NOVEMBER

KEEP UP THE REPAIRS!

With your surfaces now having constant use the amount of daily wear and tear will be ongoing, so it is good practice to keep on top of your turf management as soon as possible.

A preventative measure is to change of height of cut to help with increased coverage and to reduce wear and tear from heavy use.

If time allows after a game, replace as many divots as possible with a divot fork to keep your surfaces level, and aid the repair of the damaged grass.

Trying to keep your surface as clear as possible of all debris and decaying grass or arisings to allow your surfaces to drain successfully.

Should significant damage occur, use low temperature germinating rye seed ranges to help and aid recovery by filling in the damaged area to stop any unwanted grass varieties or weeds forming in the affected area.

In areas over-seeded a light dressing with our 70/30 top dressing would be recommended to keep the seed bedding in situ and to aid germination.

To keep your plant in good condition during high periods of wear and tear, a stress relief is advisable. For example, a tank mix of Double Edge/Kelpack and Phyter will give you an all-round recovery spray application.

OCTOBER

OPEN UP YOUR SURFACES

Aeration is a great way to open your surfaces up after plenty of traffic from your teams and all your pitch equipment daily.

There are many ways to aerate, and certain methods would work more effectively on specific constructions. You can choose from Solid Tine, Hollow core, Air injection, Lateral deep aeration and surface slitting.

Choosing the best conditions to undertake the task is vital on making your aeration successful, for example if you choose to use a large tractor with a mounted verti-drain you will need to make sure the surface is firm enough to take the weight of the equipment, and the weather is clear from prolonged heavy showers, as this will do more harm than good.

Whenever possible, or when a gap in your fixture list allows, leave your surface open to breathe for a few days afterwards, so avoid mowing and other activities.

Although not the primary purpose, aerating your surface will help remove any surface water from the surface, with the holes you have just made in the profile allowing your playing surface to stay drier for play if you are forecasted any rain showers.

The main purpose of aeration is to break and shatter the top and lower compacted layers of your surfaces, which can be vary from surface to surface, this can sometimes be the first inch, and in other circumstances, up to six inches from the top. Either way, it is important to give your profile and root system the air flow exchange it needs.

Aeration will  improve your rooting within the profile and allow any subsequent nutrition applied to get to where it needs to be.

An additional product which is designed to help absorb moisture on the surface down into your aeration holes is PROFILE® which comes in Natural or Emerald Greens Grade®.

JULY

KEEPING UP THE MOISTURE

With the consistently warmer months on the way and a heatwave due to hit at some point, it is best to be prepared for drought conditions which can lead to plant stresses.

Plant Stress can be relieved using Wetting Agents such as Abzorb in a spray application which can be tank mixed with an organic biostimulant such as Kelpak. This will assist the rapid penetration of water in dry areas for medium to long term re-wetting. 

Wetting agents contain soil penetrating surfactants which are effective against turf diseases such as Dry Patch and Fairy Ring. Abzorb is suitable for use on grass areas such as lawns and amenity and sports turf.  They are most effective when used monthly from spring onwards as this will mean the maximum amount of wetting agent will be present during the dry months of summer.

The 2.5kg Abzorb tank tablet can be pushed through an irrigation system. You can also spot water using a 250g Abzorb tablet in a spray gun or handheld sprayer.

A fast-acting wetting agent attaches itself to the waxes and lipids left by fungal spores on soil and sand particles, which in turn attracts water molecules allowing hydrophobic areas to be re-wet. They are a blend of soil penetrating surfactants, that help to re-wet dry areas of turf affected by turf diseases.

It is very important to irrigate after application of a wetting agent, so that it penetrates the soil. Applying 10-15mm of water straight after application will help, or when it is raining or due to. It can also scorch the leaf if left on it during hot weather.

Other benefits of wetting agents include:

•             Keeps the surface of the soil open and more receptive to water so any irrigation gets into the soil and does not just run off.

•             Reduces the amount of irrigation water needed so saves time and money.

•             Reducing the amount of overhead irrigation will keep the surface drier and this can help with the reduction of Poa annua and disease.

•             The surfactants reduce the surface tension in the water and so excess water will fall from the soil profile to drains far easier in times of higher rain fall.

•             Can be used to help the penetration of pesticides into the thatch layer or soil. Particularly important when looking at actives such as azoxystrobin that are only                                   translocated upwards in a plant and so to protect the whole plant.

•             Can be applied just after seeding to increase germination rates and reduce watering requirements.

For more information, or to help you identify turf diseases that you may have, please get in touch for further advice.

