SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/126035
FieldScience | By Timothy Kwiat PLUGS MOWED at 3/8"and pulled after 3½ months. Plugs were grown in the field with proper rates of fertilizer and irrigation applied. Left: Organic Humic Substance, APEX-10, applied at 3 ounces per 1000 square feet. Right: No APEX-10. are finding it harder and harder to manage the demands put on the turf with increased input restrictions. To overcome the challenges of creating the best rootzone while reducing inputs, turf managers must be creative in their approach. Healthy and safe turf begins at the rootzone Editor's note: Timothy Kwiat is the Director of Turf and Landscaping for Nature's Wonder, the manufacturer of APEX-10. He has more than 20 years in the golf industry including as a superintendent. Y ou wouldn't build a beautifully designed multi-million dollar house without a strong foundation and expect it to withstand a hurricane. So why would anyone expect their turf to be visually appealing and perform well without a healthy rootzone? By starting at the ground level, sports turf professionals will see improved turf performance and increased safety for athletes. Healthy rootzones that support turf have been defined by the following criteria: well drained, compaction resistant, with free nutrient exchange. This free nutrient exchange is essential to allowing the soils to hold onto nutrients as well as release them to the plant. But what creates the support structure for this exchange? Microbes. So, what if your rootzone isn't supporting your microbes and your microbes aren't supporting this nutrient exchange? How do you improve your turf health while dealing with the other challenges 28 SportsTurf | May 2013 in the sports turf management arena? There are new technologies on the market that focus on bio-stimulation to continue to build those microbial populations while maintaining proper levels of organic materials in a soil system. Having higher organic matter content in soils allows for additional food sources and attachment sites for microbes to thrive in the environment in which they live. These in turn create a healthier environment for root growth and plant growth. Turf professionals deal with many rootzone types. Bringing each rootzone to its optimal performance to support the needs of each specific sport is where the challenges lie. You face many challenges when working toward building turf that looks good and supports the needs of athletes. Producing the type of turf that provides stable footing, cushion, and resilience specific to each sport is dependent on your program. While normal programs focus on nutrients, water, weed and pest control, many professionals SAND-BASED Typical sports turf fields are made up of a combination of varying degrees of soil and root zone types. Some soils are composed of high sand content to create a well drained surface and the firmness that certain sports demand. These rootzones put all of the nutrient control in the hands of the professional simply due to the fact that they have very low cation exchange capacity or nutrient retention ability. Modified sand-based rootzones have moved into professional venues and stadiums. In the professional sports arena, sand-based root zones give athletes the solid footing and cushion they need to play the desired game. The challenges are characterized by excessive nutrient leaching, low CEC, and low organic activity with very little microbial support capability. In addition, localized dry spot formation and potential algae buildup can become an issue. The importance of microbial populations in high sand content rootzones is to support nutrient and water retention. Beneficial organisms and plant roots have a symbiotic relationship. As microbial populations increase through bio-stimulation, the roots are fed the nutrition they need. The roots in turn feed the microbes the complex sugars that the roots put back into the soil. NATIVE SOIL Healthy native soil zones or push-up fields have longer water retention for better plant support, larger CEC capacity for nutrient retention, and more organic matter for microbial support. Native soil surfaces still sustain the functions that are needed to support sports, but like sand, it comes with the need for turf professionals to manage it properly. Larger microbial support in these systems is essential and builds porosity with increased drainage and capillary water movement. The increased porosity allows for better carbon dioxide gas www.sportsturfonline.com