Chris Walden, superintendent of Misty Creek Country Club in Sarasota, Florida, said he was skeptical at first when one of a slew of sales representatives came into his office claiming to have a superior wetting agent. It didn’t take long for Chris to change his mind about Geoponics products, he said.

Can you tell me a little about Misty Creek, the turf and soil conditions there?

Misty Creek has Champion Bermuda greens and the rest is 419 Bermuda. We have USGA greens. The soil is a mix of sand and a clay-type material.

Chris didn’t highlight the fact that Misty Creek is also the only champion golf course in Southwest Florida that is set in a wildlife preserve with resident eagles and live oak forests bordering almost every fairway. It is recognized by Audubon International for its environmental excellence, designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

When and how did you first discover Geoponics products?
A Geoponics salesrep came in telling me all the positives about the products. At first, I was skeptical. Everybody talks about their wetting agents being the best. I get bombarded with 20 sales agents.
The thing that impressed me when I first agreed to try the Penterra was that I said to the Geoponics sales rep, “OK I’ll spray it, but you got to come out the first time and see how it works with me.”
He came out at 5:30 in the morning.
(laughs) He talked it so much. Actually I think it was him who said “If you want, I’ll come out with you.”
So, I called him on it and sure enough he shows up at 5:30.

What results did you see with the Penterra?
When it comes to the Penterra, what the sales rep said it does, sure enough, it does.
I saw results immediately with the health of the greens and water movement.
I started using it in September 2011. Sometimes, the greens will seal up and in two to three minutes of watering, it will puddle up in some places. The rep said “You put this out there, you won’t have that affect after irrigation.”
And it’s true. Other products weren’t pulling the water through the way I wanted them to.
There are a few products that cost less and there are products that cost more, but for the price per acre with the results we are getting, it’s a great deal. It’s well worth it.

Any other unexpected results, how about cold weather?
Oh, yes. We had a cold snap two days in a row. We knew it was coming, so we sprayed the Penterra the two nights before. We had a good frost too and the greens weren’t touched at all. The Penterra kept the frost off the greens. (www.TurfFrost.com) Not all wetting agents have that capability.

Learn more about Geoponics products with this one-page product guide to get started.

Matt DiMase Superintendent of Spanish Wells Country Club in Bonita Springs, Fla. shares how Geoponics products have helped the golf course he manages through several challenges and a recent upgrade to winter rye grass.

According to Matt and the local daily newspaper, The NewsPress, members are seeing the differences too and are very pleased.

Can you tell me about Spanish Wells, the golf club, as well as the soil and turf conditions here?

Spanish Wells was built in 1979 by Gordan Lewis. It’s 27 holes. The latest 9 holes were built in the mid ‘90’s, so we have a wide variety with a 30-year old course and a 15 to 16 year-old course.

Our greens are Tift Dwarf, our fairways are 419 Bermuda Grass and our tees are 419 Bermuda Grass and our roughs are common.

This year we decided to overseed our tees, rough, fairways and collars with a three-way blend of Winter Rye Grass. We did that in mid-to late November.

Have you had some recent challenges?

Yes. We’ve had some recent challenges to say the least. Our soil conditions are not the best. We have some areas that are extremely sandy and then we have some areas that are high organic, completely compacted. We have black layer in areas. There are 170 acres of turf, give or take, and there is a wide variety of all types of challenges.

When did you discover Geoponics products?

I discovered Geoponics when Escalante came in and bought the club in March (2011). There was some product sitting on the shelf that I’d never seen or heard of. I looked at the label and called the number. The sales rep came out and explained the product and how it worked. It was Penterra, the wetting agent.

What made you decide to continue with Geoponics, since it was already here?

Yeah. It was already here. I had never used Geoponics products before. I had always used the big dogs’ products, if you will. I had nothing on the shelf except that product, so I said “let’s see how it does and how good it is.” I was surprised by the results, to say the least.

We were able to keep more moisture and save water at a time where water is very valuable—in the summer months. So I stayed with it. It never did me wrong and I saw some great results. I figured why switch.

What stood out compared to the other products you used as a superintendent at other courses?

I would say the value, results and the longevity between the applications. There were some wetting agents where I was going out every 10, 12 or 14 days. With the Penterra I was going out with 2 quarts an acre every three to four weeks. So I was getting better longevity and value out of it.

What other products have you used?

I used the HydraHawk, which I was spraying on the fairways as well as on some slopes on the golf course. The HydraHawk became like a religion for us. We went out every three weeks in the summer months, depending on some areas, maybe every two weeks. We were going out wall-to-wall chasing hot spots. We had a lot of hydrophobic areas. A lot of areas that water did not want to penetrate. We tried the Hydrahawk and I was very pleased with the results.

