Greens Maintenance

 In my last post I mentioned that the greens had made it through the first heat wave in good condition bar a few localized dry spots (LDS) and that a wetting agent would take care of it. They were sprayed with the wetting agent but the results were not as expected. The dry spots remained, even after plenty of water was added. The greens were wilting quickly after being watered. This unusual behavior intrigued me and I started investigating it. The portable soil moisture meter was saying there was moisture but pulling a core showed that the top few inches were dust dry and the areas were not taking water. After further investigation and a soil test to confirm it, the problem was solved. The greens were suffering from sodium induced wilt which exacerbated the LDS areas. Sodium induced wilt occurs within plants when sodium moves into cells at a higher concentration level than potassium, causing desiccation of cell walls and ultimately wilt. So how did it happen. 

Alex needletining the first green

A number of things transpired to cause it and they were related to the nice spring weather!! The first piece of the puzzle was that I used more Ammonium Sulfate than I normally would use this spring to helps speed up the green up in the lower temperatures. Ammonium Sulfate has a high salt concentration but normally it wouldn't be to much of an issue. Additionally the greens 'flush' from spring storms but this spring has been relative dry and most of the rain we have received was not heavy or prolonged enough to flush the greens. Lastly due to the mild weather they didn't need a lot of irrigation and were performing fine so I didn't even think about an irrigation flush as it is normally taken care of by Mother Nature. This perfect combination showed up once the weather got warmer and the turf couldn't get by on the minimal water available to it - once the wetting agent didn't perform, it showed that there was another issue. 

Step #2 is to mow after the needletine - this ensues any tufts left by the aerator are cleaned up

We use drop spreaders to topdress - this keeps heavy riding machines off the greens while still putting out the required amount of sand.

Cody checking the topdressing rate

A look in the prism guage shows the depth of the topdressing

The good news is that the easy fix has been completed before any damage occurred and there is still plenty of time to continue building roots before any potential heat hits. I know I have mentioned flushing greens in previous posts, but a brief reminder of what it means wouldn't go amiss. The greens at LedgeRock are USGA spec which means they have a perched water table - ie they can hold some moisture to a point, but once enough hydraulic head builds up, they drain (ie the 'flush'). If the water is added slowly they are less prone to flush so they need a prolonged consistent volume of water to get the hydraulic head to the point to 'flush' properly. The flush is beneficial as it essentially gives you a consistent moisture content to build from, it removes build up of excess nutrients etc in the soil (like the sodium) and can also help pull air through the system as the water exits. 

Next step dragging the sand in

Spraying the flushing products to help move the excess sodium

The fix to the problem was easy, although the outing yesterday meant that we had to complete all the tasks during play on Wednesday (and a big thanks to the ladies who accommodated us by starting on the back 9 so we could get it all done efficiently). Due to the tournament and outing schedule for June, today was the only day we could get the greens needletined and topdressed for the month without disturbing either. The needletine helped open the surface and help get air and water to the roots. Next we sprayed the greens with calcium and potassium products that help release sodium build up and move it through the profile. They were then sprayed with Dewcure to ensure they greens can be mowed the following morning without making a mess. The greens were then flushed overnight to move everything through and essentially set them up as a clean sheet. The topdressing didn't help with the sodium problem but it was a perfect time to do it also as the large amount of water for the flush will help knock it into the profile, minimizing the time the greens are not perfect. 

Starting the greens flush at night. It is more efficient to turn them on manually and let them run until they flush.

Result!! 1 Green draining

4 green draining

 

Now that the greens have been flushed clean, they will be fertilized again today and the wetting agent applied again to take care of the LDS fully. Any slow green speeds from the topdressing will be short lived and they will be fully back to normal by the weekend. The remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea will be arriving later this evening and will set the greens up beautiful for the upcoming week. 

I have added the aeration and topdressing schedule to the bottom of the page. The dates may vary depending if the weather is not conducive to the procedures on the scheduled date, but generally it will be very close.

The next update, will be on how the course handles Andrea!!