Q&A WITH Mike Thurow

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Answer – Having an ET weather station at your course will greatly aid in fine tuning your irrigation run times. Even better, the exclusive rolling 24-hour ET value of a WatchDog® can aid you in setting accurate run times at the end of your day based on the ET value for the last 24 hours. That’s smart irrigation!

2. How can an on-site weather station help me deal with Dollar Spot management?

Answer – The Dollar-Spot Disease model can help superintendents control this disease. The Smith-Kerns Dollar Spot Prediction Model is a logistic-based model that uses a 5-day moving average of daily relative humidity and daily average air temperature to create a probability that dollar spot will occur on a given day. The model has been validated through years of additional field research. The model can be used by superintendents to more accurately time control measures to suppress dollar spot. Disease prediction models are also available for Brown Patch and Pythium.

Answer – Grow Degree-Days describes the temperature conditions that impact turf growth and pest phenology. A Grow Degree-Day report quickly generates data for proper timing of PGRs and insecticides for ABW (Annual Bluegrass Weevil).

4. How can I objectively determine if I should remove trees to increase light falling on heavily shaded areas of my course?

Answer – A simple light meter with DLI (Daily Light Integral) measurement will measure how much light is falling on your turfgrass. DLI guidelines exist for several turf species.

5. How can I accurately know how much it rained last night before I get to the course?

Answer – Weather Apps are appealing but immediate rain events can be off by 50% or more. If you can wait 24-36 hours after a rain event, the apps will be close. The only way to shorten the accuracy gap is to have your own weather station which allows you to know the accurate rainfall before you leave your house in the morning and plan for how rain events will affect your daily schedule and irrigation scheduling.

6. How can soil temperature help in turf management?

Answer – Soil temperatures on the greens can be very meaningful when daytime temperatures rise. When little or no wind exists on a sunny day, you can expect the turf surface temperature to be at least 15 degrees higher than the air temperature. When a 4 to 5 mph wind exists, the turf surface temperature is about the same as air temperature. When root zone temperatures reach 75 degrees or higher, the roots become susceptible to damage and turf canopy quality begins to decline. Timely hand watering is needed to keep the root zone happy and healthy. By adding an infrared temperature sensor to our FieldScout® TDR 150 or 350 Moisture Meter superintendents can quickly and easily measure temperatures at the turf root zone and then take the appropriate action.