Magazine: Tissue Testing can Provide the Answer

If you can imagine your turf grass is a high performance athlete, then knowing how healthy it is can be vital. Knowing if your turf is being fed correctly and if it is suffering from any specific deficiency is the key.

Soil testing is fine up to a point but taken in isolation it only gives you part of the picture.

Sometimes don’t you wonder that if sport is played on turf and not the soil why do we focus so much attention on the soil?

After all, on high sand content surfaces we are dealing with more of a hydroponic situation and so management and nutritional regimes should be tailored accordingly?

No matter how good your soil chemistry apparently is, if the plant is suffering from a nutritional disorder, it is going to struggle.

To quote Wendy Gelernter, Ph.D. and Larry J. Stowell, Ph.D …

”Making sure that turf is receiving optimal nutrition is one the most important activities that turf managers carry out.

If the correct nutrients are applied at the right times and in the right amounts, turf health is maximized, while run-off, negative environmental impacts, high costs and high clipping yields are minimized”…

Bearing the above in mind wouldn’t it be useful having a better idea of what is happening in the plant rather than solely within the soil?

ETP – Turf are currently offering tissue tests for $70/test ex GST.

Contact, Jerry, Jim or Grant to organise your tissue test.