VIBRA SANDMASTER
decompacting and sandslitting ‘all in one’
Strengthening the sward and replacing the defence mechanism has to be an essential part of integrated pest management
UNISEEDER
for fine turf overseeding
MULTI-SEEDER
for fast accurate overseeding
final solution. There are, of course, specific remedies for each disease as they metabolise in different ways but, in general, diseases occur on sports turf because fungal pathogens, which exist partly to cull weak plants, have a lot of weak grass to attack and very few of the natural defence mechanisms to stop them. (Kate Entwhistle's article in the August September 2007 edition has an excellent explanation of how pathogens attack). Strengthening the sward
and replacing the defence mechanism has to be an essential part of integrated pest management.
Thatch and dry patch management
A hectare of greens with 2cm of thatch has about 200m3
of BLECAVATOR
single pass, multi purpose ground preparation
HARLEY POWER RAKE
3 in 1 machine cultivates, grades and rakes
from our extensive range, contact us for further information
SPECIALIST LANDSCAPING ANDTURFCARE EQUIPMENT
GLOBAL CENTRE, SPALDING ROAD, DEEPING ST JAMES,NR PETERBOROUGH PE6 8SD
TEL: 01778 346222 FAX: 01778 346777 EMAIL:
sales@blec.co.uk WEBSITE:
www.blec.co.uk
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dead organic matter that is full of excellent nutrients diluted with top dressing. Current wisdom is to hollow core or rip it out and replace it with top dressing plus seaweed and/or humates i.e. dead organic matter full of excellent nutrients. An expensive solution which short term spoils the playing surface but, more importantly in the long term removes a key source of food for fungi and humus and organic acid production.
The simple answer is to add fungi and oxygen to convert thatch into humus as it is formed releasing the locked up nutrient providing a building block for future plant growth that holds moisture and increases cation exchange capacity. Other advantages of
microbially activating and degrading thatch are that thatch is a great source of nutrient for fusarium, thatch fungus, basidiomycetes (The fungi that produce the hydrophobins that cause fairy rings and dry patch) and other nutrient loving fungal diseases. If the thatch is already full of beneficial fungi the pathogens cannot get a seat at the table, so they
cannot grow. Percolation rates increase giving faster play after rain and, as we shall see, degrading thatch helps reduce pH and promote the growth of bent and fescues.
Fine Grass Promotion
If you analyse soil supporting poa annua you find a bacterial biomass about ten times greater than fungal biomass, but soil that supports old established fescue and bent grasses has a nearly equal amount of fungal and bacterial biomass. Most turf managers report a sudden sustained increase in agrostis tennuis grasses when they start to degrade thatch in situ, i.e. when the fungal population increases. Poa annua does not associate positively with mycorrhizal fungi, which gives all other grasses a growth advantage but, additionally, the combination of increased thatch reduction and reduced fungicide application during the growing season combine to substantially increase the colonisation of bent, rye and even fescues. The common theme is that fungal biomass has to increase and pH in the thatch layer reduce as humous and humic acids are formed.
Unfortunately, fine sports turf managers have to preserve the surface and drainage characteristics of their rootzones, so do not have the organic options open to farmers or landscapers. My company, Symbio, has been working with sports turf soils for over eighteen years and, with our research partners, have developed easy to apply solutions to build a healthy soil food web in all common turf rootzone materials. We will be explaining how to convert your poa annua to fine grass, manage disease, reduce thatch, reduce dry patch and fertiliser inputs in future editions of Pitchcare.
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