Piper and Oakley wrote that "there is nothing mysteriously beneficial in their formulas" and that mixed fertilizers are "extensively advertised" but "are not to be recommended." Arthur wrote that soil testing is a "commercial gimmick" and that fine turf with clippings collected needs only "a little nitrogen in spring, no phosphates, and very little potash."  I recommend an article I wrote that attempts to explain this in the context of #MLSN.

Blog posts discussed are:

- https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/very-generally-used-not-to-be-recommended/
- https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/jim-arthur-mlsn-and-precision-fertilization/

• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/

I explain why I recommend collecting soil nutrient samples to a 10 cm (4 inch depth). I also discuss the importance of repeated soil sampling in order to check the change in test results over time. I look at a photo gallery from the 2025 Danish Golf Championship.

Posts discussed include:

• https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/recommended-soil-sampling-depth-for-turfgrass/
• https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/a-pesticide-free-golf-course/

PACE Turf post about Vixen 7x stand loupes: https://www.paceturf.org/memberedition/where-to-find-small-magnifying-loupes

• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/

My Short Grammar of Greenkeeping book is one of the required books for turf class at Horry-Georgetown Technical College in South Carolina. Professor Jim Huntoon joined me to discuss the book, why he uses it for teaching, and how the internship (or summer cooperative work experience) program works.

• We discussed this post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/i-wrote-a-book-and-you-can-read-it-this-weekend/
• Get your own copy of the Short Grammar at https://leanpub.com/short_grammar_of_greenkeeping
• For more about the turf program at Horry-Georgetown, see https://www.hgtc.edu/academics/academic-departments/engineering-technologies-sports-turf-management/golf-sports-turf-management.html
• See more from Professor Huntoon at https://www.instagram.com/huntoonjmsc/, https://www.instagram.com/hgtcgolfsportsturf/, and https://x.com/huntoonjmsc

• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/

Janne Lehto from Hirsala Golf in Finland attended the 15th International Turfgrass Research Conference (ITRC) in Japan. We discussed the heat and humidity in Japan during summer, saunas, his golfing experiences in Japan, and the ITRC.

The blog post with information about heat and humidity is: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/japan-hot-humid-latitude/
Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/

John Forrest and Jeff Austen joined me from Western Australia to discuss layers in the rootzone, the educational system and apprenticeships, and sand.

• We looked at photos of layers in this post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/layers-in-the-rootzone/
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/

How do you compare sands to show to what degree one is finer or coarser than another? I've been trying to figure out an easy way to visualize this with comparison to reference materials. Adam Moeller joined me to discuss sands, Ksat, the coefficient of uniformity, particle sizes, and more.

• We discussed this blog post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/sands-coarse-fine/
• This is the Frankly Speaking episode with Norm Hummel that covers fine sands and coefficient of uniformity: https://www.turfnet.com/podcasts/rossi/hummel2/
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/

John Emerson is an extension agent for the University of Delaware who has completed a statewide soil sampling project from good performing turf across the state. We talked about this project, and about nutrient management of turfgrass more generally, in this episode.

• We discussed this post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/good-turf-bad-turf-and-mlsn/
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/

The D50 is a value that represents the median particle diameter in a sand. I calculated the D50 for 302 sands from around the world, and 15% of them are finer than the limit defined by the USGA Recommendations for a Method of Putting Green Construction.

Read about this at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/d50-median-sand-diameter/

• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/

I explain that moving from full sun to tree shade reduced photosynthetically active radiation by about 80%. I show an app, and a PACE Turf document, that will allow you to find both PPFD and DLI no matter where you are located.

I discussed these links:
- https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/shade-and-sun/
- https://asianturfgrass.shinyapps.io/ppfd_by_time/
- https://www.paceturf.org/memberedition/weather
- https://www.paceturf.org/gallery/detail/photosynthetically-active-radiation
- https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/rule-of-thumb-for-cloud-effect-on-par/

Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/

John Petrovsky is manager of USGA Green Section Education. He is also the host of the USGA Green Section podcast. We discussed a recent episode about GvX that had an especially insightful quote from Chris Tritabaugh. Also, the U.S. Open, championship golf, clipping volume, and even a bit about MLSN.

Links for topics we discussed include:

• USGA Green Section Record free subscription https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/green_section_record.htm
• the golf course shown with the Eiffel Tower view is Golf de Saint-Cloud, https://www.golfdesaintcloud.com/
• blog post about GvX and Chris Tritabaugh quote: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/any-kind-anywhere-any-level/
•  GvX post about zero-handling problem: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/gvx-clippings/
•  the SI calculator for soil test levels at any probability https://asianturfgrass.shinyapps.io/turfsi/https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/gvx-clippings/
•  OM246 example reports with tables of normal values by species https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/om246/
•  the GSS summary article https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/RG49P
•  how much OM is too much https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/how-much-om-is-too-much/
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Find out more about soil tests with ATC at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/project/soil-tests/