Non teneas aurum totum quod splendet ut aurum.

It's WET in the dry bit of the UK!

Blooming wet, it hasn't really stopped since end of a very dry September when we had between 3 and 45mm depending where you were with an odd thunderstorm or 2 early on in the month in places the rest were dry as, but October was a mare and a half with at least 15 rain days and between 145 and 195mm through to November...... Oh November... you are trying my patience and sanity, it's the 24nd of Nov and we have had 21!!!!! Rain Days already some parts, the minimum is 18 or 19 this corner of the world and over 150mm hell we aiming for HALF our Annual Rainfall, we normally have around 10 Days and 60-75mm each of them on the Long Term Averages...

Even the best draining land is moist, to the point of saturation, there is just no let up... not enough time between rain to drain and recover.. Soil is at Field Capacity...

Or is it?

Is the soil profile saturated and at field capacity? or is the water just being held in the top?
Are some soils draining efficiently or not?
Are Greens performing as they should or are maintenance inadequacies or the  consequences of certain product groups creating unseen issues just under the surface?
 I don't know but I want to.. So I buy my (cheapish) Moisture Probe

to try and track and see and off I go Prodding away.... BUT I soon realise that what the numbers are saying do not correspond to what my eyes, feel and experience tell me, so I ask someone from Delta-T what kit can I use that will be accurate and they tell me it straight..... I can't... !!
Well I can't from a 'snapshot' point of view Long term yes, they are great and will show a moisture pattern over time and as you build data... But to go and try to 'see' where water is holding, from a 'diagnostic' point of view..... forget it,.. Far too many variables which will affect EVEN the top dollar ones.... you know those annoying things that affect electrical currents Temperature, EC and conductive metals, like copper, iron etc.. those things excessively high in far too much managed turf........

(Now at this point in the remote chance that any really takes any notice of this blarney jibber jabber then if anyone wants to prove me wrong on this then BRING IT ON, I will be more than happy to try and see that this is wrong, Hell I would love it if it was, much easier for me see....)
So... If anyone from Delta-T, Spectrum or Pogo wanna give me one to try out and compare with ACTUAL moisture readings at different depths, love it, fully subjective, tight protocols, fair and open minded...

Anyhoo to check and assess what my eyes and feel was telling me against the Meter I wanted to subjectively log what the ACTUAL moisture profile was.. You have to know these things....

And lets face it, when you look at this you can see how varied they can be

The Actual Average is shown above the Moisture Readings clustered below....
No where near as accurate as it needs to be.

So here it is, my Soil Moisture Profile Test Protocol for the assessment of Water and Drainage Potential through a soil.. any soil profile.
Apparently this 'Test' is meaningless as it is not recognised, not by an accredited Lab, so I guess it's just bumfluff in the arse crack of life then....... Well lets get it recognised then.... This is my next Mission.. I want my own Testing Protocols then to shut the 'head up their own backsides blinkered indoctrinated elitists' right up as you see I ain't got no degree in nothing let alone 'Soil Science' so how could I possibly sit in the same room as you let alone converse......

This is intended to be SIMPLE, like everything else I am doing to EMPOWER us uneducated plebs with FACTUAL representation of what is ACTUALLY happening. Not some Lab based what the science says Physics blinkered blarney... This is the REAL DEAL to help try and see what all the other FACTORS of Microclimate, Microenvironment, Management and Biological influence are allowing.
It has evolved to be as easy and as flexible as possible and can be extended to give simple INDICATIVE Bulk Density, pH, EC, EH Horizon Profiles alongside if you so wished.
Hell it ain't Rocket Science............... Even a fool like me can do it!

Right lets get a few important 'Tutting' points out the way.. It is INDICATIVE. That's fine by me, I want a snapshot, to help me recognise, diagnose and understand an issue with the soil, I also know that it will change on climatic and seasonal variants... It will also change just from one part of a Green to another... That's cool my brain can take that in, BUT I need to know what is happening THROUGH the soil at SPECIFIC points so this is ideal for me to spot and track 'blips'.
Variation of 'numbers' will happen over even a few metres so I don't get bogged down in the actual numbers, it is HOW they interact through the profile that is key, you can even have pockets or an odd throw at a certain depth, that again is fine, it just means you need to review that area to see if it is a throw or more generalised issue.

