Time for some agronomy. Talking and thinking about bent/poa or poa/bent greens here.

Maestro McCormick gave me a pointer to a good discussion going on in the TurfNet.com Forum. Here it is. And a special shoutout to topic starter Chuck Barber. Being brave enough to post your thoughts is how one gets max advantage out of this whole thing. I don't love lurkers. Posters get kisses. Topic starters who actually engage with real thoughts are big time crushes of mine. What I love is the diversity of answers there and really if you read it all, everyone is right.

Because, and we all should know this, there is never just one thing. Never. So the discussion started about Interseeding and then went to chemical use and then some philosophy and then some cultural practices. All correct. Oh and just for fun there was economics as well.

For a long time, the AOG (that's Agronomic Old Guard) has sung a tune about interseeding not working. And that's mostly true when you talk about just happening to drop some bent seed a couple times a year at a pound or so per thousand. Pretty tough to see results with that. Especially if you want to see change. And so, a ton of greens got resurfaced or rebuilt instead. Some to a success. Many to a worse mess. 

So when we really started dropping a bunch of seed, this changed and for sure, a conversion could happen and did. Minimalist Dave to the rescue. Budget saved so that new dishes and treadmills could be put in the clubhouse. And the seed line item budget blown so big the GM may never get off the floor from the concussion.

But the problem is that when we just introduce one element of change (such as interseeding), the results aren't astounding. Now imagine if we did a ton of things that make Bentgrass happy. Just close your eyes and think of some. I'll bet you can come up with ideas like: Water Reduction, Acidification, Growth Regulation, Fertility Targeting, Stop Verticutting, Nitrogen Management, Smooth Rollers Only, Interseeding, Seed Coating, Rolling, Mineral Management and yes, maybe even Herbicidal Intervention. Now, open your eyes. 

That list, which I always find most superintendents pretty much know, is gonna create some success. More than some. And what if you embraced as many of these things like you were dancing not just with the prom queen, but with all the girls at the dance? What if you sat down and really said, "here is my goal and here is how to get there"? Success, Brah! Catch the wave and ride it!

The truth that we better all know as an absolute is that there never ever ever ever is just ONE thing. Never. Did you get that? Never. One more for the encore, "NEVER". 

So if a Super calls me and asks a question a lot like Chuck's excellent question, I'm gonna probably start talking about a bunch of stuff that is nowhere in the same genre as the initial question. And intuitively, the answers are all there. The execution is plantable. The adjustments necessary. The results noticeable.

"If you want twice the success, double your rate of failure"  - Jeffery Olson, "The Slight Edge"

(*note, no monkeys were harmed, used, abused or soul-stolen in the production of this blog post)