MLSN

Matt Nelson asked about this in a recent seminar. I was explaining that conventional nutrient guidelines, as described in this article by Carrow et al., classify soils as low, medium or high.

That’s the title of my seminar today at the Alberta Property Manager’s Conference. Minimalist is not a word I would often use, but when I looked at the conference program, that was the title I saw.

Those are the results Jason Haines described in his post about the evolution of precision fertilizer application. He explains how he makes use of observations, measurements, and predictions to find site specific nutrient requirements.

This question came in the mail: As to the MLSN guidelines that you have been a big proponent of, how do they apply to growing in a new course. I have wondered if they are more geared toward once a turfgrass becomes established and you are in maintenance mode.

When Andrew McDaniel wrote about #MLSN greens, I thought it may be interesting to show a few details of what this is about: These #MLSN greens are about to take 34 mows/21 rolls in 2 weeks.

Allan Dewald posted a poll on Twitter, asking how many other superintendents on Twitter are using the MLSN guidelines. The results of the poll, with 93 votes, were 41% using MLSN, 38% using conventional guidelines, and 21% not soil testing.

It’s not pretty. In fact, the grass gets horrendous in a hurry when it runs out of potassium (K). Which is why, as a turfgrass manager, one wants to make sure the grass is always supplied with enough K.

After last week’s post about the soil test levels where P deficiency symptoms were seen, Paul Johnson wrote to remind me about another experiment: “This is always a topic of interest to me, beginning with the study I did in the early 2000s.

Do you remember the amazing story from Thomas Sedlmeier who wrote to me last November? He introduced himself, explained how he had started using MLSN and GP, informed me that the grass conditions were beautiful, and also shared some information about maintenance expenses.

When I see a photo like the P deficiency one shared by Ben Pease (see photo below), I am really curious to know the soil test levels of the element.