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Copy link Winter sports pitch recovery
Northern England 2023
Key Conclusions
All products supplied nitrogen and iron to the sward with varying amounts of potassium and magnesium, but the turf response (quality, colour and NDVI) can be most closely related to the nitrogen rate and type.
For Turf Managers these results may mean re-evaluating their fertiliser choices. An understanding of the form of nitrogen present in a fertiliser as well as selecting an application rate to deliver the required nitrogen to the plant is important.
For this post winter period products utilising combinations of urea and ammonium as conventionally released nitrogen performed better than a product containing methylene urea delivering a higher total N.
As Turf Managers plan their post winter strategies, incorporating these findings into their fertiliser selection will be crucial.
This approach ensures robust, healthy pitches ready for the spring season, aligning with the core responsibilities of modern turf management.
Objective
The objective of the granular fertiliser trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of different nitrogen sources in optimising the recovery of winter sports pitches during the post-winter period.
Trial Details
Trial station
Northern England
Product
Greenmaster Pro-Lite
Assessments
Turf quality, turf colour and NDVI readings.
Treatments
Winter sports field recovery trial completed at a football club in northern England.
Six fertilisers and a control treatment (no fertiliser) were laid out in a randomised block trial with 4 replications. All fertilisers were applied at a recommended rate of 30g/m2 at the trial start which delivered a range of nutrient inputs with nitrogen rate and form being the key focus (as noted in treatments section below).
The trial ran for 10 weeks on a mature Lolium perenne sward on a professional sand-based sports rootzone, from 4th February to 18th April.
Weekly assessments of turf colour and quality (assessed visually on a 1-10 scale), and NDVI (Greenseeker handheld meter) were made.
Products trialled:
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Double K CalMag 7-0-14 +8CaO + 4MgO
(1% Ammomium, 6% Methylene Urea MU)
30g/m2 = 21kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Autumn 6-5-10 +6Fe
(4.3% Ammomium, 1.7% Urea)
30g/m2 = 18kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Invigorator 4-3-8 + 3.3MgO +4Fe
(4% Ammomium)
30g/m2 = 12 kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Turf Tonic 8-0-0 + 3Fe
(4.5% Ammomium, 3.5% Urea)
30g/m2 = 24kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Invigorator Plus 4-0-14 + 8Fe +2MgO
(4% Ammomium)
30g/m2 = 12 kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Cold Start 11-5-5 + 8Fe
(5.5% Ammomium, 5.5% Urea)
30g/m2 = 33 kg N ha-1
Treatments
Winter sports field recovery trial completed at a football club in northern England.
Six fertilisers and a control treatment (no fertiliser) were laid out in a randomised block trial with 4 replications. All fertilisers were applied at a recommended rate of 30g/m2 at the trial start which delivered a range of nutrient inputs with nitrogen rate and form being the key focus (as noted in treatments section below).
The trial ran for 10 weeks on a mature Lolium perenne sward on a professional sand-based sports rootzone, from 4th February to 18th April.
Weekly assessments of turf colour and quality (assessed visually on a 1-10 scale), and NDVI (Greenseeker handheld meter) were made.
Products trialled:
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Double K CalMag 7-0-14 +8CaO + 4MgO
(1% Ammomium, 6% Methylene Urea MU)
30g/m2 = 21kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Autumn 6-5-10 +6Fe
(4.3% Ammomium, 1.7% Urea)
30g/m2 = 18kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Invigorator 4-3-8 + 3.3MgO +4Fe
(4% Ammomium)
30g/m2 = 12 kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Turf Tonic 8-0-0 + 3Fe
(4.5% Ammomium, 3.5% Urea)
30g/m2 = 24kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Invigorator Plus 4-0-14 + 8Fe +2MgO
(4% Ammomium)
30g/m2 = 12 kg N ha-1
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Cold Start 11-5-5 + 8Fe
(5.5% Ammomium, 5.5% Urea)
30g/m2 = 33 kg N ha-1
Results
The different fertiliser treatments generated significantly (p<0.05) different turf colour and quality responses which lasted for the whole 10-week trial duration (figure 1&2), which will be a function of both the rate and form of fertiliser
applied.
The highest rates of nitrogen applied, for Cold Start (33 kg N ha-1) and Turf Tonic (24 kg N ha-1) did provide the greatest turf colour and quality, demonstrating the importance of N to plant recovery after winter.
However, the Double K product delivering the third highest rate of N (21 kg N ha-1) did not provide an equivalent turf response (figure 1&2) which illustrates the function that nitrogen type also has.
Greenmaster Pro-Lite Double K has a large portion of its nitrogen supplied as methylene urea which is not as readily available as ammonium and urea.
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