How Does Turfgrass Eat?

When humans are hungry we eat. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t survive. 

Have you ever thought about how turfgrass gets food? In the form of a formula it looks like this: 6CO2 + 6H2O + Light energy → C6H12O6 (sugar) + 6O2.  You might have learned this in high school botany class. This is the formula for photosynthesis.

All plants (including turfgrass) are called “autotrophs” because they use energy from light to make their own food source. Many people believe plants are provided food when nutrients are applied in the form of fertilizer. While a balanced soil and nutrient applications are necessary, the reality is plants use sunlight, water, and the gases in the air to make glucose, which is a form of sugar that plants need to survive. This process is called photosynthesis and it is performed by all plants.

There are many steps in photosynthesis, but the last requirement is an important one because it provides the energy to make sugar. The final step is the Sun!

The energy from light causes a chemical reaction that breaks down the molecules of carbon dioxide and water and reorganizes them to make sugar (glucose). After the sugar is produced, it is then broken down into energy that can be used by turfgrass for growth and repair. 

The bottom line is without sun a plant can’t create food and regardless of what inputs we as turfgrass managers provide, or the management we perform, without sun turfgrass doesn’t survive.

Recently I wrote a post El Niño and it's Effect on Turfgrass Management  In the post I provided data that showed December was the cloudiest December in South Florida since 1940. Recently the same data was released for January. The data (below) shows that January was also the cloudiest since 1941. This makes the back to back months the cloudiest in 83 years!

While it has been a challenge, due to various management strategies we have maintained turfgrass cover on all playing surfaces. Without a doubt, it hasn't been an easy task! 

With the Winter Solstice behind us, (Link to blog entry on Winter Solstice) we'll have the opportunity for another minute a day of sunlight, and with the winter we've had, we will take every minute we can!

#1 Green - Wednesday, February 7, 2024