Leaching evaluation conducted at Mission Viejo Country Club
Summary:
Kevin Hutchins, superintendent at Mission Viejo Country Club (Mission Viejo, CA) evaluated the impact of leaching poorly draining fairways that have low saturated hydraulic conductivity. The fairway soils run as high as 20% clay and 30% silt. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is less than 0.4 inches per hour (1 cm/hr). Irrigation was applied slowly in attempt to match soil infiltration rates. Fifteen minute irrigation cycles were followed by two hour soaks over the course of three consecutive days. A total of 5 inches (13 cm) of water was applied. The results showed that leaching reduced soil salinity and nitrogen by about 20%, while chloride was reduced by 40%. Sulfur and sodium levels were slightly reduced, but not significantly. This study illustrates the difficulty encountered when attempting to leach soil salts from soils that have low saturated hydraulic conductivity.
Principal investigators: Kevin Hutchins, Mission Viejo Country Club, Larry Stowell, Ph.D. and Wendy Gelernter, Ph.D., PACE Turf
Posted 9/1/08