Right back at it...

My favourite 'Weapon of Choice' is the BMS Victory Soil Sampler, a Kiwi designed bit of kit apparently, mainly used by Cricket boys and 'affectionately' named over here by a 'leading' IOG man as the 'Big Willy', it has a brother, slightly smaller called .... funny enough... the Small Willy...

Now the old guys at IOG may be industry leading and cutting edge and all that but there is NO WAY I am going to say "Hang on a minute, just got to pop back to the van to get my Big Willy out" so I have affectionately called mine my Dobber, which I have whipped out on many occasions and on all sorts of surfaces, takes quite a beating too and like all Dobbers it is critical to keep it clean, goes all gooey and clogs if you don't.

So Stage 1 is Identify and Select your locations
Well this depends on what you are looking for of course... for me its either a selection of 4 or 5 areas over a Green or just one over several depending on brief.

Now , as you may have noticed, I like pictures,,, they say so much and remind people with short or selective memory spans what is actually going on.. 

This is my general 'Armoury' which will be described as it goes, so I take the top circa 150mm

Photograph it to 'log' the condition and split the 150mm into the 3 by 50mm sections, above you will note the sample pots I have, these keep them nicely separate and prevent any cross contamination, sample loss or most importantly in this case keeps the moisture balance for each zone 'as is'.

I have also successfully used tin foil to wrap each section carefully to preserve each if I do not have pots with me, critically important with that method or bagging to label samples clearly.

I then use a standard Hole Cutter to remove the top 150mm so I can then use the Victory to take the next sample onwards.

And I just whip the ol Dobber out and poke it down the hole, sometimes needs a little tap, especially on Push-ups

As you can see above to ensure I am taking cores to specific depths I have a little depth gauge marked on my battered old cutter kindly donated to me by a friendly Head Greenkeeper.

And again it is a case of log, split and pot.. You will notice that the Victory comes with some dead handy 25mm increment markings also which help to size the samples.

Occasionally as can be seen above there is not always 300mm of medium wanting to come and if there is less than 275 depth I will only work to 5 by 50mm Samples.

Handy time to check soil temps to 25mm increment depths and as was the purpose of this sample run check the accuracy of a Moisture Meter. Here is my cheap and cheerful Extech failing miserably due to extremely low EC affecting the electrical current. You will note the incremental marks on both.

 So then it's a simple case of back to the Shed, sort, weigh and dry.. normally whilst playing nice loud music much to the annoyance of my good lady.....

Here are foil wrapped samples which I wrap in order so as to not'misplace' any

DISCLAIMER ALERT: You may notice that they look a  little .... dodgy... if you didn't know what they are so if you ever get get tugged by the Old Bill with samples all wrapped up... Not my problem !!!!!

but  prepare for some 'Intimate' moments with a Doctor and his Glove!.. (This is why I use pots!)

 It is just a case of then Weigh... Dry..... Reweigh... Remember your Maths Lessons

So I don't have a Conventional Drying Oven to dry these at 105 deg C for 24 hrs... and I am blooming inpatient so I use a Microwave and will dry 10, 12 or 15 minutes depending on moisture content...

"Why do you vary the times I hear you ask, surely that invalidates what you are doing.....?"

Think about it will you..... The moisture is evaporated off by the Microwave as it heats, more moisture, more time needed, too much time and you will start to 'cook' the soil and burn off Organic Matter throwing results...

How do you know when it's enough... when it doesn't become any lighter there is no moisture to remove...

How do you know if you are affecting the Organic Matter or not?.... Cos it really stinks when its BURNING!, Never over dry, work in increments, 

This is the 'It Really Isn't Rocket Science' bit.... Common Sense prevails for those with an ounce of intelligence, for those with far too much intelligence to do any good.... It's cos I am not thick as shit that I know when it dries and know when it burns OK!!!

Couple of quick genuine and serious Health and Safety notes for consideration...

You are 'cooking off' the moisture from soil that has been potentially dosed up by all sorts of chemicals. 

Make sure that the area is WELL ventilated.. plus it stinks... snotty thatch drying .... yuuuuck. (You will come to understand this!)

Tongs.... Helloo,, Heat? Hot... Always use some form of tong to handle hot crucibles and soil samples, beware melting gloves onto your skin.. And before you ask NO I haven't done this, yes I have pushed my luck, we all do, just I can imagine someone grabbing a hot crucible and the gloves branding into hands..... 

