Regular periods of prolonged drought in many parts of the world, water scarcity, increased water costs and public opinion about outrageous water use on golf courses and soccer pitches put a lot of pressure on course managers and head greenkeepers to improve water management by using water more efficiently, reducing the overall water consumption and finding ways for water conservation.
Modern wetting agents are a great tool to increase the water retention in the soil, reduce the water consumption under drought conditions, avoid surface run-off from natural rain, and increase the turfgrass quality under water-stress conditions.
In both field- and laboratory trials, it was shown that the correct use of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting Wetting Agent can have an extremely positive impact on water management in soils. We have also investigated the products interaction with soil microbial communities.
To demonstrate the potential of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting for improving water holding in the soil, a replicated field trial was carried out on a links golf course in the UK.
We also wanted to assess whether the use of the product could reduce the problems associated with soil water repellency, such as Dry patch and surface water run-off.
The product was applied monthly at an application rate of 20 L / ha in 700L of water.
The use of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting over a full season significantly increased the level of water holding in the root zone, in what was previously a very water-repellent soil.
In what proved to be a very dry year, use of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting led to the maintenance of soil moisture levels at 17-20%, even when moisture levels in untreated areas of turf were reduced to less than 5%.
The visual levels of Dry patch were assessed in each study plot throughout the full duration of the trial.
TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting was highly effective at preventing dry patch formation in comparison to untreated areas of turf.
The use of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting significantly reduced water droplet penetration time to a consistent level throughout the season.
This has huge implications in terms of preventing surface run-off of water from high spots or very water-repellent areas on golf greens.
A tried and tested method was used to critically evaluate the performance of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting. The product was tested at its recommended field application rate.
Water uptake was measured over time by using hydrophobic coir plugs. The test was repeated three times to gather robust data.
TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting was able to allow the soil to reach full water holding capacity extremely efficiently.
The small level of error associated with the TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting (small error bars) also suggests a very consistent level of product performance.
A standalone treatment of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting was applied to a very hydrophobic peat substrate at the recommended application rate.
The time taken for a fixed volume of water (10 ml) to penetrate the substrate was recorded over a period of one month. This simulated a natural scenario of drying and re-wetting cycles.
A single application of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting had been highly effective in reducing water repellency in the growing medium!
There was a significant improvement in water infiltration throughout the entire month with a single application of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting. It was clear TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting was still having a massive effect on improving water infiltration six months after treatment application.
Although this test was performed in highly controlled conditions and the soil was completely undisturbed, it proves that the product really deserves its “Long-Lasting” title!
There is currently little consistency in the scientific literature regarding wetting agent effects on the soil organism community. We have conducted some basic analysis on wetting agent treated soils to compare the effects on the microbial community with untreated soils.
TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting was applied to soils at the recommended application rate and left undisturbed for 1 week. Soil samples were then analysed for effects on microbial populations.
This graph shows the total microbial community (total active bacteria and total active fungi combined) for the soils analysed.
We accept that the large differences are caused by changes to the fungal community rather than the bacterial community, but this gives us a good general overview of the effect on microbial biomass in the soil.
Hyphae networks are formed via symbiotic mycorrhizae fungi relationships with plants. The hyphae are crucial in assisting the plant in acquiring nitrogen, phosphorus, micronutrients and water.
We measured hyphal diameter to indicate the health of these mycorrhizae networks.
We found no negative impact on hyphae networks through use of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting.
Both field- and laboratory studies have demonstrated the impact the use of TourTurf® ELL Respond® Extreme Long Lasting can have on:
Soil water holding capacity
Alleviation of dry patch
Water infiltration rate into the soil
Longevity of performance
Soil microbial communities
These studies give us great confidence in the performance of the product.