Posted by Eric Mosley on Mon, Mar 07, 2011 @ 01:29 PM
The Myth:
From the dawn of time, everyone from golf course supers, sports field managers, and lawn care operators has been told that the only way to reduce soil compaction is by mechanical aeration. The reasoning is that pulling plugs out of the ground is the only way to get water, air, and nutrients down into hard soils. Also, removing soil in the form of plugs will allow room for the roots of the grass to more easily penetrate farther down into the soil.
The Truth:
To understand the truth, one needs to know what soil compaction really is. By definition, soil compaction is the breakdown of soil structure. Good soil structure consists of individual soil particles that have combined to make larger soil aggregates. When soil is well-aggregated, pore space exists between the aggregates, allowing water, air, nutrients, and roots to penetrate the soil. An example of this would be a jar full of marbles and all the space between them. When the soil structure is broken down, the aggregates are broken apart into individual soil particles. This decreases the pore space between the particles, causing compaction. In contrast to the jar full of marbles, the decreased pore space would look like a jar full of sugar, where everything is packed tightly together.
The myth of mechanical aeration lays here, that removing small plugs of soil changes the structure of the soil. It does not. All it does is provide a very temporary relief to the soil compaction, and that is at best. I say “at best” because when one runs a mechanical aerator over a given area, the area that is actually affected is very small, just 3-5%. You can see the complete report here. So even as a temporary relief, the area that mechanical aeration affects is very small.
The Solution:
SoilTech resolves the 2 major faults of mechanical aeration – soil structure and coverage. What SoilTech does when applied to compacted soils is reverse the breakdown of soil aggregates. SoilTech makes the individual soil particles re-aggregate. It does this by using the charges in the polymer itself and by creating pore space with the polymer, allowing the soil particles to naturally re-aggregate. Think of SoilTech as a flocculant, changing the jar full of sugar back into a jar full of marbles.
Secondly, since SoilTech is a liquid you can apply to an entire area, 100% of the area will be affected by the product and not just 3-5%. This greatly increases the effectiveness of SoilTech over traditional mechanical aeration. Read a more detailed explanation of how SoilTech works.
I’m not saying that mechanical aeration doesn’t have its place in agronomy, such as situations where a thatch layer is restricting movement into the soil. But when it comes to correcting the true problem of soil compaction and not just treating the symptoms, mechanical aeration is a myth and SoilTech is the truth.
Posted by Eric Mosley on Mon, Feb 28, 2011 @ 11:51
What it is – Soil compaction is hard, packed soil. Very compacted soil will be bare. Somewhat compacted soil will have thin vegetation, and grass growing in compacted soil will have weeds in it.
Why it happens – Soil compaction is usually the result of actual pressure, as the name implies, either from something as innocuous as a lot of hard rains, or something as obvious as children or dogs stomping on it. Sports fields are infamous for having a soil compaction problem. Football or soccer teams stomp on them, and marching bands and cheerleaders stomp on them. Compacted soil areas are readily identifiable as bare areas around the inside of a fence where dogs constantly run, or under a swing set where children push with their feet to go higher and then jump off the swing, or areas that always seem to have standing water after a rain. Standing water and flooding can actually cause soil compaction, because the water squeezes all the oxygen out of the soil.
The composition of the soil also plays a role in compaction, as well as the water used to irrigate it. Clay soil tends to get more compacted than sandy soil, and water with a high sodium content can contribute to compaction. Sodium carries a positive charge, while clay has a negative charge. The positive charge of the sodium smashes the clay together. Unfortunately, one can find sodium in the irrigation water for golf courses or the city water you use to water your lawn.
Why it’s bad for your grass – Compacted soil is a very poor medium for growing anything. Not only is it tough for the roots of anything to get into it, it’s unhealthy in other ways. Remember the bare spot under the swing set? It’s bare because nothing will grow there. Less serious cases of compaction are still unhealthy for grass. The sodium usually present in compacted soil competes with nutrients in a way that has your grass taking up sodium instead of magnesium, calcium and potassium.
How SoilTech can help – SoilTech aerates the soil, allowing it to loosen up so that grass can more easily grow into it and have a deeper, healthier root system. It removes the sodium to a point below the root zone, so that nutrients like magnesium, calcium and potassium are available to the grass. So, not only does SoilTech alleviate the compaction problem, it helps your grass use fertilizer more efficiently and stay greener longer.