Okay so when things have cooled a little you can reweigh your samples, work out the loss of moisture, knowing the crucible weight work out the % of soil sample that was and BOOM, there you have it.....

An Incremental Moisture Profile ..... So you KNOW where the moisture is and track how quick it shifts.....

It's that simples

Fac recte et nil time.

Ok I am steaming steaming angry really.... 25 bloody years at this game... Sweat, grief, weather, stress and bollocks ..... lots of bollocks..... What do I know eh... What could I possibly know... Well nowt it seems cos NO ONE is bloody listening or they are too far up their own backsides to want to hear.

Disregard me, belittle me, DISRESPECT me, don't listen to what I may be saying, make me feel like you are looking down and sneering at what I am trying to get across because arrogance or closed mindedness is blinkering your over indoctrinated brain, what could some oik of a dirty nobody contractor possibly be able tell you all.....
I am sick and tired of people 'cherry picking' snippets of information, ignoring the big picture, common sense and lets face it without ACTUALLY looking and then trying to beat you with it..... Well screw em... my patience is wearing thin, and I find myself increasingly having to take a deep breath when my head is screaming....... I hope I can hold this in.

Well whatever happens I will say it and ask the questions again and again and again.....  Have we got it right? Is what the 'Industry' saying is 'The Way'.. 'They Way'? Because from where I am standing I am seeing surfaces that are following Thatch and Decompaction management routes either fall apart and destabilise or becoming yearly junkies for whatever method is this years 'vogue'. I am seeing surfaces that should be beaten not beaten and copious amounts of sand dressing making thatch worse.. NOT BETTER.. I am seeing far too many surfaces that should be beaten at a different time opened up and then falling apart as they become saturated screwing with soil health and more importantly destabilised... TOO DEEP TOO LATE JUST BEFORE WET.... STOP IT!..
We need to 'vent' I used to hate that phrase but it is SO relevant, shallow small light opening of the turf to let some trapped air out from beneath is all we should be doing now, save the big stuff for the Spring or Summer or when it settles to a cold (if ever!) spell.. STOP making them loose so they soak up, stop adding all this sand that sucks water in and holds it.. Leave them firm and let it ease in.. Decompact later.
Soil temps are still above 9.5 degs, Biology is trying to do its thing, it still needs a little assistance, but no more than a few inches deep....
And as I have said there are a few who are doing this already, some for an age, some are thinking this is the way and increasingly people are trying it, I know of some who are standard on one course whilst the other they are trying it out. The Greens are looking better for it... Now there's a thought eh... Lets ignore the science, go against industry 'recommendations' lets use our eyes, COMMON SENSE and ... wait........ what's that? .. Surfaces are better you say... Well who would have thought it eh, must be something else, can't be right though because all the 'Experts' say you should do it this way and that... Well SCREW THE EXPERTS then! Until they can start showing me that they have things right after all this time I have no collective respect for them.

At far too many courses it still isn't working ... Thatch is a symptom.. stop dealing with bloody symptoms and start to identify, amend and treat the underlying problems cos I am seeing Greens with no/low thatch % look the same and feel the same as Greens with a supposed thatch problem.

What is more important is STOP chucking all the 'Glitter' on... like where did this explosion of need for Wetting Agents come from, 15 years ago it was an odd tablet now it's a monthly thin this or fat that or penetratingcurativestickywatercoatingparticles bollox.. STOP IT!.. Yes a targeted Penetrant WILL possibly help moisture movement and potentially kickstart the basis of drainage, ie a water molecule dragging a molecule but WHY do we have to keep restarting this every month? Is that how water movement in soils has happened for millennia?

My 'problem' with Wetters is if they are 'thinning' water then 'thin' water sliding past soil particles carries nowt so all the normal things that are carried through in soil solution aren't, you know salts.. and waste, organic exudates.. What's that I hear.. yes one of the things that they are supposed to be used to treat the consequence of, well wouldn't it be bloody ironic if their use was exasperating the problem.

And the Curative's... love these, lets pour an Acid on and flush these coatings further down the soil profile where they can not be processed by 'normal' healthy biological means....

