Soil Temperature Control Utilizing XGD Systems
In the spring you may have noticed my blogs focusing on rapid soil temperature warm up through the use of internal subsurface greens drainage, which removed the cooling gravitational groundwater that inhibited early season turf growth.
Well, these days the opposite is occurring as we embark on some of the hottest temps of the golf season. If your pushup greens have no internal drainage, and you will be receiving heavy rain in conjunction with high air temperatures, then your soil temperatures are going to skyrocket. As in the spring, all that groundwater will only help aid in keeping the soil temps high. The only way to have a fighting chance is to somehow introduce oxygen in to the soil profile. Now, this can be achieved with venting or needle-tining right? Sure, that will help, but it doesn’t get hot water out of your soil does it?
Our XGD process is not a panacea for reducing soil temps, but we feel it is one of the most important tools in a superintendent’s arsenal. Especially so, if your greens soil gets pushed to field capacity after a heavy rain. In these scenarios, a very quick water table draw down occurs in about a half hour, as the gravitational groundwater is removed it is replaced with oxygen and gives the green a fighting chance. I have even heard one client call it a “huge sucking sound”, as the greens soil now has a more optimal soil/air balance and the green can breathe once again.
As night time temperatures don’t drop enough this summer to provide the proper soil cooling needed, insurance like XGD Systems, has given our clients the opportunity to sleep through the night and awake more refreshed knowing full well an internal greens drainage system will be working 24 hours a day to help provide a more balanced soil/water relationship for your pushup greens.
Lastly, I just wanted to remind all superintendents that the picture below isn’t as far off as one would believe as night time temps begin to lower as we move in to the last few weeks of August. So hang in there, and reach out to us at XGD if we can help you sleep a little better during the dog days of summer.
