For example, Profile Products of Buffalo Grove, Ill., manufactures PPC Green Grade, a porous ceramic material that strengthens root systems, enhances moisture retention and increases disease resistance. The particles are 74 percent pore space, 39 percent capillary (water) pores and 35 percent non-capillary (air) pores. āIf you look at (the particles) under a microscope, they have all kinds of micropores in them,ā Broadbelt says.
They hold water, but once theyāre filled, water drains through them like a sieve. So, youāre not necessarily giving away downward drainage by using the product. āIt does hold water, but not so tightly that the roots canāt extract from it,ā Broadbelt adds.
Mirimichi Green manufactures CarbonizPN, a soil enhancer it markets as an amendment, which, among other things, reduces soil compaction and water needs while also optimizing soil pH. Itās a 50/50 blend of crystallized carbon (Biochar) and a premium organic compost that the company manufactures. Because the carbon portion has a half-life of around 500 years, Mirimichi Greenās chief operating officer Web Cowden describes the product as a āpermanent soil amendment.ā
āIt has a very porous structure,ā he says. āThe process by which we make this is called pyrolysis (utilizing extreme heat to simulate the chemical decomposition of organic material). What youāre left with is a very porous crystalized structure that has a very high carbon content and a very low ash content. It has the ability to hold air, water and nutrients within its pore structure, and makes them available to the plant when they are needed.ā
In addition to CarbonizPN, Mirimichi Green manufactures Nutri-Release, a broad-spectrum liquid organic fertilizer that can be added to the sand/amendment mix as a biostimulant at a rate of three ounces per 1,000 square feet. The two products, when used in tandem, have a significant impact on the soil profile, Cowden says.
āYouāre putting organics, youāre putting long-chain carbon, youāre putting biology into the soil profile,ā he says. āAnd then with the liquid biostimulant, youāre actually feeding the biology that youāre putting into the soil. So, itās kind of a one-two punch.ā
Hole history
The idea of punching holes with water is not a new one. The technology was developed in Sweden and later became the property of Land Pride, a division of Great Plains Manufacturing.
In 2000, Peter van Drumpt and Chris des Garennes purchased the technology, along with the patent that went with it and other necessities, and then making alterations so it would be both reliable and commercially viable. Thus, DryJect was born.
Itās possible to treat 18 holes in a single day, depending on the number of DryJect machines being used on the job. Typically, two or three machines can complete the task, but perhaps four are needed depending on the size of the greens being treated.
The structure of the crystallized carbon, which Cowden describes as resembling a honeycomb, holds air in some of its pore spaces, thereby allowing improved air circulation in areas where the organic material may have accumulated over time.
āThat becomes kind of a home for all the biological activity,ā Cowden says. āAll the microbes have a place to go into these pores. Theyāre protected, they can reproduce and help keep the soil biology alive. Having an aerobic root zone is just as important as having moisture down there. When that becomes anaerobic and your biology canāt survive, thrive or reproduce, then you get a dead thatch layer and everything below it just dies away.ā
The process is catching on with superintendents throughout the country. Chris Tritabaugh, completing his sixth season as the superintendent at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., which hosted last yearās Ryder Cup, first used DryJect in October of 2015 and in May and October of 2016. He used it again this past May. Another treatment was scheduled for Nov. 1.