I had heard about Geoponics and its product line from our club’s General Manager. Plus I see them on Facebook all the time. We had been facing some serious challenges on our sand based L-93 Bentgrass greens. We could not get the water to move through plus we had bicarbonates in the 450 ppm range.
I had tried every product on the market within our area and nothing would penetrate through. I mean nothing. I have even used some of the more well known brands at four times the rate and went behind the application with a soil profile to check the moisture content and it was bone dry and the temperatures were rising. With Bentgrass that can be a challenge in itself.
The first time we tried the and Detox the results were nothing less than amazing! For the first time after all the times of trying other products we finally got some good results. However, I was not expecting to see such a fast response from the turf. Within a day the color of the turf greened up tremendously. I am sure it was because of the gas and water exchange. Nonetheless I was pleased to see such a response! The moisture levels had evened out throughout the soil profile. So we kept using the Penterra and Detox and have had wonderful success from them for almost two years now.
Long term, apart from saving a lot of money on products and water, we have noticed a significant reduction in fungicide applications, specifically Dollar Spot. If I had to put a number to it, it would be at least 33% but probably more than that. You know, with the Penterra, when you spray it out, you definitely know where it was sprayed. There is NO dew! Less water on the leaf blade keeps the disease pressure down. Just makes sense. We also have a limited crew so chasing hot spots with hoses and reducing our overhead cost have been a huge benefit as well.
As far as a recommendation to others, I’ll just say that I have tried everything and Penterra and Detox are the only products that have worked for me in our situation. The fact that we are saving money in the process is a huge benefit as well. Absolutely I would recommend the products!
RJ Stein
Golf Course Superintendent
Ashley Plantation Country Club