Posted by Eric Mosley on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 @ 11:43
To start our first blog, I would like to thank you for stopping by and taking a look at what we have to say. The purpose of these blogs are going to be for you to learn more about soils, soil problems and how to fix them, industry news and insight, and of course about Soil Technologies and our products.
This blog is to discuss an article that was written by Dr. Charles (Chuck) H. Darrah, a brilliant soil scientist and owner of CLC Labs in Westerville, Ohio. When we were in the lawn care business ourselves, we sent all of our customer's soil samples to CLC Labs, and many of times confided in Chuck to solve perplexing problems our customer's lawns faced.
Once when talking with Chuck at a tradeshow, he gave me this article to look at, which was titled, "Soil Oxygen...The Forgotten Nutrient". The article fits in perfectly with what we are trying to do with SoilTech; opening compacted soil to increase the penetration of water, nutrients, and OXYGEN! Oxygen is really the forgotten nutrient, especially when you have marketers pushing all different types of fertilizers and soil amendments to correct bad soils. The thing these products and most everyone overlooks is that the soil needs oxygen and for different reasons. The main reason, which is stated in the article, is that roots themselves need oxygen (O2) to growth and to take up nutrients. Also, the soil needs to have oxygen for many of the microbes that are in the soil that make it easier for plants to uptake nutrients. Now don't get me wrong, soil additives like fertilizers are still essential, but just don't focus on just one.
If you are familiar with SoilTech (SuperSoil) or are a first timer to this product, you then either know or will come to know, that SoilTech takes care of getting all 3 of the major soil needs into the soil. By creating aggregates, which in turns creates pore spaces, SoilTech increases the infiltration of those 3 major soil needs; nutrients, water, and air. If you have a good level of all 3 then you are doing great, and SoilTech will help you get that balance of them.
Take a look at the article below from Dr. Darrah and leave a comment if you like it, hate it, or think he is full of it.
SOIL OXYGEN…THE FORGOTTEN NUTRIENT
By Dr. Charles H. Darrah, Consulting Turfgrass Agronomist
We all know that to grow healthy, vigorous sports turf we need to apply fertilizers. Fertilizers most often contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Sometimes it is necessary to apply secondary and micronutrients like calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc and others. These elements are often called the fertilizer nutrients. Levels of these nutrients can be determined by laboratory soil testing and nutrient amendments made as indicated by the test results.
However, what is often forgotten are the three most important elements for plant growth CARBON, HYDROGEN and OXYGEN. Carbon and oxygen are taken up by the leaves for photosynthesis in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). Plants take up hydrogen and oxygen as water (H20). What is rarely understood is that plant roots also need oxygen (02) for growth and nutrient uptake. Roots take up oxygen and give off carbon dioxide just as animals do when breathing. So, where does oxygen come from? It comes from the soil air, which originates from the air above it. Soils must be able to "breath" in and hold enough oxygen in the soil air for roots to grow and function properly. The figure below shows what is commonly the case for soil air in sports turf soils:
The first figure (NORMAL) shows the make-up of a volume of soil that is "ideal" for plant growth. Soil solids (minerals and organic matter) occupy about 50% of the normal soil volume. The remaining 50% of the volume of a normal soil is open pore space. Ideally, about half of the pore space is filled with air and the other half with water. This pore space provides the ideal amounts of oxygen and water for healthy turf growth.
The second figure (COMPACTED) shows a very common situation in sports turf. Compaction causes these soils to have fewer and smaller pore spaces. These pores do not allow air and water to easily move into and out of the soil. Compaction from play is the main cause of soil compaction in sports turf. Over-use, use of wet fields and heavy maintenance equipment are also contributing factors. Some new fields are over compacted from the start by poor construction techniques. Clayey soils and wet soils compact more easily than sandy or drier soils. One event on a clayey, wet soil may effectively seal the soil surface, especially in areas of high play.
The third figure (POORLY DRAINED) shows another very common problem in sports turf soils. Poorly drained soils can result from excessive rainfall or irrigation or they can simply be in low-lying areas of the field. Clayey soils usually have poorer drainage than sandy soils, although it is not uncommon to find sandy soils that drain poorly. Field areas that collect rainfall or are over irrigated will typically be poorly drained. Compacted soils tend to drain poorly. And, since moist soils are more prone to compaction than drier soils, poor drainage can lead to increased compaction.