We used the Agriox on the greens mixed with the Penterra. I figured I was seeing good results with the first two I tried, so why not try another one.

I also used the Humawet and HydroGro during our overseed this summer. I only sprayed that on our tees. We then started our irrigation program. We weren’t closed during our overseed like some of the higher end clubs get to do. We were open the very next day, or that afternoon. I saw germination as quickly as three days after spraying the tees, which helped us get that seed established. It was able to take a beating, if you will, from the golfers. Right now our tee boxes look pretty good.

We were still in the low 90s and our night temperatures were a little off for us. I wasn’t expected it to germinate so quickly, so when I saw it, I was pretty pleased.

Did you save any money? Save any water?

I would say every superintendent for the most part, and especially in Florida, South Florida too, battles water, water usage and water management. One sure way to manage water is with wetting agents, Penterra, HydraHawk. There were 97 degree days where I would spray Penterra or HydraHawk in the morning, run my watering, and know I’d be fine throughout the day and could miss a day or two days of irrigating. Over a course that’s 170 acres, that’s saving 700,000 gallons of water a night. So, I would highly recommend other superintendents, depending on your soil and what you’re battling, whether clay, sandy loam, definitely give these wetting agents a try.

Which was the first Geoponics product you tried and what did you see from it?
The first thing I tried was the liquid fertilizer Carbotein (www.Carbotein.com). Everything I’ve put it on has turned out looking really, really great; leaves are glossy, the foliage is a nice deep green. The plants we treat with it just look robust and healthy. I know it kinda sounds funny, but the best best way to describe it is to say the plants look fake they look so good. It’s important to mention that with all the results you see from it, one thing you don’t get is excessive growth.

I’ve been running my own landscaping business professionally for 10 years, and I look at my job and my life the same way, I keep it simple. I can look at a plant and tell if it likes the food I’m giving it, and all the ones I’ve used Carbotein on have looked like they were having a blast! After seeing what it can do, I think of it as a vitamin shot with super steroids. It’s a great product, it’s not expensive at all, and I’m definitely going to keep buying it.

That’s fantastic to hear. Can you tell me some more about the results you’ve seen since you began using it?
Because we service a high-end clientele that tends to have lots of ornamentals, I’ve had a chance to see the product in action on a broad range of plants, and I can confidently say I have seen a drastic change for the better everywhere it’s been used. Keep in mind our flowers have always looked good, so the amount of improvement we’ve seen is absolutely amazing.

Pansies are a great example. I planted 42 flats at my house alone, and you know everybody on my road has pansies, but mine look amazing by comparison and absolutely dwarf theirs. Those things are just slam-loaded down with blooms, but not leggy at all they way they can be. Like I said before, it almost looks like someone has stuck a bunch of artificial plants in the ground they look so perfect. The Camellias I sprayed are nice and thick with lots of blooms as well. Same with the Lantanas, Dragonwing Begonias and Coleus we have treated.

As an experiment I did a root injection on a Crepe Myrtle after it had flowered, and it put out a second set of blooms. That just doesn’t happen, so you know the Carbotein (www.Carbotein.com) was really making that tree happy. I also started a new stand of fescue in the yard this year, and I’ve only used the Carbotein twice, and the grass is so thick it’s like carpet. The neighbors are shaking their heads and asking me to quit making them look bad.

WOW! Obviously the outwards effects are substantial, but what about upkeep, have you noticed any change in the care these plants require?
One thing I did noticed was that all summer long, even with long stretches of triple-digit temperatures, the beds I maintain just didn’t need to be watered as much I would have expected, and the only thing I’d done differently was use the Carbotein. I’m using less fertility now in general too because you don’t need to push a bloom buster if the plants are as full as the ones we’re growing.

Excellent. Speaking of water, I understand you have been using our soil penetrant (www.soilpenetrant.com) on lawns suffering from compaction issues. What have you seen? (See Video on Geoponics.TV)
I’ve used Penterra (www.Penterra.net) on a number of yards where the ground was hard as rock, and afterward there is a night and day difference, especially when it comes to being able to get a good plug when aerifying.

I have one non-irrigated yard that really was like a brick back in August (2011) when we had all the high temperatures. I coated it well at the high label rate of 2 quarts per acre, and then we got a good overnight rain the day before we ran the plugger. We couldn’t believe it, but the machine actually started to sink into the ground! There hadn’t been enough rain to cause that under any circumstances, let alone on a yard that compacted, so it had to have been the Penterra. I was just amazed. I had a hard time even explaining it to the homeowner because we were both shocked by what we were seeing.

