GREENKEEPER BLOG

Optimizing Putting Green Performance with the New Surface Organic Matter Test

Organic matter management on putting greens is vital for maintaining playability, firmness, and overall turfgrass health. Until recently, measuring and managing organic matter relied largely on assumptions and outdated methods. But that's changing with the...

Predict wilt hours before it strikes: Proof of Concept

The turf industry has embraced various technologies to improve irrigation efficiency. Hand-held moisture meters have replaced pocketknives. Mower-mounted sensors help turf managers detect soil moisture variability, while in-ground sensors relentlessly monitor changes...

Smart Irrigation Strategies to Save Water

Water conservation is a top priority in the golf industry, as superintendents seek innovative ways to maintain high-quality turf while reducing overall irrigation. It is an active area of research and development at GreenKeeper, too. Advances in technology now allow...

Understanding Clipping Volume: How to and Why Explained

Measuring clipping volume is one of the simplest yet most impactful practices in turfgrass management. This straightforward process provides valuable insights into plant growth, nutrient uptake, and overall turf health. There is no more actionable piece of data for...

Target Pests and Save with GreenKeeper CIS

Turfgrass sprayer systems with GPS guidance can do more than reduce over-spray. These high tech platforms can be used to precisely target specific pests on your course or fields. The mapping software within GreenKeeper CIS makes it easy for users to map pest...

Shade Management is Growth Management

Turf growing under shade stress is difficult to manage. Most grass species evolved in sunny growing environments. That means shorter day lengths and lower sun elevations during the fall can quickly lead to problems. The cause is simple, really. Energy in (sunlight) is...

Grow-in Guidance: Tools to Track Overseeding Progress

The process of seeding newly renovated turf areas or overseeding dormant bermudagrass can be stressful. Golf course and sports fields operators need these surface back in-play quickly. Turf managers are tasked with several decisions regarding seed variety and pricing,...

Mad-Tiller Disease

Bacterial etiolation or "Mad-Tiller" disease is a very frustrating growth disorder that has perplexed many turfgrass managers and researchers. While the Kerns and Vargas labs have independently shown the rapid leaf growth rate is most likely the result of bacterial...

When Half an Inch Is Not

Not all precipitation events are created equal. That was definitely the case in Southeast Nebraska during the last week of July 2024. The high temperatures had been around 100F with dew points were in the 70s. Any storm that develops during those conditions can...

HOW-TO Guide: Water Resource Planner

The Water Resource Planner in GreenKeeper App is the most powerful irrigation scheduling tool in the professional turfgrass management market. It uses advance agronomic and meteorological models to predict changes in soil moisture with hourly resolution. While the...
PGR & DMI GDD Models v2.0

PGR & DMI GDD Models v2.0

By Bill Kreuser, PhD We first started talking about PGR growing degree day (GDD) models back in 2008. These models use daily average air temperature to estimate PGR longevity and help schedule PGR re-application events. The original model was limited to Primo Maxx...

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The Nuance of Growing Degree Day Calculations

The Nuance of Growing Degree Day Calculations

By Bill Kreuser, PhDFor twelve years now, I’ve been talking and writing about using growing degree day (GDD) models to schedule plant growth regulator (PGR) applications. But GDD models have many other uses in turf management. For example, there are models to predict...

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SOIL TESTING INTERPRETATION IS BROKEN 

SOIL TESTING INTERPRETATION IS BROKEN 

By Doug Soldat, PhD The old saying goes “don’t guess, soil test”. The thought behind this axiom is that soil testing can prevent unnecessary applications of fertilizer that would’ve been applied if not for the soil test. This is probably true in some cases; but EIFG’s...

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