Fertilizing Fairways

 The fairways were fertilized this week. I use a semi organic product which works better with warmer temperatures, therefore I prefer waiting until it the plant will start to use it as opposed to have it sitting there. The Amonium Sulfate content helps waken the plants in the spring and get them growing. The organic content breaks down slowly over time and keeps slowly feeding the turf throughout the summer. Next week we will apply humate which feeds the microbes in the soil. They help release nutrients from the soil and generally make the soil healthier, which makes it better for supporting the turf. As such, we no longer need to apply a lot of traditional fertilizers, which is better for the environment. The program is working well. I have noticed over the years that the soils have become healthier, since essentially been torn apart with the construction process. After the construction they did not have an odor, now when the soil is disturbed, it smells 'earthy' as you would expect from healthy soils. Other than the low rate spring and fall organic fertilizer applications, I add small amounts of fertilizer in the spray tanks, which helps the turf stay healthy and a consistent color. In this situation the rates are low, the plant using what is applied, so there is no/minimal waste and therefore being better for the environment.

A new tool we are using this year is a gps device to help with applications. It is one of many components that agricultural sprayers use to provide accurate pesticide applications. In the past we would have to send an employee out to flag the fairways so the tractor operator would know where to drive and not leave skips which would result in different colored lines in the turf as the fertilizer released. With the gps we can program our width and by a system of lights and the on-board screen can see where to drive and the area we have applied it to. Another benefit is it can give us a more accurate count of the acreage covered so we know exactly the rate of product we applied. It also means that the employee that would have been flagging the fairways can work on something else. The application time was reduced as there was no guessing where to go (those flags can get confusing!!). 

Over time, and as budget allows, I plan on fitting it to the sprayers also. In theory, it looks like the full gps spray system can save 20% in chemicals on large applications. With the tracking unit attached to the sprayer, it will be able to provide a more accurate savings estimate. The full system allows for each nozzle on the sprayer to be controlled automatically, as opposed to the current set up of 3 and 4 nozzles at a time, being turned on/off by the operator. The individual nozzle control makes applications more accurate, and ensures chemicals only reach the areas that we would want them, minimizing overspray. Lastly weeds etc can be tracked and the machine can taught where they are, so instead of blanket applications of herbicides, very accurate spot spraying can be done, which saves money and is better for the environment. 

The unit on our tractor. The green line on the screen is his last pass. The red arrow is on the line of his current pass. 

The led lights that run along the top change color as the tractor moves on/off line.

The greens are coming along nicely today and hopefully the rain today helped get the remaining sand into the canopy. The heights have been dropped and we are very close to being at our 'normal' mowing height.

On another note, our weather service has issued a cold weather alert for next week. He expects that there will be the potential for frost early in the week, so be aware if you have annuals etc that may be susceptible to cold weather damage.