Another customer had the opposite problem; drainage was just terrible in his yard. Plants were dying all over the property, and when we pulled them out the roots would be dripping with water even though it hadn’t rained. We tried Penterra and after 3 treatments, lo and behold, there are no more issues. The water is moving down through the earth now. If those treatments hadn’t worked the next step would have been to go in with heavy equipment and do a bunch of regrading and rebuilding of the beds, so a few dollars worth of chemical saved my customer literally thousands of dollars. And I was glad because I didn’t want them to tear up his yard and make a bunch more work for us.

Again, it was such a remarkable result that if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed it. That product has given me a level of control over soil moisture (www.SoilSurfactant.com) that I didn’t think was possible, and I get the feeling that we’ve only scratched the surface of what it can do.

Are there any other products you would recommend to other landscapers?
When we spray a 3-way product that will yellow the fescue I go out with the Grizzly Foilar Iron (www.GrizzlyFoliars.com). It does a wonderful job of hiding that at a lower rate than what we had been using before, so that’s definitely worth a try if you want a quick green up.

The one product that I am most interested in at the moment is the ENDURANT (www.TurfPaint.net) Pine Straw Refresher. I’m doing a trial evaluation of that one now, and three months after spraying it the test bed looks like we laid it yesterday; after it rains it looks especially good. Originally I was thinking we’d treat old material that had lost its color since it would be a good way to save my customers a little money while buying some time so my guys could be doing other things than bringing in all new pine straw, but at the time I got my sample we didn’t have any places to try it. I’m glad we didn’t too, because now I’m thinking we’ll get a better end result by starting fresh.

Sounds good. You’ll have to be sure to let us know how that trial bed holds up compared to untreated ones. Is there anything else you’d like to say about your experiences working with Geoponics before we finish up?
Some products you use because they let you keep things looking the way you want them, they help you maintain a certain standard, but when you find one that helps you to make improvements while doing the same amount of work, or even less, then you’ve found yourself a winner.

Bottom line is, when you get the kind of results where homeowners can see the benefits with their own eyes, that keeps you customers. Actually, it gains you customers because they turn around and tell people about it. That’s been picking up for us since we started using the Geoponics stuff, and I know it’s going to keep happening more and more, so I plan on sticking with these products. I would absolutely recommend other business give them a try because I’ve been really impressed by what they’ve done for me.

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

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.

Geoponics sits down with Superintendent Tim Haskins of The Quarry in North Naples, Florida to discuss the fast results he experienced with the Geganics Program. Geganics gets its name from combining the words organic and Geoponics. The Geganics Program provides sustainable turf fertility with moisture management, nutrients and several other benefits.

Learn about Geoponics products with this one-page product guide to get started.

Geoponics: Tim, can you tell us a bit about The Quarry?

Tim Haskins: The Quarry is nestled in about 830 acres of preserves. We have about 320 acres of lakes out here—the big thing being the 275-acre stone lake, which is kind of our center piece of the property. It was actually a working Quarry back in the day. So we actually have a crane that was left on one of our holes in the back that kind of pays homage to what was here in the past.
We have a great amenities center. We have our own beach. We built our own beach here on that lake. So we actually have a beach club on the other side of our club house, which houses all our tennis facilities, fitness and a restaurant over there. It’s a great amenity for the members that live here. All the members, all the residents that are connected to that lake have boat docks. So, they have the ability to boat out here.

The golf course is designed by Hurdzan-Fry. We’ve hosted the past two years of the ACE Group Classic.

Geoponics: What type of turf does the course have?

Tim: We are wall-to-wall SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum.

A bit about SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum:
• SeaDwarf® Seashore Paspalum needs low fertilizer, low nitrogen and can be treated for weeds with table salt. This saves time and money and helps the environment by putting much fewer chemicals into the ecosystem.
• Requires up to 50 percent less water than bermudagrass.
• Can be irrigated with recycled water.
• Has much less nitrogen run-off than many other turfgrasses because less nitrogen is used for fertilization.

Geoponics: Has the turf always been this way or was that a change?

Tim: That was from the get-go. The developer looked at it as a great tool for environmental sensibility. The attributes of Paspalum, requiring less water, less fertility really hit home with the theme they wanted to go with by trying to be as sustainable as we could be. So, that was the first step, choosing that turf.

Geoponics: How did you first discover Geoponics?

Tim: Really it was just a cold call. Somebody came in. We sat down. Certainly I liked the products. I liked what the sales representative had to say. He had really good information, great back up. It was really nice because at that time it was a situation where he said, “Ya know, I’m not trying to sell you anything today, but let’s try some products out here.”
I’ve got a lot of products out here that I try and I just never got to see the results that I’ve seen with Geoponics products.

Geoponics: When you learned about Geoponics products, given the type of turf you are using, did you think it was a good fit?

