© Creative Commons


TATE & LYLE O


ne of the most frequent questions I get asked is what type of sugar I should apply to my turf areas?


One of the longest message board threads ever seen on the Pitchcare website, on the subject of grass colour, resulted in a lengthy discussion about the use of sugars to ‘jump start’ the plant.


Here we present two views on the subject, the first by the original ‘sugar postee’ Dr. Ian MacMillan


correct dosage and sugar type by experimenting, auditing and shouting “eureka” when you find yours. Don’t be impatient. I have conducted experiments and changed recipes many times until I found what was right for my grass.


Spring Application


I sugar up before I even consider an application of their plant goodies. This, in turn, will allow the elements, applied and taken into the plant, a much quicker response as the plant has restored the spring deficit of carbohydrates. I have discovered that I maximise this by using molasses, very cheap, very soluble and readily available from farm outlets. Dosage, as discussed above, may vary from site to site, but I have found between six and eight litres per hectare works for me. Mix with four hundred litres of water. I also add low foam washing up liquid in order that the molasses may slide down the leaf into the soil, as the molecules are too big to enter the leaf! If colour, or lack of it, is an issue try adding Epsom salts to your solution at around 10kg to the tank. Good luck to all.


Dr Ian MacMillan, Education and Law Officer of the IGA, can be contacted on 01337 857294, or mail ian@macmillanlegal.co.uk


Well, that is a million dollar question as there are many factors that have to be taken into account i.e. condition, type, and make up of the soil. What type of grass plant are you growing and, yes I know, a green one, but is it fescue, bent, smooth stalk or rye? As a rule of thumb there are some steps you could take to help improve plant health with direct applications of sugars and molasses, though I have to state that for any sugar application to work you must have a good source of air in the soil. So, unless you have well aerated ground to start with, direct application of sugar will not work. A general background of plant sugars is that two mono sacharides are the primary types. These are glucose and fructose. They are both created by the plant and are then combined to create sucrose.


This is where the first error can be made with using normal granulated sugar as this is made from sucrose. Sadly, the plant cannot use a granular form of sugar and, upon its dilution or the granule dissolving, this form of sugar is too high to be of any use. After many years of research we found that the concentration level was just too high, though we did discover that a very minimal amount of granular sugar application direct to the soil did increase the bacterial activity and improve the michoriza to the point where a good benefit to soil life was seen. When I say minimal you are looking at an application of two to three grammes a square metre.


If you do intend to use a granulated sugar I would strongly recommend an unrefined type, as the refining process has acids used with it. You can source fructose and glucose in dry powder and liquid form, but be careful as fructose from fruit has a different make up than that from, say, sugar cane. I have always used a direct derived source of both, and these are obtained from sugar cane. I have always avoided those from sugar beet as we never got the same results. The main point to always remember is that the make up of the sugars in the


Application and timing


Applications can be made in various ways, from a direct powder application to a liquid formula of straight sugars. You could try a blend with seaweed and even use some molasses based products to help the biological world below the ground. Timing is the most important factor.


From my research sugars only need be applied when the plant has an inability to produce enough of its own, so this would apply to shaded areas or those areas where the micro climate is not favourable to strong growth. But, it also applies to seasonal times of the year. For example, when temperatures drop sugars can help the plant sustain growth. Also, after heavy rain periods when the soil can become exhausted and out of balance, or as we change from winter to spring conditions it can be used to give the plant a boost. Applying sugars in optimum growing conditions has little, if any, affect and is a waste of money. In sport, applications can be made on


cricket wickets being brought out of play - it is not nice to be given such a shock and be cut away after all those months of love and attention. Like us, taking sweet tea to cope with a shock, the grass plant will also enjoy that same sugary drink, so to speak.


I hope this article helps make things a little clearer. Sadly, I cannot give you an absolute plan to apply sugars, but I can give you one last tip to remember. If a person eats a large amount of sugar the body will crave more and more, and will put all it can to fat, making this person more lethargic rather than more energetic. A little sugar, when down or feeling a bit tired, will give a boost and put a person back on track. So, it is a case of a little when needed, and you should have a strong, healthy plant, not a tubby, slow growing rosette.


I would strongly recommend an unrefined sugar as the refining process has acids used with it


83


Will not make your grass smile By Clive Liddiard MSc


plant is one of fructose to one of glucose. To make sucrose the plant can also identify poor periods of growth within its cycle, and this can allow for the plant to store a fructan. One or two is fine, but a plant creating a lot of fructans could put a lot of feed into reserve and not into the growth cycle, consequently giving an uneven plant growth structure. So, exact feeding when required is essential.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132