But the ultimate sin we as an industry are guilty of committing is blindly following Nutrient indoctrination thats manipulated and loaded so you keep chucking it on.... N, P, K, Macros Micros, Fe especially.... Iron ... EVERYONE is chucking Fe on, for this and for that.... WHY? Its everywhere in soil where I see problems... Coincidence?
http://www.gcsaa.org/gcm-magazine/2014/april/iron-cemented-layers-in-putting-green-soils

If you are not aware already then you really need to start to consider what you are applying, to what level and most importantly how often.. It is the Consequence of Excess that creates or contributes to MOST of the issues outside of wear we all see in managed turf.
Growth Potential or as we all used to call it 25 years ago Spoon or Trickle Feeding before it got jazzed up is without a shadow of doubt the ONLY way, little, often and based on the plants actual needs, replace and replenish NOT overstimulate or excess.
If you are of mind the biggest eye opener for all that can afford is sign up to The Global Soil Survey
global_soil_survey
and be surprised, for those that can't then just research and understand MLSN, see if this may be for you, MLSN
this is the MINIMUM nutrient 'guide' for healthier soil, healthier soil will be happier soil, happier soil performs better making you sleep better at night.......
The form of Nutrient we all apply is critically important here too, Organic/Inorganic its all sugar rush when you chuck loads on, its the simple little and often that's KEY

It ain't Rocket Science people, start opening your minds that 'The Industry' may not be quite right about methods, especially about amounts and certainly about timings, open your eyes and actually start to LOOK at the soil, how it feels when its happy and when its sad, how it smells, start thinking and start taking back control of your surfaces.

Now if you are sitting here and thinking 'what a lot of old bollox' and HONESTLY say that your surfaces are bang on the money with no issues then you are either on a Links or I tip my hat FULLY at you Sir or Madam, I would love to come and see and learn and listen to what you do somewhen and fully understand how your canny management can be shared with the guys who are having tough days and a few too many sleepless nights.

Finally for all you who got sucked in to the Carbendazim 'debacle'....... HAHAHAhahahahahhaha! Oh my oh my.. I feel for you guys I really do.. Blatant scaremongering, misinformation and profiteering by the majority of the Chem Industry, They must have all been laughing their socks off when they suddenly 'found' all those last minute 'Stocks' hiding in the back of a store somewhere..
For those trade reading this (is there any though?) if you can GENUINELY state you didn't run with it and not sell 1 litre more than you would have normally to anyone then fair play to you, I tip my hat and apologise for the misrepresentation, to EVERY one of you who sold ANY more than you would have normally to someone... SHAME on you.... the increasingly DIRTY 'feel' to this part of the industry means that people are starting to question the trust that is put in what you all say... You make your own beds Gents.....
Anyway it will be all fine people Normal Carbendazim Service will be resumed by the Spring.....

Breath... must breath......... Aaaagh thats better  

Qui tacet, consentire videtur

So... its a little damp in this part of the UK, around 250mm give or take a few inches in the last 6 weeks.. HELL we have about 650mm A YEAR here in the SE, the only place thats drier is East Anglia and they have an average of 500mm in places so half way there then if they have had similar!
Even Rats are taking precautions its seems....

Grass areas are getting moist from general poorly draining areas right through to managed surfaces especially those that have beaten to within an inch of their lives in the last couple of months, smashed, bashed, loosened and filled with nice porous sand or amendments or just nice little holes to fill up quickly with water each time it rains.... All in the name of Thatch or OM reduction as this.... THIS... IS the evil of all turf evils..... Is it?.... Really? .... Is it worth the grief, stress, hassle, sleepless nights of a lot of guys out there at the moment with surfaces that you literally slosh over as they have almost destructured with the wet blow?

Now decompaction is another story, we MUST make sure that surfaces are loosened to combat the stresses we put on it but lets face it are we? .. Are we ACTUALLY making a difference or by reacting rather than preventing are we actually making things WORSE without realising it?

Have we got the timings completely wrong?

Do we do 'blanket' aeration when we should totally differentiate between carpeted/intense draining surfaces with 'normal' soils and 'normal'  

Should we as an industry just stop for a minute and review what we are doing ... when... how big..... and to what depth.

Well lets look at the Armoury now available shall we..

