Technical
“Perhaps if we paid more attention to just how much effect some of these products have on plant health, we would soon realise that most are not good value for money”
I
have been asked why, after so many years, I decided to follow the path of brewing micro biology? Well, I did not wake up one morning thinking “I had been doing it all wrong for the last
thirty-five years and that brewing soil biology was the answer to all my woes!” It all started with the realisation that my very lean operating budget meant it was not possible to implement any course improvements on an annual basis, without reducing my maintenance costs elsewhere. I am no different from any other manager, I have always been driven by results and I need to see improvements on a regular basis. Without positive results, I lose any semblance of motivation; without motivation, it would be difficult to get out of bed in the morning, and I have never had that problem.
So, when faced with the dilemma of tight
resources, I looked to where my annual maintenance costs were going, and noticed one area in particular was my pesticide usage. I was applying, on average, eight fungicide applications per year and was staggered when I saw how much was spent on pesticides and realised significant savings could be made if I were able to reduce disease incidence. Before I go any further, I should give you an insight into my management regime and the history of Staverton Park, which is a parkland course, approximately thirty-five years old, with reasonable USGA greens. I arrived in the autumn of 2005 to discover the greens had several active diseases, including fusarium, anthracnose and Rhizoctonia cerealis whilst, beneath the surface, the typical signs of black layer could be clearly seen alongside a root- break some 40mm below the surface. Trying to resolve all of these conditions was paramount and obviously the reason why so much money had been spent on pesticides.
The first three years, I carried out an intensive slitting and spiking programme, with rather rudimentary equipment, which entailed using either a slitter or tined drum spiker. In that first autumn, I hired a Sisis Javelin Aer-Aid, which proved to be a worthy tool and was probably the key to resolving the black layer issue so quickly. Each year after, I hired a Verti-Drain in both the spring and autumn. I was then fortunate enough to be able to purchase a Toro Pro-core 648 in 2010 which, in my opinion, is the best aerator on the market.
My greens are now aerated mostly by the
Pro-core, using both 9mm or 15mm solid tines, and the occasional Verti-Drain on hire. There is no need to hollow core since I have never had a thatch issue. In those early days, it soon became
apparent that the rootzone lacked little in terms of soil life. The rootzone was stagnant and predominantly anaerobic with poor root structure that really needed a kick-start to bring life back to the growing medium. My lack of resource had me looking back to my earlier years as a course manager working on a heathland course in East Sussex, where I followed the advice of the renowned Jim Arthur, by implementing a programme of regular aeration on push-up greens, with judicious nutrition and irrigation. Over a four year period, my greens lost their poa dominance and saw a natural ingress of indigenous bentgrass. I say natural since overseeding was never a consideration. During that time, I would apply a homemade concoction of mostly organic fertilisers, applied both in the spring and autumn, and only needed to apply one preventative fungicide in the autumn, and that was it. How simple things were then! Even after thirty-five years of managing turf, I have to be honest and admit that it never really occurred to me just how important soil biology and its relationship with plants were; yes, I know I touched on it during my adult education, but it was a subject that seemed to get less time than it actually deserved.
On top of that, USGA spec greens were becoming fashionable and the opposite of what I was taught at college. We are also bombarded with literature and sales pitches that are directed towards inorganic fertilisers and other magic potions, the options and promises of which are endless. Perhaps if we paid more attention to just how much effect some of these products have on plant health, some as low as 2%, we would soon realise that most are not good value for money.
Inorganic versus organic fertilisers
In most cases, inorganic fertiliser is manufactured to give precise applications of nutrition, usually with a portion of fast and slow release and in a uniform coated prill. It does what it says on the bag, i.e. feed the sward and very little else! However, organic fertilisers do more than just feed the sward since
they also feed the biology. Soil biology (micro-organisms) are essential in breaking down organic matter, which is critical in controlling thatch and, if left unmanaged, could lead onto moss issues and/or dry-patch. They also aid in suppressing pests and disease as well as degrading chemicals and similar toxins. This symbiotic relationship didn’t happen by chance, but has evolved over millions of years. If you look at the way ecosystems evolve, it starts with annual weeds and grasses that require minimum support from the soil biology, which can, in fact, grow in a near sterile environment and are generally limited to bacterial support only. This means all the energy from that annual plant is directed towards surviving long enough to produce seed and little else. However, perennial plants flourish year after year and do not rely on seed alone to proliferate. This is why as much as 50% of the energy produced by perennial grasses is channelled towards feeding soil biology; this includes bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and larger soil life, such as arthropods and worms. It has taken millions of years to evolve into a diverse ecosystem, then man comes along and, in the blink of an eye, works against these processes without considering the consequence!
I am confident in stating, most people do not realise the importance of healthy soil biology, also known as the Soil Food Web. Like most, my knowledge is very basic, but it is clear soil biology plays an integral part in providing plants with nutrients in various ways, such as preventing nutrient leech loss to groundwater, fixing atmospheric nitrogen, producing ammonium, which is converted into nitrates. Other roles include increased infiltration by improving soil aggregation and porosity. By-pass soil biology and its association with plant life and the impending results have become all too obvious today.
I am not quite sure when or how it happened but, not too long after the general introduction of inorganic fertilisers, we saw an increase in hydrophobic conditions and, consequently, have seen a steady increase in the use of wetting agents. These wetting agents are designed to rehydrate hydrophobic soils. Soil hydrophobicity is thought to derive primarily by the coating of long-chained
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