Got an email today from a Course Manager asking: “Greens don’t appear to be as healthy as they have in previous years at this time do I think that light levels would have any impact on this?” It’s a great question and ties in nicely with some of the work we did at STRI last… Read More Light – The limiting factor?
Next week, at BTME 2020 Syngenta launches the Art of Application Academy. Visit us on Stand 428 to find why I’m so excited about this logical yet very much needed next step in the development of spray and application technology. I’ve been with Syngenta for around 18 months now and in that time I have… Read More I’m Excited – The Application Academy Launch
We’re reaching that time of year when we start hoping for some decent frosts. A sustained period of cold weather will really help slow the progress of any Microdochium and it generally signals a period of drier weather too. Now assuming you’ve come through this Autumn with clean surfaces so far then cold weather is… Read More First Frost and Microdochium Progress
Talking to turf managers at the moment it’s clear to see that despite having a dry summer they are having to manage some very wet courses. I don’t think this has surprised many turf managers but its has caught a few members by surprise who were playing on very dry and firm surfaces one week… Read More Dry September but Wet Golf Courses
Lots of talk around the country amongst turf managers about how dry a season it’s been. I find the easiest and quickest way to assess the rainfall in comparison to previous years is by using the Met Office anomaly maps. The below summary images show the rainfall in that area of the country compared to… Read More River Flows – September Update
It’s that time of year when we all step back and search for the reason for the Etiolated growth that is appearing on many venues across the UK over the last two weeks. This soft, pale elongated growth can appear quickly and detracts from the visual impact of the surfaces you’re presenting. There has been… Read More Etiolated Growth – Why, Just Why?
Last time I put a blog out about how dry the weather had been, it was immediately followed by one of the wettest weeks we’ve ever seen in June. As we approach the point of the summer when potentially the most stress is imparted on your turf surfaces, I thought I’d try and summon up… Read More Junes Rain Impact on River Flows – Turf Stress
To follow on from my last blog on light intensity you can see an interesting picture forming below. The below pictures show varying degrees of sunshine, intensity and day lengths. All the figures are for Sandwich Down on the south east coast where I usually find the highest sun intensity figures. All the map images… Read More Light intensity, sunshine and day length – the numbers
Below are two graphs show light levels for all of 2018 and light levels so far in 2019. If you’ve read my last two blogs you’ll have a pretty good idea what’s going on and you can skip to the next section – if not here goes the simple version: The green lines are good,… Read More Light levels 2018 vs 2019 – Turf Management
As we are now in the period of the longest days of the year it’s worth revisiting light and how it impacts the plant. Photosynthetically useful light is measured in Micromoles per square meter per second (µmoles/m2/s). This is a unit of the intensity of the light and can range in the UK from 0… Read More I’ve seen the light – Impact on Turf