We have nice pedestrian Aerators like the the Procore (DISCLAIMER: Green ones, Yellow and Black ones and Orange ones also available)

 The good old 'Vertidrain@ (Also variants in many colours) with which you can pencil tine, micro tine, jumbo tine HELL you can even bash a cross in the ground if you want...

 To the old Groundbreaker or Earthquake, slotting away

And remember the old Shattermaster.. Now there was a bloody good machine that went out of vogue just because people didn't understand it...

We got Gradens, Sand Fillers, Vibrosandmasters, Gravel Banders, Drill & Fills and Dryjets... Which are actually wet.. never quite got that one?

We had the Robin Dagger... Now added a pic for those that don't know this machine.. a Stalwart... brilliant while running but shite when broken or running crap (often) can't be many of these left about now..

 We got the GP Air which also has as many Probe issues as the belts on the Dagger

 And now we have............. The R2D2

 All the rave apparently....... Hmmmm Ok lets see shall we...

See I been doing Air for a good few years, was the 2nd person to buy a Gwazae, one of the cleverest and also equally SHITE! bits of kit to come out of New Zealand.. as brilliant as it is it costs an absolute fortune to run as bits keep breaking... annoying things like sensors or valves or discontinued shite Italian compressors...

But she works from 450mm down to just over 700mm and similarly where Terrain Aeration work down at 1000mm down there where it's not really about decompaction or aeration it is actually ALL about structure.. and fissures, cracks, channels....... Structure is key to what happens above I am still convinced........ do what you like upstairs but if it ain't got nowhere to go....?

BUT you can still overdo structure, I have overblown, made stuff destabilise, done too much too soon... This worries me with what is happening atop.... Are we doing TOO much? or is it just that we are reacting too late?...

Okay... Cutting to the chase........... lets just think at all the tech, all the kit, the methods.......

WHY ARE GREENS AND SURFACES STILL SHITE WET?

WHY IS SOIL AT AROUND 200-300mm DENSE, DEAD AND FIRM EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE BEEN 'DECOMPACTED'

25 years I am in this year and I am STILL seeing the same problems DESPITE what we have to hand and all the 'science' so ......... What do we have wrong or what are we not doing right? 

Something ain't right and I think its in part down to TIMING.. 

And it looks like a few of you I know well enough to talk candidly about this to may be coming round to the same conclusion cos I know people who are now NOT doing things at certain times and their Greens are , at this moment in time, fairing a damned sight better than those that are doing 'What we are told' and certainly better than they were this time last year in similar circumstances...

A change of mindset is needed, we need to look at water and air differently because how we are looking at it til now just isn't working for too many.

Have we got it ALL wrong?

......... For some maybe I think.

CLARIFICATION POINT: I am not saying we should stop aerating, I am saying that we should start considering the implications of when we aerate, to what depths and sizes and when we just 'vent' a little.

NEXT... Moisture Meters

Right...... I am a geek really, I love tech, I love toys, I love quirky things to make stuff make sense..........

So as part of looking at all this and especially above I wanted a Moisture Meter so I could 'map' soils and highlight where water was sitting in profiles... So i did lots of research, a good few discussions with people on the sensible choices for a professional, got me prices and shuddered a little, wouldn't get one of those on expenses.....

Anyway here is a little Summary of what I looked at and discovered along the way.....

Yes you can look at a 'building or Chinese' Moisture meter that will 'allegedly' do soils but you need something that is 'calibrated' to soil solution to be even remotely accurate so I won't mention this type as, as far as I know, they no good..

  
We then look to the 'Budget, Cheap and Cheerful' so basically the Single Probe type and these sit in the £60-200 Price Range such as Lutron Professional Soil Moisture Meter - PMS-714 to the one I have an Extech MO750 Soil Moisture Meter..

Ok.. it is all I could afford! Self funding here people alright!..........

Next up cost wise came the Delta-T SM150, from the look of it a really good level probe with a basic reading unit no memory function but only circa £350. Sooo nearly bought one..

Then you getting into the £500-900 range, the Delta-T SM300, TDR 100 and 300 all with memories and hand held loggers/facility to log.

 

I have tried to get recent accurate prices on the TDR but the guy who deals with them in UK must have the hump with me as he won't answer... Oh well never mind..........

Now we getting up into the top levels but we going above the £1k mark, well over my budget EVEN if I had one...
If you want to start to log Temp and EC then Delta-T have the WET-2 kit at around £1,250.00 from memory...

