Prepare your Croquet pitch for the summer challenge

The transition into May and June marks a critical turning point for the maintenance of croquet sports surfaces. Rising night and daytime temperatures dramatically increase evapotranspiration rates, requiring a strategy that goes beyond conventional irrigation.

To ensure that the field maintains its playability and plant health under these stressful conditions, we focus on three fundamental pillars.

Irrigation management

The summer season is characterised by a considerable increase in day and night temperatures, which results in high evapotranspiration rates. Irrigation uniformities of around 50 - 75% are to be expected. Our aim is to raise these levels to minimise the water deficit, using precision tools for diagnosis. Today POGO offers the best tool on the market for this study.

POGO allows detailed visual mapping and trending of variables such as electrical conductivity, volumetric water content and salinity index among others.

Taking into account that root decline (to a greater or lesser extent is a generalised fact in summer) the presence of surfactants is another valid option for integrated irrigation management.

The use of these products generates a decrease in the surface tension of the water allowing a better “wetting” of the soil and eliminating dry patches.

There are different types of surfactants or surfactants: anionic, non-anionic, polymers, sugar derivatives or humic acids.

Mycorrhizae are one of the most abundant types of symbiosis in the biosphere: they are fungi that interact with the plant and improve the absorption of water and nutrients from the root, allowing the attenuation of water stress in summer. Source: Ruiz-Lozano et al., 1995.

Mycorrhizae can be supplied either through biological inoculation or through organic amendments.

Both Mycoup and Mycoup 360 encourage the growth of the plant's root system, which improves the efficiency of water and nutrient uptake.

Airing

Aeration during this time is extremely important as it is directly related to the availability of water. Aeration with hollow tine equipment is recommended whenever necessary, but general spiking or drilling can be carried out at any time. A spiked roller is a useful tool for shallow drilling.

On some pitches, deeper aeration may be necessary when subsoil compaction is causing drainage or turf growth problems. To ascertain the hydraulic conductivity conditions of your pitch, we at Tiloom recommend using an infiltrometer to reliably determine the infiltration rate on site.

For further information on croquet related topics we recommend Croquet: Technical Standards and Playability Parameters

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions