Off topic - Divot repair

[Bob Montle]

The manager at my local public course is wanting to add sand/grass mixture to his carts for golfers to use to repair divots.
Can any of you tell me what proportions to use?
He was guessing 50-50 but I would think he would want less than 50% seed.

Thanks,
Bob

[Pete Lavallee]

What type of fairway grass does your golf course have?

[Jon Wiggett]

I suspect the 50/50 was for sand soil. 50% seed would be a little OTT.

[Kyle Harris]

I suspect the 50/50 was for sand soil. 50% seed would be a little OTT.

+1

That would be too much seed.

My old boss used to say that even one (1) extra seed per divot was an improvement. 

[Bob Montle]

The grass is fescue.
Soil is about 2-3" of sandy loam over clay/loam mix

I was thinking about 80-20 sand-seed

[MClutterbuck]

The grass is fescue.
Soil is about 2-3" of sandy loam over clay/loam mix

I was thinking about 80-20 sand-seed

Not an agronomist, but the ratio is more like 99% sand 1% fescue seed, with quick math.


If you assume a large 5cm by 10cm divot and 2cm deep, and a rate of 400 kilos of seed per hectare, 0.04 kilos per square meter, or 40 grams per meter, you need 0.2 grams per divot, that is about 160 seeds per divot.


At 176.203 kilos per cubic meter of weight for the seed and 1600 kilos per cubic meter of dry sand, you can calculate you need just 0.000001135054 of a cubic meter of seed and you need 0.0000988664946 of a cubic meter of sand per divot. That is a 98.9% Sand to 1.1% seed ratio.


In a 1 liter sand bottle, you would need 1.582 kilos of sand and 2 grams of seed.


You can probably double the seed if you want for more density. 






 

[Bob Montle]

Many thanks!
We have decided to start out with 5g of seed per bottle.

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

I wouldn't put any seed in the bottles.


Firstly if the roughs or tees are not fescue you'll potentially have it popping up everywhere as golfers will use it everywhere - more of a concern with bentgrass but something to keep in mind.


A secondary thing is if the seed is left for periods in the bottles it'll germinate and the soil will become clumpy and most likely need to be replaced in the bottles which is a waste of resources.


The main thing with divots is having soil there for the turf to grow into. Ideally you want to replace the divot and add soil around it. The seed generally is a nice to have but in most cases doesn't germinate/gets washed away/or dies before it matures.