It is important to recognize that both of these common soil problems cause LOW SOIL AIR. Turf roots will not grow into soils that lack air. Turf roots in a compacted soil will be near the surface where there is still some soil air. It is not uncommon for sod laid on top of a highly compacted soil to have very few roots growing into the soil below. Turf may not grow at all in highly compacted soils such as in goal mouths. Shallow rooted weedy plants usually take over in these areas or they simply remain bare.
Often, turf will not respond to fertilizer applications, especially nitrogen, when there is a lack of soil air. This is because there are fewer roots to absorb the nutrients. Lack of oxygen also prevents roots from making the energy needed for nutrient uptake. In addition, soil microorganisms need oxygen to recycle some of the important soil nutrients needed by the plants.
Corrective steps are often difficult. In highly compacted situations, frequent, deep aeration is the only corrective method, short of complete soil tillage. If the compacted layer is near the surface then effective aeration can be achieved using different types of aeration equipment. In some situations, soil modification with sand or organic matter prior to turf establishment can reduce the potential for soil compaction.
Improving soil drainage can also be difficult. Installing sub-surface drainage may not be very effective, especially in poorly drained clayey soils. In some situations, soils with improved internal drainage characteristics may be needed. On the other hand, improving drainage problems might be as easy as reestablishing the crown or adjusting irrigation rate and/or frequency.
It is important to remember that deep, vigorous root systems are the key to healthy turf. The nutrient most likely limiting in sports turfs for a deep, vigorous root system is OXYGEN contained in the soil air. Probing the soil and observing for difficulty of penetration or excessive soil wetness provides the best indication that soil oxygen is the missing nutrient.
Thanks for reading our first ever blog and I hope that you enjoyed it but most of all I hope that you learned something new. If not, sign up to receive our blog, because we have a lot to talk about and we are sure you will find something new to learn soon.
Posted by Corey Beale on Thu, Jul 08, 2010 @ 11:08 PM
Salt water spills can mean big problems for the producers and well operators – from EPA difficulties, state regulatory agencies' concerns and, more importantly, unhappy landowners. Soil types, concentration of salt in the water, amount of spill, slope and nearby bodies of water all contribute to the problem. GrassRoots SuperSoil can help.
Due to its unusually high electrical charge, SuperSoil attracts the opposite charge of the sodium. When they bind, they are taken down through the soil profile, past the root zone, allowing for a quicker re-growth and happier agencies and landowners.
The advantages of using SuperSoil over traditional methods of clean-up:
1. Uses less clean water. While SuperSoil does need to be watered in, it doesn't need the massive amounts of fresh water that more traditional methods call for. The costs of truckloads of fresh water and continued tractor or bulldozer plowing continues to escalate.
2. Does not generally require more than one soil plowing. Once the soil is opened and the first application of SuperSoil has been made, it may not have to be done again. Soil type, slope and salt concentrations will dictate the amount of SuperSoil needed.
3. Independent testing proves SuperSoil works. Check out research information and photos for all the test results.
4. SuperSoil works well in rocky soils. Because SuperSoil is a liquid, it can be applied in surface and subsurface rocky environments. If the soil surface cannot be tilled, a penetrant can be added to SuperSoil, making good penetration possible.
5. SuperSoil works on slopes. When equipment cannot get into the spill area because of the slope, SuperSoil can still be applied and work its way into the soil.
6. SuperSoil will probably cost you less than anything else you do in the clean-up process. Water flushing, tilling the soil, and soil removal are all very expensive and time-consuming.
7. SuperSoil will probably work faster than most remediation methods. Faster results cost you less money and give you happier landowners.
8. SuperSoil is a soil amendment and no license is required to apply it.
9. Even if re-applications are necessary, SuperSoil is still cheaper than any other option.
10. SuperSoil is environmentally-friendly and will not build up in the soil.
11. After clean-up, Francis Resources will test the soil prior to re-planting and will help with recommendations to landowners for properly replanting the affected areas. Testing the soil will prevent wasting time and money. Our soil biologist who specializes in remediation will make recommendations tailored to fit the circumstances and the grass type the landowner is requesting.