Moisture Meter

Soil moisture meter

Last fall we purchased a Field Scout TDR 300 moisture meter from Spectrum Technologies. This tool will be a very important part of our management practices that we will rely heavily on throughout this season. What the moisture meter does is detect the variable moisture content in the soil. The picture shows what we are looking at when using this tool out on the course. Once on the green we take 9-16 readings per green to get an average VWC from that green. The picture shows the last reading was 38.8 with an average of 40.9 for the green. At Burl, at this point in the year, we are looking for averages around 10-13% to feel "safe" that the green will make it through the day without needing water. We are looking for each area to be fairly consistent with one another, and we note any areas that are either very dry or wet. Since each green is different from one another some greens such as 9, 16, and 18 will dry out much quicker than 1 and 17, so we started a daily log that has helped us identify when we have needed to irrigate this spring.

Greens soil moisture

Spring is a very important time for turfgrass to be able to grow healthy roots in order to survive the stresses that are associated with summer. By keeping the greens drier in the spring, the plant puts more effort into finding water, thus growing deeper roots which can uptake more water and nutrients from the soil. The moisture meter helps us achieve growing deeper roots by monitoring the turf and only giving it water when it is absolutely necessary.



Firm and Fast conditions with moisture 2" down



Root growth for our turf

By implementing this practice you may notice that the conditions on the course are much firmer and faster than previous seasons because we are limiting water to focus on root growth. These conditions will not only help us increase our total root mass, but also limit disease and poa seed germination since the turf will not be wet for extended periods of time. With our continuing use of the moisture meter through the year we can expect to see more consistency from green to green while reducing the amount of resources needed to maintain a high quality playing surface. If you have any questions about what we are doing feel free to stop in, and we will be glad to explain our method to the madness.