Geoponics Blog

Can you tell me a little about The Club at the Strand?

We are a 27-hole golf course (thestrandcc.com) that opened in North Naples, Fla. in 1998. We hosted the LPGA for three years. We have Greg Norman’s Bermudagrass wall-to-wall with FloraDwarf greens. Both of those turf grasses are very difficult to manage. In fact, I don’t think either one of them made the grade.

What is so challenging about the GN-1 and FloraDwarf grasses?

The GN-1 (GN standing for Greg Norman, the golfer who brought it to market) is a very aggressive grass and the FloraDwarf is a very week grass– it always stays on the edge. The GN-1 has actually encroached… I’ve lost more than 1/2 an acre of my greens’ size over the years.

The GN-1 also has a very unusual growth habit. It’s more of a low prostrate growth habit. That’s one of the reasons it encroaches into the greens so rapidly. A lot of grasses have a more upright growth habit whereas the GN-1 is very grainy where it will run across the surface more agressively than a lot of grasses. It’s a challenge keeping that playable for the members because we have basically older members, higher handicap and they like to scoop the ball. They don’t like to hit down on it and the GN-1 will really grab your club and twist it in your hands.

How did you first learn of Geoponics products?

A Geoponics (GeoponicsCorp.com) representative came in about three years ago and he wanted to do a surfactant (soilsurfactant.com) demonstration with his wetting agent, Penterra (Penterra.net). He told me to go out to my chemical room and pick my favorite surfactant that I use. I was really impressed. He came out with this little dropper. He had two cups with equal amounts of water and these little swatches of fabric. He put equal amounts of each surfactant–his and the one from my chemical room into each cup. The demonstration (Geoponics.TV) was amazing.

He put at least four or five drops of the surfactant I was using into one cup and just one drop of his Penterra into the other. The Penterra absorbed into his cotton patch immediatley– within a second it had dropped to the bottom of the cup, which was pretty impressive.

So, did you decide to try Penterra? How’d it work for you?

That sold me. I was injecting Penterra (Penterra.net) into my fertigation system for many, many months until the Geoponics representative finally convinced me I’d get much better results spraying it on top with my spray rigs. He was absolutlely right.

Most of my hot spots had already gone away, but once I did that… I have a lot of mounding out here and nematode issues where the grass is a little weak on top of some of the mounds. The spraying application of the Penterra made all these issues, everything go away. So for all the dry season, these areas that were typically on the edge, a little thin and weak, they basically filled in and got healthy.

So, did the demonstration and the results with Penterra encourage you to consider other Geoponics products?

Yes, definitely, and, the Geoponics representative has a great personality. He came in a lot and we kind of hit it off. So, from there I started using other products. I use the Grizzly (GrizzlyFoliars.com), including Kodiak, as well as Carbotein (Carbotein.com), HydraHawk (HydraHawk.com) and HydroGro (HydroGro.info). Just recently, the Geoponics representative introduced me to an organic fish fertilizer, FertaFlow (TheOrganicPlantFood.com), which I’ve been using.  I also use Agriox (Agriox.com).

What have you seen occur on your property with these other Geoponics products?

I just see nice color and overall plant health on the putting greens. The products I was using in the past gave similar results. These products are a better value for me overall.

Some use FertaFlow on the fairway. I’m still using it on my greens and I just started using it on some ornamental plants on the property and I’m hoping to see some improvement in flowering and overall plant health.

The Agriox (Agriox.com), the dissolved oxygen, I’ve seen the video (Geoponics.TV) where he actually meters the dissolved oxygen. That’s interesting to see because I think a lot of superintendents are very visual. There are a lot of products on the market that we kind of shy away from or are skeptical of because you dont’ see the results. When I put the Agriox down, the next day I see a phenomenal response in overall color, the plant looking healthier and that hangs on for several days. I do that in a monthly program. I’ve been using Agriox close to three years.

How is the service with Geoponics?

