Lawn Care/Maintenance/Irrigation/Irrigation Extras
| Advantages and disadvantages of watering at various times of day. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Early morning (3 to 8 am) | less disease pressure does not interfere with use better water pressure lower electric rates little wind distortion low evaporative loss |
not convenient |
| Early evening (8 pm to midnight) | low evaporative loss little wind distortion convenient |
increased disease pressure poor water pressure high electric rates interfere with use |
| Midday (11 am to 3 pm) | less disease pressure convenient (?) |
high evaporative loss poor water pressure interfere with use wind distortion high electric rates |
Syringing is the application of a small volume of water near midday to reduce the heat stress of turfgrass plants. It is most commonly practiced on golf greens. Like all management practices, syringing is beneficial under some circumstances and not effective under others. The need to syringe should be examined closely since it requires manpower and interferes with play. Syringing is effective and needed under the following conditions:
Syringing is not needed when the turf is well watered and shows no sign of drought stress.
Wetting agents reduce the surface tension of a water droplet and allow water to infiltrate into soil more rapidly. In many situations soil compaction limits water infiltration and wetting agents will not reduce soil compaction. Wetting agents may improve infiltration slightly under compacted conditions. If compacted soil is the problem, aerification would help the most in improving soil physical properties.
Wetting agents have been shown to be somewhat helpful in coping with localized dry spots (LDS) in putting greens. LDS are small areas of hydrophobic soil that repel water. Wetting agents can help water penetration in these areas. To get the most benefit from wetting agents in treating LDS, the wetting agents should be applied on a regular basis starting before the LDS appear.
Wetting agents can be very phytotoxic to turf. Be sure and apply wetting agents according to label directions.
