New Tool for 2011

One of the latest trends in greens management is the use of digital soil moisture meters. They are a probe that measures the electrical conductivity of the soil and converts that to percent water. The technology has always been fascinating to me being that I like quantitative data, but prices for these units were in the thousands of dollars.

Thanks to a tip I got from a Turfnet member, I was able to buy a soil moisture meter for $195.00. This unit has very few frills, but what I hope to do with it is to establish trends. Trends I hope to establish are what amount of irrigation run time I need to achieve a certain percentage at a certian depth, determine how long a certain amount of applied water will suffice until the next watering, what percentage should we start to hand water before wilting occurs, and what percentage is acceptable after hand watering. If I can establish some positive trends with the device, the unit is priced accordingly so I could by it for all of my greens hand water guys.

The ultimate results will be even higher quality green surfaces and additionally save a bit of water.