The representative is not overbearing. He always comes in with a smile on his face. He’s a great guy. If an order is placed, it’s delivered in a day or two.

Can we come back and look at the ornamental plants in the New Year to see how the Fertaflow is doing?

Sure, I can already tell it’s helping. We’ll see more in a couple of weeks.

Scott Davis, Superintendent

The Club at the Strand

Certified Golf Course Superintendent Billy Huskins of Highland Woods Golf and Country Club in Bonita Springs, Fla. shares tips on overcoming the challenges of growing in sandy soil.

Geoponics: Can you tell me about Highland Woods and the soil there?

CGCS Billy Huskins: Yes. The course was built in 1995. There is a very sandy pocket of soil in this region. It was originally just a forest—oak trees, palmettos, palms, etc. When they built the golf course, building the lakes to mound the earth up for the golf holes, it was straight sand. So our biggest challenge overall without a doubt is our soil type—straight sand.

Geoponics: What type of turf are you growing?

CGCS Billy Huskins: We have 419 Bermuda grass on the fairways and rough; we have Champion Bermuda grass greens and we’ve started to use Celebration Bermuda grass on some of our tees.

Geoponics: What are the challenges caused by sandy soil?

CGCS Billy Huskins: The biggest challenge is moisture holding capacity. You irrigate, but that water is not going to hold. We have to have a wetting agent product. We have nematode problems because of the sandy soil.

Geoponics: How did you first discover Geoponics products and did they help to address some of those challenges?

CGCS Billy Huskins: A representative of Geoponics came into the office a few years ago and started telling me about the products. He did a jar test in front of me and sent me to my chemical room to get the best wetting agent product that I had at that time. He compared his product, which was Penterra, to that product. At that point, I said ‘that’s intriguing and I want to test more of that product.’ At the time, we were in the worst drought on record. So, I had been testing and trying every product known, all types of combinations. I tried this and it was a happy medium for me with the price and the effects I get from the product. That was about 2008. I’ve been on the product ever since.

Geoponics: You mentioned that the wetting test is why you decided to try the Penterra?

CGCS Billy Huskins: Yes. That jar test and the representative’s ability to explain the product in depth to me. It wasn’t just “oh, I’ve got another wetting agent and try it.” He spent probably 30 minutes with me explaining how that product (Penterra) worked.

Geoponics: Have you tried other Geoponics products since then?

CGCS Billy Huskins: Yes. I’ve been using HydraHawk and HydroGro.

Geoponics: What made you try those?

CGCS Billy Huskins: We’re still in a draught situation here. We’re not currently under water restrictions, but nothing has changed with the soil type. Penterra has its mode of action and these products have their mode of action and I feel the HydraHawk in combination with the HydroGro is going to hold moisture longer like on a mound or a rough where as the Penterra is just pushing water through. I want something that’s going to hold water more still give some good penetration.

With regard to HydroGro —I’ve always been a believer of humic acid in these humate products because they’re natural products and I’ve always thought that the addition of that to a wetting agent is going to be beneficial to the plant.

I’m very happy with it. I’ve actually changed from using the other products to using this combination (of HydraHawk and HydroGro).

Geoponics: Why do you stay with Geoponics?

CGCS Billy Huskins: They (Geoponics products) seem to be at the forefront of what’s going on. I mean I’m buying their products. It’s endless how many other wetting agents are out there. Every salesman has 10 of them, but I’m using Geoponics and the reason why is I feel like they have the answers. The representative is easy to talk to. The products mix well and the price is where it needs to be.

We’ve been on the Penterra program for over three years now. Our stress areas are less than they’ve ever been.

We have 40,000 rounds of golf within a few months. All these members like to drive in the same patterns. They go on the fairway in the same spots and off the fairways in the same spots. This helps us to retain moisture in those areas and it helps with the stress.

Geoponics: Anything else you want to add that may be beneficial for other superintendents?

