROM DAMAGEYELLOW GRASS???? WHAT ELSE????

IF YOU ARE SEEING THESE THINGS…ITS TOO LATE

MANAGEMENT TRIANGLE

15

PHYSICAL

CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL

aeration

Verticutting

Topdressing

Fertilizer

Pesticides

Irrigation Feed the soil

Microbes

HEALTHY SOILS

PHYSICALISTRC Non Disturbed Soil Core

All physical parameters - - how far are you from a new USGA GREEN

Infiltration Porosity Layering Extent Organic Matter

Total Bases or CECpH Organic MatterBase Saturation

Ca, Mg, K, Na, HNitrogenPhosphorusPotassium

CalciumMagnesiumBoronCopperIronZincManganeseEcNitrateAmmonium

CHEMICAL SOIL TESTS

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION

STATEMENT OF METHODOLOGY

OBJECTIVE OF A SOIL TEST

The estimation of bioavailability of nutrients is the objective of a good soil test

- Capsules exchange anions (OH-)and cations (H+) for available forms of nutrients over a period of time.

- Conventional soil testing uses extracts to estimate nutrient availability

Bioavailability: “Those chemicals in the soil that are present in forms and amounts that plants (or other organisms) can take up during the time they are growing.”

UNIBEST International

•Example - -Iron exists in Fe+++, (ferric) •Must be changed to Fe++ (ferrous) •Reduced by a protein at the root surface

Fe++

protein

Fe+++

may jun july aug sept oct0

5

10

15

20

25

30

pH 7

pH 4.9

PHOSPHORUS SOIL TEST RESULTS AT DIFFERENT APPLI-CATION AMOUNTS AND SOIL pH

3.9 lbs P

0.4 lbs P

.2 lb

.2 lb

Jun 11- 1.2 lb

Jul 20- 1.2 lb

Aug 30 1.2 lb

may jun july aug sept oct0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

PHOSPHORUS WITH TOTAL 0.4 LBS PER YEAR

pH 7pH 7 TissueAxis Title

may jun july aug sept oct0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

PHOSPHORUS WITH TOTAL 3.9 LBS PER YEAR

pH 4.9pH 4.9 Tissue

Axis Title

4/23 5/

15/

95/

175/

25 6/26/

106/

186/

26 7/47/

127/

207/

28 8/58/

138/

218/

29 9/69/

149/

229/

3010

/8

10/1

6

10/2

411

/111

/9

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

Potassium

Application

Tissue K Response to K Applications

PotassiumApplication

Nitrate:ammonium ratio +1

4/20

/201

0

4/23

/201

0

4/26

/201

0

4/29

/201

0

5/2/

2010

5/5/

2010

5/8/

2010

5/11

/201

0

5/14

/201

0

5/17

/201

0

5/20

/201

0

5/23

/201

0

5/26

/201

0

5/29

/201

0

6/1/

2010

6/4/

2010

6/7/

2010

6/10

/201

0

6/13

/201

0

6/16

/201

0

6/19

/201

0

6/22

/201

0

6/25

/201

0

6/28

/201

00.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

2011 K 2010 K

POTASSIUM TISSUE CONTENT

SOIL NITRATE TO AMMONIUM RATIO

5/25/

246/

15 7/77/

298/

209/

1110

/3

10/2

5

11/1

612

/8

12/3

01/

212/

12 3/63/

284/

195/

11 6/26/

247/

16 8/78/

299/

200.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

Nitrate:Ammonium ratio

spring summer fall

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.18

0.19

0.20

0.21

0.22

0.23

0.24

0.25

0.26

Seasonal Calcium and Magnesium

Calcium

Magnesium

Perc

ent

Leaf

Tis

sue C

onte

nt

PLANT GROWTH HABIT VS. UPTAKE

TARGET RANGES FOR TISSUE

N % 3.8-5.3P % .34-.54K % 1.49-2.5S % .34-.54Ca % .35-.63Mg % .18-.27B ppm 11-21Zn ppm 50-88Mn ppm 68-150Cu ppm 12-32Fe ppm 250-750Na ppm .04-.08

TARGET RANGES FOR SOIL

Total BasesSoil Test Most Recent

ResultOptimal Range #4 Champ Green

  4/18   5.99

N03/NH4 ratio 1:2.1 3:1   pH

N03-N (ppm) 6.00 10-15   7.3

NH4-N (ppm) 12.75 3.3-5 excessOM

P (ppm) 36 22-30 2.46

K (ppm) 215 114-140 highSS

S (ppm) 17 14-20 0.35

Ca (ppm) 940 694-948

sufficient

Ca%TB

Mg (ppm) 85 80-103 78.5

B (ppm) 0.44 .3-.5 Mg%TB

Zn (ppm) 5.6 3.4-7.9 11.7

Mn (ppm) 17 10-20 lowK%TB

Cu (ppm) 2.0 1.0-3.0 9.2

Fe (ppm) 27 20-80

deficient

Na%TB

Na (ppm) 9.2 10-17 0.7

N03

NH4

P

K

S

Ca

Mg

B

Zn

MnCu

Fe

Na

How do IERC’s Measure Nutrients

UNIBEST International

Soil ParticleK+

K+

K+

H+K+

K+

Resin Capsule

DiffusionK+

H+

Mass Flow

OH-

NO3-

H2ONO3

-

Al

Cu

Fe

S

Ca

K

NO3-N

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Deficient Low Optimal High Excess

Turfgrass ReportCustomer: Chang Gung Golf ClubDate of Sample: 3-26-12City: State: Bar Code #: 2006064 Sample ID:

Date pH N03-N NH4-N Al B Ca Cu Fe K Mg Mn Na P S Zn Nutrient 3/26/2012 0.17 2.24 0.303 0.003 47.22 0.007 1.74 8.45

6.26 2.05 3.56 2.58 7.21 0.008 ppm ppm

5.5-7.0 .5-2 4-8 1-8 .02-.05 90-130 .01-.05 3-6 35-50 15-30 3-8 8-15 10-15 8-15 .02-.05 Optimal Range

This green is low in almost every nutrient, and shows a need for frequent applications, every week, of each low nutrient. Low amounts each time – do not apply high rates.