OM246

This post takes a few minutes to read because it covers this topic in a bit of detail. The summary is, I make use of two types of soil organic matter tests for turfgrass, these tests measure two different things, both important, and I recommend turfgrass managers measure both of these, ideally once a year.

I collected a lot of soil samples this month. My standard procedure after collecting samples is to air dry them before sending to the lab. This is a dried sample from the top 2 cm (0.

Playability is what it is all about, isn’t it? At least for putting greens, one wants to have surfaces upon which the ball rolls at a certain pace, and which have a firmness that is appropriate for the conditions.

These are the predicted distributions and percentiles of total organic matter in the surface 2 cm (0.8 inches) of warm-season grass putting greens. I include a plot for predicted organic matter of a random green of an unknown species.

This is a time of year when there is a lot of sand going down on putting greens, and sometimes a bit of coring too. The purpose of all this work?

What’s the common theme? You’ll hear all these topics discussed in recent episodes of Frank Rossi’s Frankly Speaking show on TurfNet, or in his presentation for the ASTMA. My usual schedule is such that I don’t listen to podcasts on a regular basis.

I spent a morning with Brad Revill at Nikanti GC last month. I wanted to see the course, get some measurements, see the clipping volume measurement, and talk about turf management with Brad.

Anything resembling thatch or mat is explicitly excluded from the soil organic matter measurement made on routine soil nutrient analyses. That portion of soil organic matter is excluded because it is not measured.

There’s a ton of work done to modify the soil organic matter of turfgrass surfaces. Fertilizer, water, and increased light will allow the grass to grow and naturally increase the organic matter in the soil.

I watched a Greenkeeper App meeting about organic matter in spring of 2020. The video doesn’t seem to be available anymore. It has Doug Soldat, Bill Kreuser, and Roch Gaussoin talking about soil organic matter, rootzones, sand topdressing, and turf performance.