CGCS Billy Huskins:  Geoponics is one of the best or I wouldn’t be using them. The price, the knowledgeable sales staff. I mean you can’t know everything, as superintendents, we’re always learning. He (the sales representative) comes in and tells you about the product, what you can expect. I like to push things. I like to test and try things. He helps explain what things can be mixed.

It’s that knowledge, the price, the products are natural. Again, there are so many products out there. This is the best or I wouldn’t have picked it.

How were you first introduced to Geoponics?
It was 6 or 7 years ago when I was working as a superintendent at a big operation in Greensboro, NC (Grandover Resort & Golf) which had bought the Agriox product for its courses. Honestly, I didn’t know much about what it was meant to do at that point, not the way I do now, so my evaluation was entirely based on what I saw rather than what I was told. After putting it out a few times, the best way I can describe it would be to say that the turf responded as though it had been refurbished, like fresh life had been breathed into it.

That is a perfect way to think about it considering it’s a soil oxygenator, right?
Exactly. These last few years I’ve gained a much more complete understanding of what it does, how it slowly releases oxygen into soil moisture. I can tell you when growing bentgrass in an extreme environment with high temperatures and humidity like we have here (Florence, SC) that can make all the difference.

Obviously you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you start losing turf, because it is very difficult under stressful summer conditions to get it back, so if used as a preventative measure Agriox can really be a high priority tool in your shed. It has become that for me; I go out with monthly maintenance applications all season long, and I feel it is well worth every penny.

When you spray Agriox, which wetting agent do you use and why?  (www.SoilSurfactant.com)
We always use it with some combination of the Geoponics products. Conditions are constantly changing out on the course, so you have to be quick to adapt and modify what you are doing. For me that means going out regularly and tweaking the mix ratio between the two surfactants depending on whether we want to move excess water through with Penterra (Penterra.net) or hold more moisture up in the root zone with Humawet (Humawet.com).

One area where that particular product has given me an edge is with sod installations; it’s great for keeping the roots from drying out before they’ve had a chance to take hold. With budgets the way they’ve been the last few years, I appreciate their low rates and cost per acre as well.

Offering value is what we’ve set out to do as a company, so I’m glad to hear that. Cost has always been a big concern, but it seems like superintendents are more price conscious than ever. Have your purchasing decisions changed?
When you have your routine, you get kinda set in your ways and settle into a comfort zone. I’m probably as guilty of it as anyone, but these days you have to be careful with every dollar; you have no choice. No one has more money to spend than they did the last year, so you have to look for ways to save.

We use a lot of different brands, there are some products I am always going to use, but it has been well worth my time to have sat down with my Geoponics rep to learn about the line. I’ve ended up using a number of the Grizzly foliars (www.GrizzlyFoliars.com) as a result and have seen nice steady growth from them.

Which formulas have you used, and would you say you had a favorite?
The Carbotein (www.Carbotein.com) has definitely become my favorite. It is so inexpensive that I put it in almost every tank, and I’ve applied it to almost everything around the course. It’s definitely one of the most effective fertilizers I have in my arsenal.

We’ve been told by many users that combining it with non-organic macro-fertilizers causes both products to perform better than they do on their own…
It mixes really well, and having used it with other foliars so often, I would say that I’ve noticed that myself.

Our customers commonly single Carbotein out among the nutritionals. Aside from its affordability, what do you think makes it so special?
My greens are pretty small, so my edges take a beating. I’ve steadily increased Carbotein (Carbotein.com) applications there and in other areas where we get the most damage, like walk-ons and where the mowing patterns are constrained, and over the years the turf just keeps getting better and better, more full and wear resistant. I believe it’s all the plant extracts and amino acids helping the plant with photosynthesis that sets it apart from everything else. I’ve seen it do some amazing things on flowers too.

