SportsTurf

June 2015

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.

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O f the many maladies that a field manager has to stay on top of, nutri- ent deficiencies are difficult to deal with for many reasons. First, you don't see them every day. A manager may ask him/herself, just what does deficiency look like anyway? I know that we had it a few years back, but I don't remember exactly. Second, unlike a turf plot at a university or manufacturer trial, this is a real game field with players and daily/ weekly damage from cleats and com- paction. Third, other than odd looking leaves, the easy to see signs and symp- toms—bugs, spots and rots—are often missing. As we dig into the potential for nutrient deficiency a little deeper, main- tain a "wide funnel" of thinking about possible influencers and symptoms. BEFORE JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS When working with the possibility of a nutrient deficiency, it's best to take a rea- soned and steady course of action steps. The scenario where a good chunk of the soccer field is looking kinda rough…. yellow, not green…you may be asking yourself, Should I be worrying? Should I run out and buy a bag of fertilizer and dump it on quick? The answer is maybe; or maybe not. It's wise to avoid the accomplishment of Tom Smykowski and create a "Jump to Conclusions mat", (think Office Space) where there would be a set of nutrient deficiencies that you could assume are responsible. In the case of maybe not, fully con- sider that there could be lots of other causes of the look of the turf. A process of triage to eliminate other causes is very helpful. Asking questions of other turf 14 SportsTurf | June 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com DIAGNOSING NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES FIELD SCIENCE ■ BY JOHN C. FECH AND BRAD JAKUBOWSKI Example of nitrogen deficiency, courtesy of Brad Jakubowski, Doane College.

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