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Beyond Granular - Challenging the traditional industry nutritional practices
For decades, conventional granular fertilisers have been the foundation of nutritional programmes throughout the turf management industry. But are they really delivering the levels of plant health and performance that modern turf managers demand?
At Consolidate Turf Health Solutions, we're challenging that conventional approach through our ongoing Beyond Granulars trial.
Our objective is straightforward: demonstrate the differences between traditional granular fertilisation and our approach to plant nutrition, using measurable evidence rather than relying solely on visual appearances.
Three Programmes. One Objective. Better Turf.
Our trials compare three different nutritional approaches:
Conventional granular fertilisation.
Conventional granular fertilisation supplemented with Consolidate Winter.
Consolidate and De-Stress.
Throughout the trials, we are monitoring NDVI, soil temperature and the ability of the turf canopy to recover following physical compression.
Week 3: A Clear Difference Emerging
By the third week of our trial, the Consolidate and De-Stress programme had recorded the highest NDVI reading at 0.84, compared with 0.79 for conventional granular fertilisation and 0.80 for the granular programme supplemented with Winter.
But perhaps the most interesting findings came from our turf resilience assessments.
Using a consistent testing method, a 10 kg weight was placed onto the turf canopy for five seconds. The original grass height was recorded before compression, and the time taken for the turf to recover to its original height was measured. This assessment allows us to examine how effectively the grass canopy responds to a physical load and recovers its structure afterwards.
The Consolidate and De-Stress treatment achieved a reported turf resilience score of 67%, compared with just 20% for conventional granular fertilisation and 36% for the combined granular and Winter programme.
That's a 47-percentage-point advantage over the conventional granular treatment. Even more interestingly, soil temperatures across all three treatments were identical at just 6°C.
These results raise an important question about how different nutritional strategies support turf performance during periods of reduced soil temperatures.
Although further measurements are needed to establish whether these differences persist, the Week 3 findings provide encouraging evidence in favour of our approach.
Looking Beyond Granulars
Our early trial results are challenging conventional turf nutrition, demonstrating improvements in plant performance and resilience with the Consolidate approach.
As our trials continue, so does our commitment to challenging tradition and delivering measurable results.
The future of turf nutrition is changing. It's time to start Looking Beyond Granulars.
please view our trial presentation in the link below........
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