Tim: It wasn’t really about the turf. It was more about the soil and what was here before we put the turf on it. Because having been a quarry and sort of abandoned land, the soil really wasn’t sweetened so to speak. So, you know, we struggled for the first couple years with a lot of moisture management issues, disease issues. Paspalum is famous for disease pressure. So, it was more about how we can better the golf course as a whole, not just the turf. Obviously, at the end of the day, the turf benefits from it, but unless you have a good soil structure and you’re doing everything you need to do under the ground versus on top of the ground, you’re never going to win.

Geoponics: You said Paspalum is susceptible to disease, what are some of the diseases you’ve had to deal with?

Tim: For the first couple of years dollar spot was really bad. I worked really closely with the Geoponics rep. Paspalum, because of the density of the turf, really holds a lot of moisture. What was happening was we just couldn’t get that moisture to flush through and being able to work with Geoponics gave me the ability to flush it down so nothing was sitting up on top.

The other real big disease I have is Rhizoctonia (also called brown patch) and we’re still working on that one. Moisture management is a big part of everything.
Typically, it’s yellow rings. You start to see thinning of the turf. If you don’t catch it fast enough, obviously death to the turf.
Sometimes we get these wet, cloudy days with high humidity, high temperatures, you know, you’re just praying for sunlight. Anything we can do to alleviate those conditions and strengthen the turf, that’s what we’re trying to do.

Geoponics: You’re now using the Geganics Program on your fairways, right? As a superintendent, can you share with us what changes took place?

Tim: Again, I was a little leery at first about the whole program. When you’re sitting here talking to someone, it makes sense, but until you actually get out in the field and see it work. I can tell you that after spraying that I was on the phone going “Wow. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

The program, with the moisture management in there, I’ve seen less peaks and valleys with hot spots and that sort of thing. There are two products that I change, Penterra and HydraHawk. When it’s the summer and we’ve got heavy rains, I’ll stay with the Penterra to push water through. Versus, say in the winter time, when we’re in kind of dry conditions, I’m using HydraHawk to actually hold more moisture in there. So, it’s nice to have that flexibility, but the fertilizer part of it. I’ve used a lot of different products.
Paspalum is famous for its dark green color. I mean it looks like you’ve overseeded out here in the winter time and I’ve never seen too many products have an affect on color and this product did. It’s noticeable within an hour or two. My members see a noticeable change.
I’m in a much better spot this year from last year in terms of my color, my density, my moisture management.
When I do have situations where an irrigation head doesn’t come on and we don’t notice it right away—because really until it starts to brown out you really don’t know. It’s quicker to recover than it normally would be. So a lot of pluses with the Geganics program.
We’re getting three or four weeks out of the longevity of the color, which is fantastic. Last year, we actually used a pigment on the fairways just to add a little bit of color. We won’t have to use that this year because of the program. There’s no reason for it.

Geoponics: It seems like you’re very pleased with the Geganics Program. How do you feel about the service you’re receiving from Geoponics?

Tim: The service has been great. From day one, again, I’m not a big fan of cold calls, but for that representative to come in and give me the information that I needed, for me it’s nice. He’s available almost 24/7. There’s not a time where I’ve picked up the phone or shot an email or a text and haven’t gotten some kind of a response. Sometimes just stopping by. It’s been fantastic, just the information, the knowledge that the representative has is key when you’re out there looking at a problem. It’s not a situation where the representative will just spout out something if he doesn’t know. He’s very honest. He’ll say “give me a day let me research this. Let me find out because I’m not 100 percent sure. I know I’ve got a product for you, but I’m just not sure which one.” So, it’s not your typical “I’m just trying to sell you something.”
They’re more interested in making the product work to everyone’s advantage than just selling a product.

Geoponics:Anything I didn’t ask that you think might help other superintendents and turf managers in addressing their challenges or understanding this program?

Tim: Every golf course is different. Microclimates are really different from hole one to hole three. It’s just the way it is.
I think if superintendents are really looking into moisture management and the new sustainability issues that are out there with the issues we have with water restrictions it’s only going to get worse. Superintendents really have to start planning now instead of later and these products will work. There are tons of products out there. For me though, these products really work. I haven’t seen the results with other products that I’ve seen with this. So, it’s highly recommended. I don’t see me getting off it anytime soon. It’s not to say I won’t try other things to see if they may work, but why mess with something that works?
Sustainability and water management are just going to be huge and it’s not starting next year. It started two years ago so we have to be proactive and get on the proverbial band wagon if you may.

In two days, I was just like wow. Everything just looked vibrant. Wow. They just looked good. By the end of the week they just looked fuller. They just had a great healthy look to them. I put it in my program every two to three weeks.

Golf course superintendent Alan Lichter is amazed with the results he has seen from products found at SoilSurfactant.com
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