Whatever you do DO NOT break the sensor!

Now for the real deal........

And if you 'must have wireless' then Pogo's your kit BUT at a price over £1,500.00 and possibly LESS accuracy then I question worth although I did covert a Pogo really having had a good long chat with the guy last year at BTME.

I am sure there are others out there just I can not find any credible info or feedback on any....

Right.... Couple of CRITICAL points to note with ALL Moisture Meters. Now this is based on my 'feeling' from having a 'budget' Probe rather than a glossy one but all the same they work on the same principle but I just could not help but not TRUST it. 

My pH Meter and EC Meters are different, I calibrate them with Standards so I know when it says X its based on it being set right.
Moisture Meters can not be simply calibrated per sa.

You see in simple terms they send a little electrical signal between points and it's time of this that then defines the moisture level as soil moisture will affect the current.
However.... 3 things (beyond water content) will affect this.. Soil Temperatures, this will affect the way current travels due to influence on soil solution and 'contents' such as seen with EC, again it is the ions and salts that allow a current to flow through water solution, differing levels WILL influence... 

Now for the big one that NO ONE mentions... Varying levels of metals in soils, especially conductors like Copper OR.. things like my old friend Fe...  These WILL affect the current throwing readings.
SO... taking above into account for someone who is regularly monitoring and recording long term moisture patterns at set points on limited but regular locations then fill your boots, a brilliant tool to monitor change and help you manage surfaces.
Just don't take a recording just after you have fertilised!
For me at multiple sites and random timings they are a bit of a chocolate fireguard really.. Yes it will hint at what is happening but my eyes and hands can hint just as well so for now its sticking to the microwave for me to look at moisture for now. Too many variables to be accurate.

So, basically MORE distractions, I have done a load of depth readings with my probe on numerous sites and I might as well have made the numbers all up as changes in EC or other element content at differing depths would have affected the readings as much as moisture itself.....

 Oh well... not like I have other things to do eh...

So unless someone wants to convince me that the above is flawed thinking and allowing me to demo any of the above that will be scientifically sound to record moisture variation with depth I shall continue as I am doing below.........

Taking samples and splitting to depths

Still use and record Moisture Meter alongside to see variation

But rely on good old fashioned weigh and nuke for ACTUAL content.

So for now this Gadget Freak will have to wait till his Clegg Hammer is mended for his Geek Fix.......

scio me nihil scire

2 in 1 day....! ?? What the.......
Ok I wanted to put down some thoughts which have settled in the last few weeks, whilst they are fresh and .. to record.. who knows what may happen tomorrow .. Fate is a fickle mare....

So another side show to the main event but a very important one all the same.....

There is no secret in the fact that I like Brewers... I like the concept of Compost Tea's see

But more importantly I seem to be drawn to the people brave and smart enough to set into that whole 'Way of Life'.. I LIKE Brewers 

If you want to go this route there is no half measure, it works for some, is not quite there for others and for a big majority is just not practical for them to implement... it is not just a management method.. it IS a 'Way of Life'

BUT there is a problem, as I see it there is seemingly a piece of the puzzle missing and having visited a few, walked over others, talked and read read read then looked with my own eyes... it suddenly hit me.. bit like that roof the other day..

But first the other angle that helped clarify this.in my mind... Marmite...

I am a Lover... First heard about Marmite being used by some Bonkers Bowls Boys couple of years ago without wondering why then Mad Manx Mike told me he was playing with it.. Now for this fella to be trialing ANYTHING it has to have some merit OR it damn close to something that does, so I was intrigued and as ever we shared thoughts and info.. Now Mike is mad enough to have worked out that the Optimum Application is 250g per Hectare....... Yes you read that right... g! not kg! but g per HECTARE!.. Obviously diluted and sprayed..

So I do some playing...  First was on 2 of the Cores from the earlier trials then on my rough ol lawn

And from my point of view after 2 or 3 applications (it's a slow burner you see, takes a little time to start work) not only does the lawn smell gorgeous but it has definitely greened up without ANY fertiliser applications. 

I ponder on what has happened and why.

How can so little make a difference, has it made a difference? What is it giving the plant?

