No testing ground can reproduce the levels and intensity of wear, timing of use, exact conditions and all the other variable inputs that you, as the turf manager, put into your turf surfaces.
By Andrew Turnbull BSc (Hons)
Testing Yourself ... T
here is much talk about making sure that products you use are independently tested and the results available for groundsmen/greenkeepers. Whilst I fully endorse this view point, there is no greater verification of whether a product or treatment is suitable for you than by testing them on your own turf. No testing ground can reproduce the levels and intensity of wear, timing of use, exact conditions and all the other variable inputs that you, as the turf manager, put into your turf surfaces.
This article is written to provide some guidelines on how you can gain meaningful results that are relevant to your playing surfaces. In particular, I want to show two methods that you can use to compare treatments of different products. First, some guidelines:
1. Before the experiment starts:
Be clear in your mind on why the test is being conducted in the first place. It is very important that you start a trial with clearly defined objectives and purposes. Decide on how the trial will be run.
You may want to carry out plot trials that measure many treatments and require the use of statistics to produce accurate data. Or, you may just need a simple comparison between one treatment and another. Approach your trials with an open
mind. Many experiments are made invalid because of a bias towards a certain result, which affects how the data is collected and interpreted.
2. Materials and Methods
List the materials to be used (products, sprayer, etc.) and the methods that will be used to implement the test (sprayer settings, product rates, evaluation methods).
Decide what is actually to be measured, e.g. colour, growth rates, density or playing characteristics. Bear in mind that measurements can be subjective, e.g. how do you measure difference in green if you are colour blind? Avoid too ambitious measurements that require expensive recording data, e.g. infra red measuring of leaf chlorophyll content. Keep it to practical levels.
Concentrate on the most important
reason for choosing a particular product or treatment. The more variables you introduce the less likely you will be able to determine the response of your turf. Keep everything consistent with your normal turf management, and then introduce the one change you would like to make on test areas.
3. Once the experiment has started:
Begin recording observations for each product or process being tested. Observations can be descriptions of visual characteristics (“excellent”, “good”,
“fair” are all visual descriptions), numerical ratings (weights of clippings, electrical conductivity readings, etc.) or relative ratings (subjective performance estimates of quality, such as a 1-9 turf quality rating system). Without good record keeping, the effort put into a testing programme will be wasted, because you will have no way of remembering how and why your results were obtained. Use a notebook to record your Objectives, Materials and Methods, observations and Discussion, as well as any other thoughts you have about product performance, the reaction of golfers to management practices, or any difficulty you experience handling or applying a material. Date each entry, and take notes carefully and legibly! Remember - excess information is always better than insufficient information, so don’t be stingy with your words. If you are able to take photos, tape them inside your experimental log; these can be invaluable in summarising your results. If you are a good record keeper, you’ll find that your notebooks will hold their value for years to come - in resolving disputes about which practice or technique is best, where or how a product was applied, or the history of a problem area of turf.
4. At the end of the experiment:
Review your notes and write a discussion, or summary of your findings, why you
Fig 1. Plywood test on a fairway
Fig 2 - non-randomised plots
Fig 3 - randomised plot design
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