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: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/43432
FieldScience the wind is moving in the wrong directions we could have wound up with buildings painted red!" Wood said. One of the most damaging parts of the process was a tarp that they had to lay down around the entire parameter of the track over the turf, and without David's knowledge, this tarp was held down with 6-inch spikes one of which went through an irrigation line. The soccer field is a mix of many grasses according to Wood, the field is mostly poa but there is a little bit of everything there, some bluegrass, ryegrass, fescue and even some bentgrass. "Last year was a tough year for this field, the weather was horrible and the poa started a slow decline in June and didn't recover until October," Wood said. It was at that point that he decided to make some changes in his agronomic approach to try to provide the field more sustainability and try to create a situation where the field could survive the tough New Jersey sum- mers. David is a graduate of the turf man- agement program at nearby Rutgers University and has many years of experience managing golf courses. "I spent a lot of time managing poa on a golf course but it's not the same when you put a soccer team on that grass for a few hours of heavy play," said Wood. Saturated Paste Report One of the concerns David expressed about the soils he was managing was the level of sodium. Test data showed that this field was consistently running at levels be- tween 40 and 60 pounds per acre of sodium on the soil colloid but the water soluble paste extract was indicating an ever worse scenario. Along with the sodium concerns potassium levels were showing constant de- ficiencies which will only complicate the sodium problems creating added stress on an already stressed field. One recent water soluble paste extract showed a sodium per- centage of 35 and a significantly lower potassium percentage which is often an in- dication for the potential of sodium in- duced wilt and more plant stress. He started in October of last year with a recovery program of over seeding ryegrass with a starter fertilizer and frequent applica- tions of gypsum to help knock off the excess sodium. In November he aerified with hol- low tines in a 2-inch spacing and applied a combination zeolite, compost, rock mineral product at 25 pounds per 1000 square feet in the aerification holes and a composted 5- 4-5 organic fertilizer to help recovery. He re- peated this process again this past April. "I wanted to get some recovery in this field and knew the organics would help but I also changed my topdressing program from a straight sand to a 70/20/10 mix in- corporating a little peat moss and soil," said Wood. In the spring he incorporated a new fertility spray program using a 5-ounce mix of each of three products, a soil condi- tioner/bio-stimulant, a liquid calcium prod- uct and a carbon based NPK product. "What really sold me on this new approach was how well the soccer field recovered after 2 weeks with virtually no water. The poa is now strong and well rooted, last year at this "I wanted to get some recovery in this field and knew the organics would help but I also changed my topdressing program from a straight sand to a 70/20/10 mix incorporating a little peat moss and soil," said Wood. 24 SportsTurf | October 2011 www.sportsturfonline.com