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Showing posts from May, 2016

Questioning Wetting Agents

Last year I changed the way I watered my greens . Instead of watering them last thing each night, I watered them first. The theory was that it would give the stressed out grass water sooner and allow the plant to recover all night long. Although I have no way of proving if this theory was what actually happened, I had the easiest year ever keeping my greens healthy and well watered despite the record drought we experienced. I also did not require any pesticide applications other than phosphite during the periods I required irrigation to keep the grass green proving to me that the period of leaf wetness overnight has little impact on the diseases I face in my climate. Slight moisture stress on the aprons means it's time to start hand watering for the season. Last year I also decided to use cheap wetting agents (Dispatch) on my greens that are designed for fairways. Again, I had the easiest summer ever keeping the grass green. Either these cheaper products are better than we think o

If it didn't happen in science...

It's the theme on twitter this week and you are all probably sick of it but the discussions have inspired me and when I'm inspired I write about it. Who wants to read uninspired writing anyway? Irregardless..... ;) Just when you think twitter is old and boring it gets interesting and I welcome the criticism of what I'm doing as long as it's constructive. Name calling and refusing to interact in meaningful discussion with me accomplish nothing. I'm always surprised how offended some people are about what I blog about. Crazy.... Dave Wilber had an excellent rant in his latest TZP where he talks about how "if it didn't happen in a university trial it's not real." Now before I dive into this let me say I'm on the fence with this one. I agree with Dave's points of view...sometimes. Let me explain. A lot of the cool stuff in turfgrass management is happening outside of university trials. Most superintendents have their pet theories and are consta