Columbus, Ohio - At the Ohio Turfgrass Conference and Show last week, Georgia-Pacific and its Nitamin coated sand distributor Fairmount Minerals released results of two recently completed Ohio State University turf studies. The OSU studies demonstrate the benefits of Nitamin coated sand in core aerification and topdressing applications when compared to traditional sand. The results of the research show quicker turf recovery in core aerification applications and improved turf color and density in topdressing applications with Nitamin.
Nitamin is a patent-pending fertilizer that’s effective for turf establishment, topdressing, divot repair and high-traffic areas. Because of its extended nitrogen release profile, Nitamin isn’t required for every topdress application. The patented Steady-Delivery technology ensures that a steady supply of nitrogen is released within the soil, keeping turf green and healthy for months with fewer applications and low risk of turf burn.
“We wanted to determine if backfilling coring holes with Nitamin versus traditional sand would enhance core hole recovery,” said Dr. Karl Danneberger, professor at the Ohio State University’s turfgrass science department. “Our experiments showed that after eleven days, the Nitamin-treated areas showed about two holes visible per plot as compared to about 10 holes per plot on the traditional sand-treated areas.”
The core aerification study was initiated on a three-year-old L93 bentgrass fairway established on native soil and mowed at 0.5 inches. On August 10, 2004, plant growth regulator treatments were applied to the turf at different rates. Three days later, the OSU research team set up three-foot-by-six-foot plots in a random block design and aerified them with 5/8-inch tines. After aerification, the team removed cores and allowed the plot area to settle and dry for three days. Then the core holes were filled with either Nitamin or traditional sand.
To evaluate the effectiveness of using Nitamin in topdressing applications, the OSU team compared it to traditional sand at different rates and judged the results based on color and density.
“We discovered that applying Nitamin at a rate of 1.5 pounds per 30 square feet provided better color and density than traditional sand applied at the same rate,” Danneberger said. “The lower rate of Nitamin applied at 0.75 pounds per 30 square feet also performed comparatively well.”
The topdressing study was conducted on creeping bentgrass turf established on a U.S. Golf Association greens constructed root zone maintained at 0.125 inches. The treatments were replicated three times in six-foot-by-five-foot plots, which were randomly designed.
