Turf Conditions & Optimal Efficiency with the Grammar of Greenkeeping

Every turfgrass manager knows that temperature, light, water, and fertilizer will influence the growth rate of the grass. Because the growth rate, and adjustments to it, are what finally produce the desired playing surfaces, it is critically important to understand how these factors can be adjusted. We will discuss how the influence of air temperature, photosynthetic light, plant water status, and leaf nitrogen content can be thought of and communicated as a grammar: the fundamental principles or rules of an art or a science. The result of this process is better turf conditions and done so in a systematic way that optimizes efficiency of the work.

Transcript

1. Turf conditions & optimal efficiency with the Grammar of Greenkeeping Micah Woods January 21, 2018 Chief Scientist Asian Turfgrass Center www.asianturfgrass.com
2. Today’s schedule • 09:30 to 11:00, set 1 • 11:00 to 11:30, coffee break • 11:30 to 13:00, set 2 • 13:00 to 14:00, lunch • 14:00 to 15:30, set 3 • 15:30 to 16:00, coffee break • 16:00 to 17:30, set 4
3. Golf Course Seminar magazine, Japan
4. “The BOOK”, photo by Jonathan Smith
6. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management
7. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth
8. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil
9. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate
10. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential
11. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential 6. Managing soil organic matter
12. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential 6. Managing soil organic matter 7. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air
13. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential 6. Managing soil organic matter 7. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air 8. Four things to increase roots on putting greens
14. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential 6. Managing soil organic matter 7. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air 8. Four things to increase roots on putting greens 9. Do you know how much salt is in the irrigation water?
15. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential 6. Managing soil organic matter 7. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air 8. Four things to increase roots on putting greens 9. Do you know how much salt is in the irrigation water? 10. Managing salt by leaching
16. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential 6. Managing soil organic matter 7. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air 8. Four things to increase roots on putting greens 9. Do you know how much salt is in the irrigation water? 10. Managing salt by leaching 11. Measuring clipping yield from putting greens
17. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential 6. Managing soil organic matter 7. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air 8. Four things to increase roots on putting greens 9. Do you know how much salt is in the irrigation water? 10. Managing salt by leaching 11. Measuring clipping yield from putting greens 12. An easy PAR
18. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential 6. Managing soil organic matter 7. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air 8. Four things to increase roots on putting greens 9. Do you know how much salt is in the irrigation water? 10. Managing salt by leaching 11. Measuring clipping yield from putting greens 12. An easy PAR 13. Similar temperatures, but dissimilar sunshine
19. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate 5. Temperature-based growth potential 6. Managing soil organic matter 7. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air 8. Four things to increase roots on putting greens 9. Do you know how much salt is in the irrigation water? 10. Managing salt by leaching 11. Measuring clipping yield from putting greens 12. An easy PAR 13. Similar temperatures, but dissimilar sunshine 14. Two ways to avoid nutrient deficiencies
20. Defining turfgrass management
21. Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland
22. Kashima Stadium, Japan
23. Royal Bangkok Sports Club, Thailand
24. Greenkeeping is managing the growth rate of the grass to create the desired playing surface for golf.
25. creeping bentgrass, Japan
26. bermudagrass and seashore paspalum, Thailand
27. manilagrass putting green, Thailand
28. seashore paspalum and bermudagrass, Thailand
29. Penn A-1 creeping bentgrass, K deficiency
30. creeping bentgrass, PGA Catalunya
31. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth
32. What affects growth? Growth is a function of photosynthetic light, plant water status, temperature, and a nutrient index.1 This can be represented as the environmental productivity index (EPI). 1Each of these factors can be represented by an index that takes a value from 0 to 1. Thus, the EPI will also have a value in the range of 0 to 1. The nutrient index is primarily a function of leaf N content.
