The Grow In

June 18'

The Grow In

After spending a long week renovating, the task of furiously growing in the pitch to reach a pristine condition begins.

If all has gone to plan and the sun has shone, we should be "match ready" in about 6 weeks. This year, we had germination on the stadium pitch in 6 days. after another week, we are mowing every day.

This years seeding was delayed because of a cinema screening on the pitch. As this would have coincided with the seed germinating, I delayed seeding for a few days so it came through after the pitch was clear.

Cinema screen post renovation but pre seeding

As soon as we are able to get a sprayer on the pitch, we will apply our liquid fertiliser package at a low rate every 7 days, continuously drip feeding until we are happy that we've grown in successfully then drop back to a fortnightly spray of a seaweed and molasses/ trace nutrient application. Granular feeds are applied approximately every three weeks and a slow release every 3 months.

Early signs of germination

We use a wetting agent called Qualibra on the stadium pitch to help the moisture applied spread evenly throughout the profile. this should help to avoid dry areas and to encourage the root system to develop.

Mowing every day continues throughout the growing season, with the height of cut gradually being reduced from 28mm to 25mm after the pitch is a few weeks old. We take care to make sure the plant leaf is cut cleanly as it is a vulnerable time for the turf, with it being susceptible to disease outbreak. With so much sand around the blades sharpness gets dulled quickly leaving the leaf being pulled or torn instead of cut. We have spare mowers being sharpened whilst the good ones are being used and as soon as we need to we can swap them over so the turf doesn't suffer.  

35 days after seeding

With the weather at the end of May and through June being so hot and humid, we have suffered from some disease outbreaks at the training ground during our grow in. We have suffered from an outbreak on 4  different pitches, suspected to be brown patch. Of the four pitches, three had different suppliers seed on them so it wasn't just a certain cultivar which was particularly susceptible.

Pitch 6 with disease

Pitch 6, 8 weeks after renovation

Although I am trying not to spray fungicides, due to the importance and the tight time scale to grow the pitches back in, applications were made to two of pitches most affected. Fortunately, these areas have now recovered and can hardly be seen where the damage was. As we are at the time of year where the turf is actively growing, good recovery is possible. During the winter, a bad outbreak of leaf spot can be more of a problem.

By the end of June, we are getting a pitch coming back into play every week and by the end of July all renovated pitches will be back in use as the Academy will be raring to go.

What to do with all the turf taken off the pitches during the renovation? We are currently levelling this out on unused land on site, so we are able to let it settle and tip on top next year. some of the soil which is collected on our second pass of the pitches is kept aside to dress certain areas like the goalkeepers training area as they don't like straight sand being used as this can cause splash into their faces whilst training.

Levelling of the pitch arisings

Now that renovations 2018 will soon be behind us, we are looking forward to seeing how the pitches perform in training and knowing whether our 6 week grow in has been a success.