Products mentioned in this blog:

https://www.agrigem.co.uk/abzorb-triple-action-wetting-agent-10l

https://www.agrigem.co.uk/abzorb-wetting-agent-tablet-250g

https://www.agrigem.co.uk/kelpak-seaweed-5l

JUNE - Sowing the seed

At this time of year, you should have either just had your pitches renovated, or you are in the process of, or planning to start this season’s pitch rejuvenation.

To ensure you have a good strike rate of your seed, you need to ensure you use the correct seeder; either a disc or dimple.

A disc seeder must be used if you have an existing sward, as the disc seeder will cut into the profile of the soil to around 10-15mm in order to get good soil seed contact, which in turn will help speed up its germination.

It is then best to apply top dressing after seeding to cover the seed away from any pests. This will also aid better establishment.

A dimple seeder is generally used when your pitch is fully stripped off using a Koro, as you take out more top surface. You should seed once 85% of the top dressing is down as you do not want to bury the seed completely. Then remaining 15% of top dressing is then added to seal in a similar manner to disc seeding - to protect and speed up establishment of the seed.

Please ensure that you keep the seed damp, but not saturated to help to seedlings swell then finally they will pop into life. This then is a good time to start to apply some Nutrigrow Pre-seeder 6-9-6 to get the plant responding quickly. Alternatively, our Nutrigrow Stress Defender is an organic based slow release fertiliser with added benefits to strengthen the root system.

Foliar feeding or soil drenchers are also a great option if they can be applied monthly if possible, to enable good recovery and healthy root anchoring. We have our Spring and Autumn Gem liquid fertilisers, which can be mixed with Tonivit our bio-stimulant, which aids newly sown seed to give an all-round plant nutrition at the establishment stages.

MAY - RENOVATION TIME

Time to get your surfaces ready for next season or can do little by little with general maintenance.

Depending on everyone’s budget the extent of works can be very different, some will have a machine to completely remove the entire thatch layer, which in most cases contributes to poor drainage and waterlogging in the heavy rain seasons on your surfaces and have games called off.

Heavy scarification in conjunction will a terra rake/Uni-rake/stiff brushes to try and disturb the surface and get into the thatch layer as much as possible and to remove any existing weeds/moss and weak grass species. This process can be performed many times over to your specification.

Once you’re happy with the surface and is clear of all debris add top dressing to any low areas by hand to not allow low areas in germination and to build up later, for example: goal mouths, 18-yard areas and lineman’s runs.

The Premier Seed 100% 3-way rye mix will work very well. Depending on the extent of your surface’s clear out, the overseeding range will be between 25-50gms per m2.

When seeding you will need to use a disc seeder to allow the seed to be cut into the surface 10-15mm to be in contact with the soil.

Where budgets allow try to apply a minimum of 30-60 tonne of medium/fine sand per full size pitch.

Best practice is to sand dress over the top of seed to protect the seed away from pests. This will also increase the percentage of success and germination efficiency.

Aeration can be carried out last in this process if conditions are good to do so, as moisture is required within the soil. Otherwise, let your surface establish after 6-8 weeks of feeding and cutting and carry out when the conditions are right to do so.

I would suggest and application of feed such as an organic based slow-release fertiliser with Mycorrhiza (Nutri-grow Stress Defender) to boost the soil profile and to help with root system strength and stability. Alternatively Nutrigrow 18-3.5-8+Mg is a steady feed over 3 months.

MARCH - SPRING IS HERE AT LAST

As the plant has been dormant for such a long period over the Winter and with spring just around the corner with soil temperatures starting to rise, at this point it would be a great time to apply a Spring fertiliser to get some energy and nutrition back in the plant to encourage so some growth/recovery ready for play.

Using a spring feed will wake up the plant e.g., 9-7-7 or 10-4-4CaMgFe, to replenish all the lost nutrition that was lost that a plant needs to survive and to take all levels of sport, without excessive growth but allows your sports field to be strong, healthy, and full of vigour to withstand the hours of use.

It is always important to know what your bag of fertiliser and what their main purposes are, as there are many different analyses available with different NPK values and Nitrogen sources.

(N) – Nitrogen, (P) – Phosphorus and (K) – Potassium, these three elements are essential to a plants nutrition which helps sustain and encourages healthy growth.

Nitrogen – Nitrogen is especially important for top growth recovery and encourages lush green surfaces and healthy leaf growth for density.

Phosphorus – Phosphorus is for plant energy and promotes growth while building a strong root system.

Potassium – Potassium is used for strengthening your plants defences to make the stronger to withstand the stress of heat, drought, cold, pest and diseases.

If you have any seed in the shed, it be great to get it into your sparse areas and better still too lightly top dress over the top to bed in the seed to hold onto moisture to help quicker germination.

With regular cutting of your playing areas a couple times a week if possible, this will encourage your sward to recover and improve density.