33. What affects growth? Growth is a function of photosynthetic light, plant water status, temperature, and a nutrient index.1 This can be represented as the environmental productivity index (EPI). (light)(water)(temperature)(nutrient) = EPI 1Each of these factors can be represented by an index that takes a value from 0 to 1. Thus, the EPI will also have a value in the range of 0 to 1. The nutrient index is primarily a function of leaf N content.
34. Poa annua & kikuyugrass, Gran Canaria, November
35. storm approaching, Bangkok, September
36. creeping bentgrass 5 cm soil temperature, Japan, July
37. Festuca & Poa annua near Reykjavik, May 4
38. Simplified EPI   XXX X (light)(water)((((((( ( hhhhhhh h (temperature)(nutrient) = EPI
39. Managing water in the soil
40. 80 year old rootzone, Sydney
42. Nitrogen, temperature, and growth rate
43. fairway fertilization, Hanoi
44. add N, get more colour and growth
45. “We determined through field experiments that in our climate [Wisconsin] it takes at least [80 g N/m2/year] to maximize clipping production on a [Poa pratensis] lawn and in excess of [19 g N/m2/month] on a bentgrass fairway.” Houlihan and Kussow, 2006
47. 2 key things with more N: chlorophyll & RuBisCO overseeded bermudagrass, La Quinta, California
48. fescue sod, Iceland
49. Temperature-based growth potential
50. Grasses can grow well when temperatures are close to an optimum for growth, and grasses will grow more slowly or not at all as the temperature moves away from the optimum.
51. Temperature-based growth potential PACE Turf developed the Temperature-based GP to express the actual temperature in terms of its proximity to optimum temperatures for shoot growth. GP = e−0.5( t−to var )2 where, GP = growth potential, on a scale of 0 to 1 e = 2.71828, a mathematical constant t = average temperature for a location, in celsius to = optimum temperature, 20 for C3 grass, 31 for C4 grass var = adjusts the change in GP as temperature moves away from to ; I suggest 5.5 for C3 and 7 for C4
59. vacuum mower, Japan
63. Implications and use of GP • mowing frequency • fungicide duration • heat-related stress • topdressing requirement • nutrient use
64. Managing soil organic matter
65. golf course construction, Thailand
66. seashore paspalum, Hong Kong
67. First, manage the grass growth to be as slow as possible.
68. Second, add sand topdressing to mix with the organic matter as it is produced by the grass.
69. Third, there is coring or scarification to physically remove organic matter from the soil.
70. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air
71. Novotek bermudagrass, Thailand
72. The best playing surface will be produced when the soil has just enough water to keep the grass from wilting, and the remaining soil volume will be filled with air.
73. creeping bentgrass, Kunming, China
74. Four things to increase roots on putting greens
75. creeping bentgrass, Japan
76. Golf is played on the surface, not on the roots.
77. 4 things to increase roots on putting greens 1. Mow the grass as high as possible
78. 4 things to increase roots on putting greens 1. Mow the grass as high as possible 2. Apply the right amount of N, at the right time
79. 4 things to increase roots on putting greens 1. Mow the grass as high as possible 2. Apply the right amount of N, at the right time 3. Make sure there is plenty of air in the soil
80. 4 things to increase roots on putting greens 1. Mow the grass as high as possible 2. Apply the right amount of N, at the right time 3. Make sure there is plenty of air in the soil 4. Make sure there is enough P in the soil
81. algae on bermudagrass green, Vietnam
82. bermudagrass roots, September
83. 3 months later
84. 3 months later
85. Do you know how much salt is in the irrigation water?
86. bermudagrass, Thailand
87. cool-season mix, Girona
88. Managing salt by leaching
89. Adding extra water will carry salt below the rootzone by leaching.
90. How much leaching is required? We need to know three things to calculate the amount of water required. 1. Irrigation water salinity (ECw ) 2. The grass tolerance of salinity in the soil (ECe ) 3. The consumptive water use of the grass (ET)
91. Leaching requirement, LR LR = ECw 5(ECe) − ECw
92. Irrigation requirement, IR IR = ET 1 − LR
93. Measuring clipping yield from putting greens
94. Using a 10 L bucket to measure the volume of clippings
97. What’s affected by the growth rate? • divot recovery • ball mark recovery • some diseases • traffic damage • green speed • mowing requirement • thatch (and everything associated with its management)
98. Checking variability • day to day • green to green • machine to machine • year to year
99. mowing greens, Fukuoka, Japan
101. KBC Augusta tournament, 2013
112. An easy PAR
113. 3 terms 1. PAR – photosynthetically active radiation 2. PPFD – photosynthetic photon flux density, measured per second 3. DLI – daily light integral, sum of PPFD from sunrise to sunset
114. Similar temperatures, but dissimilar sunshine
115. Orlando vs. Hong Kong
116. Two ways to avoid nutrient deficiencies
117. First, and the recommended way, do a soil test.
118. Second, and less efficient, supply 100% of plant use.
119. I don’t worry about micronutrients.
120. For more, please see www.asianturfgrass.com or @asianturfgrass on Twitter.
121. ATC newsletter: www.subscribepage.com/atcupdate MLSN newsletter: www.subscribepage.com/mlsn