ANALYSIS Getting the most out of it
Turf and rootzone analysis are useful tools in helping to plan the maintenance of the sward.
Dr. Kate Entwistle of the Turf Disease Centre explains how, why and when physical and chemical analysis should be undertaken.
one that is familiar with amenity situations and specific turfgrass analyses. In
Physical analyses are of critical importance when sourcing materials for a new construction, or for reconstructions, to ensure the consistency of the materials brought on to site and to check that they conform to the
required specification. In addition, physical analysis can be completed on established rootzones to check that they are continuing to perform as constructed and to identify likely future problems. Chemical analysis is frequently completed on rootzone material and
increasingly on leaf tissues to identify nutrient availability within the rootzone and nutrient uptake in to the plant. This analysis can be used as an indicator of what nutrient application is required and when, in order to achieve the maximum potential of the sward. There are several laboratories across the UK that offer these services and it is advisable to select
addition to the routine nutrient and full elemental analyses, analysis for toxic elements and water analysis can also be completed by these laboratories. These analyses won't tell you what to do as a turf manager but they will help you to decide on product application and timing and alert you to potential problems that may be developing. The usefulness of these analysis results can only ever be as good as the samples that are received by the laboratory. If you don't send them a representative sample, the results will be of little use to you. The responsibility is therefore on you to ensure that what you send off for analysis is what's required to give you the information that you need. The same is also true for pest and disease analysis. If the material received for analysis is not representative of the problem, the results may be incomplete and of limited use in dealing with the problem. However, a complete pest or disease analysis will tell you what the current problem is and also highlight possible reasons for the development of that problem and therefore help with amendments to your cultural
maintenance programme. It may also be possible to inform you of additional and potential problems that you would otherwise be completely unaware of. It is important to identify a pest or disease before any control options are implemented and certainly before any plant protection product (pesticide) is applied, as this will ensure application of an effective active ingredient. So, if you don’t know what is causing a problem, how do you know the best way to send a sample for analysis? We can break down pest and disease
problems in to two main groups, invertebrate pests and disease (we won’t include vertebrate pests such as rabbits, moles, badgers and geese as they are seldom sent in the post for analysis).
INVERTEBRATE PEST Crane fly larva
Chafer beetle larva Bibionid fly larva Frit fly larva Cutworm
Fungal and fungus-like organisms
(moth caterpillar) Plant parasitic nematodes
DISEASE
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