We get told that about the flowers a lot. In fact, we often end up bringing a case for the superintendent and one for their horticulturalist once it gets tried out on the ornamentals around a course. Thank you so much for talking with us today. If a fellow superintendent wanted to discuss your experiences with you directly, would that be alright?

Sure, I’d be happy to talk with anyone about the company. As I said earlier, the time it takes to sit down and learn about Geoponics is time well spent since the products are absolutely worth the money.

Jeremiah Pierce, Superintendent
Florence Country Club

Carbotein (CARBOTEIN.COM) was first introduced to me when trials were begun at the greenhouse where I work. The salesperson asked me to bring some home to try on my bonsai, which I did. Of course they don’t like anything heavy, and when feeding them you aren’t looking for growth, so we settled on a very low rate. What I observed over time was a denser canopy developing with a deeper green foliage, but with very little size increase, which is just what one looks for. So it has turned out to be the best fertility product I’ve used over the years.

I’ve also been treating my Meyer lemon tree with good results. Like with other plants I’ve seen the Carbotein used on, it just seems healthier and more robust as a result. In fact, its hardiness was recently (summer 2011) put to the test when I was unexpectedly away for two weeks during a wicked heat wave of +100° days, over which it received no water. When I returned home, I was not surprised to see the soil in the planter was dry as a bone, and the leaves had all begun to curl. I’ve been cultivating that tree for ten years now and was very upset that it seemed to be beyond saving. There was nothing to be done but to start back watering and hope. Amazingly enough, by the end of the week it was back to looking fine; it lost maybe 20 leaves, at most, when I had been expecting to lose the whole thing. I attribute its quick recovery and survival to Carbotein (Carbotein.com). We’ve all been really impressed by what we’ve seen it do, and we really appreciate that it is all-natural as well.

Fred Davis
City of Raleigh Greenhouses
Assistant Greenhouse Worker

Interview with Reem’s Creek CountryClub Superintendent Aaron Cape

So how did you first learn of Geoponics?

I was working as an assistant at a course in Myrtle Beach that was trialing Agriox (Agriox.com). A number of superintendents around the area were trying out the new product which you kept hearing was “liquid aerification.” (SoilOxygen.com) I was intrigued by the concept and was very interested to see what effect it would have, especially if it could give stressed out bentgrass any help during the heat of summer. I’m a big believer that you build a healthy plant from the bottom up, so a company that was talking about the value of increasing soil oxygen levels got my attention right away.

And what did you think of the results?

Agriox became an important part of my management program when I took my first head superintendent job in Southern Pines, and it is here in the mountains as well. In each case we’ve seen increased root mass, improved disease resistance and more efficient water uptake. I can tell you straight out that I wouldn’t manage greens anywhere without it. No way.

Sounds like you feel it’s been worth it.

With the peaks and valleys of the economy in recent years, you have to be willing to look outside of the box. I’ve cast aside that old attitude of “You Get What You Pa yFor” because cost effectiveness is about more than that, so you can’t afford to overlook any products just because they aren’t familiar. Now my motto is “Make Every Application Count.” My responsibility as a manager is to get every last bit of value I can out of every budget dollar, and that means instead of getting more for less you have to figure out ways to get A LOT MORE for less.

When it comes to buying Agriox, I know that I’m getting the bang for my buck that I need. When you account for all it does for you, helping you to get better results from all the other things you are doing, it turns out to be very economical.

It’s great to hear that you find the return on your investment to be worthwhile. Can you talk some about your personal experience with the product?

Sure. When I made the move to Hyland Golf Club they told me they wanted to limit core aerification to a single time in June. Summers can get pretty rough in Pinehurst, but I told them I didn’t have a problem with that because there are other things you can do to work on the root system. I felt comfortable saying that largely because I was intending to use Agriox to get extra oxygen into the soil anyway.

So we got the program up and running, and then there was a string of days where the temps were in the 90?s with low humidity and the greens were showing signs of stress. I had been making regular Agriox applications, but decided to go out before I was due to see if I could give them some relief. Well, by that afternoon they were actually looking perky like they do the day after they’ve gotten a flush from a nice rain. That was the moment I knew the product does exactly what Geoponics says it will.

