Geoponics Blog
Horse tears up the turf at North Carolina golf course
A horse left his mark today on a Burlington, NC golf course. Gantt Martin of Geoponics suggests a program, including Carbotein, to help fill in and repair the turf quickly for healthy regrowth.
Gantt Martin of Geoponics received an interesting text this morning from a golf course superintendent in need of some turf repair.
A neighbor’s horse got out and trampled across #17 green at a golf course in Burlington, NC.
Some of the damaged turf areas were quickly repaired by the golf course superintendent and grounds crew right on the spot, but other turf areas are left needing some fill to get the hoof marks back to seamless green turf.
“We have a program that helps fill-in and will make the grass grow quickly. It promotes budding,” said Martin.
Carbotein has many uses and benefits. For a situation where a horse tears up the turf, or by other types of horsin’ around on the golf course, Geoponics has a program, including Carboetin, to help with quick blending and rooting. Carbotein can help with quick sprouting, fill-in and regrowth, among many other benefits to turf, plants, flowers and trees. It’s not everyday that a horse tears up the turf, but it is common to need some turf or lawn repair. For fast fill-in and quick regrowth, learn more about Carbotein here.
We also love to hear your turf adventures and odd sightings. Join us on Facebook, Twitter or Google + to view and share videos, photos, and stories.
Brown grass isn’t dead grass: What causes winter dormancy and what you can do about it
Golfers visiting the southeast U.S. from northern areas are sometimes surprised to see brown grass on the golf course. In the winter, this is natural. As the transition time of fall is near, and turfgrass is approaching its natural winter dormancy, turfgrass and landscape managers have a decision to make. Let it all go brown or use a colorant to get through winter until spring green-up occurs.
Have you ever wondered why grass turns brown in the winter in the southern U.S.?
Golf Course Superintendents throughout the Southeast have heard the remarks and questions from visitors: “How can this be a highly rated golf course with all this dead grass?”
When temperatures get cold enough, warm season grasses, such as bermudagrass, lose their green color and turn brown. It’s not dead. It’s natural winter dormancy.
USGA Agronomist of the Southeast Region Chris Hartwiger puts it perfectly: “Fortunately, golf is played on grass, not on color.”
As we come into fall, golfers may see plenty of brown grass on southern grasses.
So what causes these warm season grasses, such as Bermudagrass, to turn brown in the winter?
Three elements change in the transition from fall to winter that cause dormancy. These are chlorophyll levels, light intensity, and temperature.
Chlorophyll is a green pigment that gives grass leaves their color. It absorbs light in the energy-producing process called photosynthesis.
Chlorophyll production in turfgrass is highest when the light intensity is lowest. That’s why turfgrass in shaded areas is often the more vibrant green than in open highly sunlit areas.
As light intensity increases, the rate of breakdown of chlorophyll increases. Meanwhile, as temperatures decrease, the growth rate of the plant decreases, and with it, the production of chlorophyll decreases.
The combination of high light intensity and low enough temperatures causes the chlorophyll breakdown to exceed the rate of chlorophyll synthesis and the turfgrass leaves turn brown. Chlorophyll is simply breaking down faster than it can be produced in the lower winter temperatures.
What can you do about it? Endurant Turf Paint
Painting warm season grasses with organic Endurant turf colorant provides a solution to the dead-looking brown grass that is a natural dormancy stage of warm season grasses during the winter months.
Since golfers often want to see green grass, even if simply to aid in a bright target on putting greens, Geoponics provides an earth-friendly natural solution with an organic line of Endurant turf colorants.
Endurant Turf Colorants can be used on putting greens, fairways and common areas to give golfers the color they expect.
Painting grass with Endurant also aids in the health of plant, increasing the temperature with the darker color. It’s an easy process. Click here to learn how.
Click here to choose the best Endurant Turf Colorant for you.
OMRI Listed® for organic growing: FertaFlow soil conditioner joins list of products with Organic Materials Review Institute
FertaFlow is the newest of the Geoponics products to become OMRI Listed® for organic growing through the Organic Materials Review Institute. FertaFlow joins Geoponics growing number of OMRI Listed® products for gardens, lawns, landscapes, ponds and athletic fields.
FertaFlow
Fertaflow is made from fresh fish carefully processed at low temperature to maintain the integrity of natural occurring amino acids, vitamins, hormones and enzymes. Fertaflow’s fish hydrolysate contains the natural oils and proteins of fish, which break down slowly and remain available to soil microbes over a longer period of time than chemical fertilizers or fish emulsions.