Now picking up on all this a few people have started trialing with Marmite, seeing what it can do or not, some scoff, some are equally intrigued as I was, others think we are all completely Bonkers..

One however.. one brave but completely deluded soul... one lunatic greenkeeper decided he would trial it properly and applied it to his Tees.. ALL his Tees, 

 Now I am sure Phil won't mind in me saying his place gets battered, its a busy PAYP Course who seem to get everyone elses members when their courses are shut, who then go on to bitch like mad about stupid little things when THEIR COURSES ARE SHUT!!!.. I digress...

So Phil takes on the 3 Application Challenge and starts with the first 250g... YES gramme per Hectare application and after making himself extremely hungry for the first time (you will know when you try) he gets on with the day to day stuff. And then the second App goes on, same again, about 4 weeks later and Phil is convinced he is seeing some.. perkiness in the Tees, they are greener and they respond to water far quicker everyone thinks... Naaah its just a coincidence... 

So the 3rd App goes on ... and it is timed JUST before some rain.......

And BOOM they go MENTAL! they are growing like absolute mad things.. 4 cuts in 1 week! 4 cuts it needed and they STILL were not on top of them..

'Must've fed 'em' I hear... Nope........ Not a drop of nutrient ALL Summer.. Zilch.. Nada ..Nothing.. it was JUST Marmite..

OK they have settled now, as expected and predicted cos this is what happens see, when you start to 'wake' things that lay comatose...

So what is in Marmite that can be giving this major nutrient boost..... Nothing.. well nothing directly, its just Yeast, Vitamins, Salts and Acids.. Wheres all the N or Fe to make it go Green?

And lets look at the amount shall we .. 250g per hectare that is 0.025g per sq.m ... Well it ain't no boost there then..

So what has happened?

Well in my bad mad insular world I can now only see Marmite as a... 'Facilitator'.. It makes things happen .. it is like a switch or a tap, 

it turns on processes in the soil that are redundant under use of applied nutritional sources.. It 'awakens' soil from an induced sleep

It stimulates some how the natural soil process of nutrient recycling so that elements that are locked or just left are made available to the plant, that is the only sane explanation my fuddled brain can come up with...

This was Phil just before he went on holiday!

So this whole 'Facilitator' thing had then got my mind racing away on tangents.. and then back to Brewing...... BOOM!

Ok what is Compost Tea...?

It is a Biologically rich liquid extract from the soaking of soil/compost/grass/wood/manure (or any singular or variation of above depending on experience) with added stimulants and feeds again depending on source/confidence/budget.

It can be a relatively cheap exercise IF you are confident enough to create safe compost mixes, others will buy pre-packed or some will buy 'straights' so breed on rather than brew up.

Then you have the bug food and everything else that is (or isn't) needed.. or afforded. Some will add their own special ingredients, all to kick the brew off.... 

And you sit there for a couple for days like some demented wizard chanting weird incantations through the night...  OF COURSE YOU DON'T! although from the fuss of the vocal Anti Brewing Brigade you would think they were somehow.... you just ensure a nicely aerated and circulated 'Brew' period where the bacteria are able to boost and Fungi to set.. the period dictating what dominance you wish the Brew to be.. bacterial or fungal.. This is important..

And then you just spray it on, all those thousand of little bacterial soldiers and fungi battalions off to fight the good soil fight... Well that is how I always took it anyway and to some degree that is what most think.. and in part it must be true..

One thing I will say.. NO STATE... is you can smell a Brewers soil and know... it smells earthy sweet.. not musty or sour.. So whatever is going on the soil likes it...

I have said in the past year, up until 3 months ago anyway, that IF I was a Greenkeeper I would be brewing... I like the ideology, I like the ethos, I LOVE the end result... I just do not know how many people would keep their jobs getting there.. It is not just a maintenance regime, it s a way of life see..

I know some who have tried it for a  couple of years but it wasn't for them, I know others are couple of years in and they are fighting the good fight..

I also have said there is something missing... a piece from the puzzle.. the whole picture is not clear...now I think I know why..

I visited Ken Barber a month or 2 ago, Ken is one of the guys from the 80's and 90's who was working at the top end, on the prestigious new USGA builds, creeping bents, top Specs, higher budgets.. He is now at one of the older USGA spec courses in UK working at the opposite financial scale end for budgets although the Course qualities are not that far apart... And he has been Brewing for 7 years.. and he loves it and it loves him.. the last couple he has gone from Brews to applying 'straights' ie pre-cultivated biology rather than chomping it out...

