Summers at Saticoy are always a struggle and this one is shaping up to be particularly so. I recently submitted fairway and water samples for analysis and the results have me very concerned. After several years of drought, our water is showing even higher amounts of salt than it was just a few years ago. As salts accumulate in the soil, they inhibit rooting and dehydrate the plant. In their weakened condition the stressed plants are very susceptible to disease. This is exactly what we are seeing right now with the
poa in our fairways. The fairway samples show both salt stress and disease. Spraying a fungicide will not help until we alleviate the salt stress. Seeding another grass like rye is an option, but the high salts hinder rooting and lower germination substantially. We continue to experiment with different products on the market that are designed to reduce salts, but have seen little benefit. The true cure is rain. If we have a wet Winter, we will be able to flush the salts from the rootzone, replenish the aquifer with clean water, and germinate some grass that has a fighting chance during the summer. Until then, this summer looks to be a tough one........