Produces strong and beautiful flowers, deep green turf, and delicious fruits and vegetables
- Produces strong and beautiful flowers, deep green turf, and delicious fruits and vegetables
- Promotes the growth of soil microorganisms, will not stripe or burn
- Efficient for use with spray or drip irrigation systems
- Cold processed to preserve nutrients with no fishy odor
- Environmentally Friendly Biodegradable product
If you want organic plants and foods, start with organic soil.
Learn more about OMRI Listed® FertaFlow fish fertilizer on www.FertaFlow.com Order and inquire at 1-877-ECO-GROW. Online shopping cart coming this August 2014. www.ShopGeoponics.com
OMRI independently reviews products, supporting growers’, manufacturers’ and suppliers’ organic integrity by listing products that meet their stringent standards for use in organic production, handling and processing.
OMRI is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1997 that also provides technical support and training for professionals in the organic industry. Check us on the OMRI products list here.
Geoponics is to launch online shopping for consumers of home lawn and garden care products that are organic, environmentally friendly and conserve water.
Geoponics has long been a provider of professional turf care products that help budget-driven golf course superintendents, athletic field managers and other turf managers have gorgeous turf, trees, plants and ornamentals while being environmentally conscious. This August, the consumer will have access to these professional products through an online shopping cart to be launched on GeoponicsCorp.com within just a few days.
“I am very excited about this,” said Gloria Londono, an administrator at Geoponics headquarters in Naples, Fla.
The online shopping cart and consumer products line will make shopping convenient for consumers and provide environmentally-friendly solutions to lawn care that were once only available to the professional.
The online shopping website launch not only solves lawn care management challenges, including water management, improved soil conditions and many others, but also offers preventative solutions to a growing trend throughout the U.S. and the world– poor water quality due to run off of chemicals, such as those used in fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides. Geoponics products may lessen the need for such hazards and toxins, many professional users have reported.
Turf and landscape professionals have reported for years that using Geoponics products helped them to reduce their usage of many harmful chemicals and solutions, including using less fertilizer, pesticides and fungicides, while economically growing healthy turf, beautiful flowers, productive fruit and vegetable plants, ornamentals and trees. Many also reported that the products saved money overall by reducing water usage and usage of these expensive pollutants and toxins.
Jennifer Seevers, a turf colorant specialist and independent Geoponics product provider, has long felt proud to offer products to turf and landscape professionals, such as the organic Endurant turf colorant line, knowing children, athletes, pets and wild animals are not being exposed to unnecessarily harsh and toxic chemicals when playing or coming into contact with turfgrass that has been sprayed with this most natural looking green colorant. The Endurant product line is among the several Geoponics product lines, which also include soil surfactants, conditioners and penetrants, that help in times of drought or to conserve water and other natural resource pressures caused by practices such as overseeding.
Geoponics products can be used to address a myriad of challenges faced in growing healthy grass, flowers, plants and trees.
Products to be available in the online store include organic products certified and listed by the Organics Materials Review Institute, OMRI. These products used for decades by professionals in turf care and agriculture and now available to the home consumer include:
- SoilPlex great food source for reduced soil compaction and improved water, air and nutrient penetration
- FertaFlow, which is cold processed to preserve nutrients without fishy odor while lasting longer than chemical fertilizers or fish emulsions
- Penterra the fastest-acting soil penetrant allowing water and oxygen to reach plant roots
- HydraHawk, fruit and vegetable extracts for water management helping water penetrate compacted or arid soil improving plant uptake of water and nutrients
- Carbotein, an organic vegetable extract soil conditioner promoting plant growth for brilliant flowers, gorgeous ornamentals and high yielding fruit and vegetable plants
- Humawet assists with loss of water due to wind, runoff and drought helping soil retain water through the plant’s root system
- Aquaveil is a pond colorant that filters out ultra violet sunlight offering a natural blue look that is non-toxic and doesn’t leave a dye on plant or animal life
- Endurant turf colorants are a favorite for home sales, being the best looking lawn on the block, during the California drought and as an alternative to seasonal overseeding.
You can learn more about each by clicking on the product title and order by phone today. Soon, all of these products will be available on one online store for purchase via the website.
Currently available for home owners is Endurant Mulch Colorant at www.mulchcolorant.net. Spruce up landscapes or make inexpensive horticulture waste look sharp with Endurant Mulch Colorant for pinestraw, mulch and other applications. Available in several colors. Shop here.
Stay tuned for more online shopping coming August 2014!