The Greens looked blooming lovely.. a nice mix of Bent, Fescue and Poa.. and it looked healthy and he keeps them healthy, no Wetters no Fungicides, minimal nutrition... very NICE..

BUT its taken him 7 years..

And I do some more thinking.. so it obviously works, look at these Greens and the Poster Boy Courses with their Cores dangling 6" plus of root... It must be the Brewing...

Earlier in the year I was fortunate enough to be able to blag myself along to a Soil Association Field day to discuss the use of Compost Teas in Agriculture.. Now I only wanted to see Symbio's talk and Dr Su to understand the difference between Bacteria and Fungi under a microscope ... which I did but boy was I pleased I went, it was fascinating to see how these Agri boys are using it.. and using it a number are..

Farmers are never ones to suffer fools and they also will not spend a single penny unless they know it is a viable return so for them to be using Compost Teas and for it to be showing in the yields where used again there MUST be merit in it.. and the Farm Managers talk about what he did and the timings had me hooked in and only in the last few days have I suddenly gone 'Click'..

You see they will apply a Brew onto stubble just after cropping.. to encourage the stubble breakdown.. They will then apply just before or at sowing to help kick growth off, all standard stuff, next would probably be at a young leaf stage..

Then he surprised me.. completely.. as I hadn't put the use of Teas as being possible for this... They applied 2 or 3 Apps as a FOLIAR!.. at disease pressure points... They would Brew and apply to the leaf, the theory being said was the 'bacteria' would support the plant... Oh so wrong but OH so right...

I went away fascinated by this and completely surprised..

You see a Farmer would not be doing it if it wasn't worth it and from the discussions it was well worth it in terms of crop health and yield.

Then you read the science like this and think... hmmmmm https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2014am/webprogram/Paper88611.html so in certain circumstances it is having very little effcet on populations so what on earth is it actually doing?

Then you think about Marmite and again...... it hit me... BOOM!

I now understand Compost Teas...

I know understand why the Farmers use it as a Foliar...

I know understand why Greenkeepers talk of Brewing out disease......

I know understand why it is a long slog to get to where Ken Barber is and why some falter along the way.....

Brewing is a Facilitator

Brewing is a 'Switch'

As I now think in my mad world Brewing makes sense I categorically state I would be Brewing if I was a Greenkeeper!

BUT.............

I may not be using it how some of the Brewers seem to use it... I would use it how the Farmer boys are using it...

You see Brewing for Greenkeepers is a 'Way of Life' and THAT.. that is key...

It's not the Brewing which is making the massive difference to the soils health, yes it is helping but not to degree we all think.. it is the DETOX that goes with it... THAT is what is allowing the soil to recover.. BUT it takes years... and that is the problem... the problem with going Cold Turkey, it takes time and its painful...

So what are the Brews doing.. well it ain't jacking up the biological levels according to the research above and this http://ow.ly/d/2qxi does suggest it is having a direct influence on the plant

For me it is PART right but the critical thing in my fuddled mind is to look to what and why the Farmers use it for as the foliar... Disease Suppression.. How the hell is it doing that?

And you look to Marmite and see that that is kickstarting processes within the plant and soil.. and this simple brain goes... 'kerching'

My theory... Yes a bit of bacteria will populate and sit and munch away at you thatch.. or stubble BUT the Foliar bit is more critical... HOW can a few bugs on a leaf fight disease pressure?

It is because the pathological diseases and fungal attacks on plants are being made by biology that has evolved to attack plants.. and plants and good biology fights back.. so the bad guys go away and evolve a new way to sneak up, masking their presence until its too late as they are in and infecting... The plant didn't see it coming so didn't pull up the drawbridge!

What are Compost Teas? they are a mixture of soil bacteria, fungi and biology..

What happens when they are sprayed on a leaf?  The plant thinks OH SHIT I am under attack, when it may actually be from a hidden foe, and up comes the drawbridge and the defense mechanisms are started... THIS... this is how Brewers talk about brewing out some Fuzz... It awakens the plants natural defenses that are comatose...

Its just like having a flu jab! 

IF I was Greenkeeping I would definitely be Brewing!