TurfGvX

We’ve been working on this one for a long time. We’ve had the turfgrass speedometer (or speedo), which can also be called the growth ratio. Both of those names have some problems.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the turf GvX. And I’ve been checking my calculations to make sure I’ve got a somewhat standardized method to get the GvX number for any day.

I’ve been looking at some growth ratio data, and I’ll share a few ideas here. Jason Haines introduced this as the turfgrass speedo, and I think that’s a good name for it.

Is there a way to estimate how much nitrogen is harvested in clippings? Is there an equation to use to adjust a nitrogen fertilizer rate based on the Turf GvX?1 Yes, there are ways to do both of these.

This is one of those blog posts that I finally can move from the list of notes about what I might write about, to the published and completed section. > [2020-08-29 Sat] On my run this morning from […] to […] I was thinking that a little bit of quantitative like OM246, knowing nutrient supply, clipvol, it goes a long way in leading to improved turf conditions.

An anonymous golf course superintendent sent me this message: I’m blown away by the quality of these surfaces with an amount of nitrogen I would’ve thought was far too small.

I’ve been recommending the Turf GvX as a way to check the observed (measured) growth of the grass at any particular time of year.1 The clipping volume on its own tells you how much the grass is actually growing.