Cultural Practice Evaluation
We use site specific data to determine organic matter accumulation rates to better help you understand when, why, and how to cultivate your turf.
Organic Matter Management
Managing organic matter in sand-based rootzones is absolutely critical to the performance and longevity of the surface. Too much organic matter at the surface leads to shallow roots, increased disease pressure, decreased water-infiltration and ultimately total failure of the system.
We also know that cultural practices like aerification, topdressing, verticutting, etc. impact playing conditions and are a drain on labor resources. Our goal is to use data to help find the exact right amount of cultural practices necessary to sufficiently maintain sand-based systems.
How do we do it?
Measuring organic matter is not a new phenomenon, although it has recently been gaining popularity. We use the OM246 method that has been popularized by Dr. Micah Woods at the Asian Turfgrass Center. We measure total organic matter at 2cm intervals from 0-2cm, 2-4cm, and 4-6cm below the surface.
Over time, by comparing these numbers to our cultural practices, we can develop an organic matter accumulation rate that allows us to see exactly how fast our surfaces produce organic matter and exactly what we need to do to control it.
This is extraordinarily helpful to turfgrass managers to ensure that the right amount of sand is applied, and we aren't applying too much sand, or using unnecessary labor resources. At the same time, we can be confident that our strategies are sufficient to maintain longevity of the surface because we can see our total organic material via our OM246 tests.