I’m at a different course now, growing a different variety, but the results are still there. In fact, it’s been over a month since I’ve sprayed a fungicide on my greens, so you know I’m confident they are healthy, and that product is a big part of the reason why.

As you know, one of our main goals as a company is to reduce the need for chemical inputs, so that is exactly the sort of feedback we are looking for. Any time we hear success stories like that, where our customers see how powerful an efficiently running soil ecology can be, there’s really no greater reward.

I agree completely. Like I said before, I really feel that a healthy soil grows a stronger plant, and in my mind that is by far the best defense against all kinds of stress. It’s basic agronomics really: if you work from the bottom up, your tops will be enhanced. I have to give my crew the chance to succeed no matter what the conditions are, and the way you do that is by cultivating a resistant and resilient stand of turf.

The other major goal of our company is to improve water use efficiency. How has working with Geoponics impacted your moisture management program?

At the time when I first started using the Agriox product I was putting it out with another popular surfactant mix which was a part of my normal program. Like most guys, I wasn’t looking to change wetting agents, but in talking to my Geoponics reps they kept coming back to the Penterra (Penterra.net) product because of how it was critical to get Agriox into the root zone where it needs to be in order to do its job.

Eventually I decided to evaluate it by putting it into a tough situation and see what it could do, so I did a trial on a fairway which had drainage issues and tended to stay wet. Again, it did just what I was told it would and pulled the water off the top quickly and down through the profile more effectively than any other surfactant.

I’ve used it regularly since then, and its helped me to get a consistency of play across the whole course at a fraction of the cost of what I was using before. It’s really unbelievable how much less it is; Geoponics obliterates the competition on price and rate. There’s a fine line between having too much or too little moisture in your root zone, whether it’s for plant hydration or for nutrient solubility when you apply a fertilizer. Penterra lets me make the adjustments I need to strike the right balance.

I’ll tell you what product is one of my favorites ever: Carbotein (Carbotein.com). And I ain’t lying. It’s part of both my greens and tee program. In fact, I double apply my driving range tee, and with regular top dressing it recovers in no time even with tons of play. The turf density is excellent everywhere I spray it, which provides all sorts of benefits. I treat my fairways with it monthly, and now I don’t need lots of growth regulators, plus I’m seeing savings on gas and cutting back on time spent mowing, which means less personnel down time.

The Carbotein is a full spectrum of amino acids really gets the biodiversity of the microbes in the soil working for you, so we are constantly hearing from customers about how many amazing results they’ve seen as a resultof using it. On every kind of plant imaginable, from roses to row crops, on flowers and ornamental grasses, if it grows in the ground, it responds to Carbotein.

It’s those basic agronomics again, working from the bottom up to build a healthy soil which makes for a more robust plant. I’ll be a Carbotein buyer for life.

We’ve covered quite a bit, and it goes without saying we are so grateful to have been given the chance to earn your business. Is there anything else you’d like to mention about the company or product line before we call it a day?

I’ve been reallypleased with everything I’ve used, but one of the things I’ve liked most about the whole line from the get go is how it allows you to put a program together in a way that fits with the goals you have at a given time, and how adaptable it is to when those goals change. As I’ve played with the products and continued to learn, I keep discovering ways to get more out of them.

It’s exciting really. If you break down those walls of the Old School thought we mentioned earlier, you can get out of some ruts you don’t even realize you’re in. People like myself who have given Geoponics a chance have really seen a lot of good things as a result.

Thank you for saying that. I know you have made recommendations to people to try our products and have gone out of your way to talk to other superintendents about the company and what we are working towards, and we truly appreciate that a great deal.

Well, you’re more than welcome. I’m glad to help spread the word, and if there is any way that I may be of assistance in the future, please let me know.