From The Ground Up, Inc. MOL News Page 2
Issue 1 February 2004
From The Ground Up, Inc.MOL NewsBY: Gary Grandstaff
I-MOL I-MOL PLUS I-MOL PLUS 2
MICRO-MOL
M-MOL C-MOL K-MOL Z-MOLIssue 2 March 2004
We’re off and running with our second newsletter of the season. Our company is located in Clarksburg West Virginia and services golf courses nationwide. We welcome all questions and comments. You can contact us direct by phone at 304-624-3844 or 304-629-0525 or via e-mail at .
From The Ground Up, Inc. MOL News Page 2
Issue 1 February 2004
From The Ground Up, Inc. MOL News Page 2
Issue 2 March 2004
WEATHER FORECAST
So much for that varmints’ prediction from Punxsutawney, PA! We had about 3 more weeks of winter instead of the 6 that he predicted. Maybe they need to turn that perdictin’ business over to West Virginia’s French Creek Freddy.
“In like a lamb and out like a lion”; we’ll just have to wait and see.
That time of season is quickly approaching when the weather forecast won’t mean much. We all have to be ready regardless what the weather is doing.
We hope that everyone had good luck with the ice cover on greens and tees. I know that if we would have had 6 more weeks of winter that I would have had to relocate either to Punxsutawney or French Creek. Thank the Lord for those Big Miracles!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Dick Psolla is a well-known soil consultant throughout the world. He has been associated with Brookside Laboratories in New Knoxville, Ohio for over 40 years. Dick will be doing an article in our April issue of MOL News. He has graciously agreed to answer a few questions from our readers. If you have a question regarding the use of MOL Products or any other question that would be pertinent to golf course superintendents, please write us at . Space limits the amount of questions that can be answered so Mr. Psolla will chose the ones most beneficial to the superintendents as a whole.
MICRO-MOL
Product In The Spotlight
MICRO-MOL is our own proprietary blend of molasses blended with boron, iron sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese, and zinc sulfate.
Dick Psolla approached FTGU last year to see if we would be interested in making a blend that would fit pure sand or 90/10 greens that start out with no trace levels at all. His “recipe” as he put it would contain nutrients that would aide in achieving a total balanced soil in order to promote total plant health.
MICRO-MOL benefits you will observe during use:
è Promotes healthy dark green plants without excessive growth
è Develops a more complete root system for promoting summer health and winter hardiness
è Stimulates microbial activity
è Reduces and manages thatch
è Stimulates root growth
è Increases tolerance to heat, drought, and traffic areas
è Aids in the formation of a humus rich topsoil
è Improves water penetration
è Improves leaf color
è Enhances cell division
è Aids in the carbohydrate and root metabolism
è Assists in the formation of proteins and amino acids
è Aids in the production of chlorophyll and the prevention of chlorosis
è Aids in the water use and nitrogen assimilation in plants
è Aids as a catalyst of the enzyme system
PRODUCT STATEMENT
The successful or unsuccessful results you will notice from the use of MOL PRODUCTS will depend on various things including how YOU use the product.
1. YOU MUST FOLLOW THE USAGE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY. (3oz. per 1,000 sq. feet in 1 gallon of water - Applied every 7 days.) By spraying MOL products only on a monthly or bi-monthly schedule, you will increase the time period in which you will be able to notice any improvement to your turf. Once you have reached your desired goals for your turf through weekly sprayings, you can then start to cut back on the sprayings and still maintain the same results which you have achieved.
2. The fertility and balance of your soil will determine the time in which you will see results from MOL products. It will take an additional 2-6 weeks to notice a significant difference if the soil is in extremely poor condition and out of balance nutritionally. We highly recommend soil testing in order to determine what is needed for corrective measures.
3. MOL products CAN be mixed with other chemicals in your spray tank. We do highly recommend that you do a “Jar Test” before mixing to ensure that they are compatible.
4. DO NOT MIX DIFFERENT MOL PRODUCTS TOGETHER.
DID YOU KNOW?
Ø At least 70 % of the aerobic bacteria, the ones that need oxygen, work in the top 2 inches of a soil; and that 70% of the humus in a soil is formed in the top 2 inches.
Ø The chemistry has to be right before the biology in the soil can function. The chemistry provides the physical structure of a soil so that it can provide the correct environment for biology. This is why it is so important that the cat ion exchange capacity (CEC) base saturation be known through a soil test so proper corrections can be made.
Ø The concept of feeding the plant is flawed if the shape of the soil is unknown. More application is no assurance that the plant is going to assimilate the fertilizer anyway. For years we were told that we should only be concerned with the major nutrients and lime. The trace elements, or micronutrients, were nothing to be concerned about. Most of the consultants working with the soil balancing techniques agreed with this. They had heard – or possibly even experienced –when the proper amount of lime and fertilizer was applied; thus balancing the soils nutrient requirements, the necessary micronutrients would be there in a form needed for plant utilization. This explanation is only partially correct. It is true that micronutrients are most available for plant use when the major and secondary soil nutrients are properly supplied. A major assumption in such cases is that a sufficient amount of each trace element is present in the root feeding zone, albeit in the wrong form, to be released when conditions in the soil achieve equilibrium. In many soils, even those with proper cat ion balances, this has not proved to be the case.
Ø Another reason for soil testing is so you can have the information of knowing what your soil conditions are! And I repeat: the chemistry has to be right so the biology in the soil can function. Chemistry provides the physical structure of a soil so it can provide the correct environment for biology. The better the organisms in the soil work, the more strength they will confer on the plant. THE SOIL IS ALIVE AND IT HAS TO BE KEPT ALIVE IN ORDER TO DELIVER STRESS RESISTANT PLANTS. When the physical structure is out of whack, or the nutrient balance is off, micronutrient products which generally help to stimulate microbes are not going to do the same job because:
1. The availability and conversion of mineral elements are related to and regulated by the system of decay in the soil. The proper processes are initiated and determined by usually full levels of calcium and reasonable levels of magnesium.
2. A balanced equilibrium of calcium and magnesium create a soil environment for bacteria and fungus activity for the proper decay of organic residues into carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, and a host of many weak and mild organic acids, which are necessary to convert and release mineral elements into the soil system. An imbalance of calcium and magnesium permits residues to decay into alcohol – a sterilent to bacteria - and into formaldehyde which is a preservative of cell tissue.
Ø Please remember there are no shortcuts to a successful fertility program. Without a specific nutrient, any number of programs may postpone the inevitable, but in the end the decline in fertility level will be evident. If allowed to persist, TURF QUALITY WILL SUFFER. Soil testing can detect this.
Ø Use of MOL products will assist in the development of a microbial system that can reduce thatch and provide a means to sustain microbe populations while normal maintenance proceeds with chemical and fertilizer applications that reduce microbe populations. MOL products provide a food source for microbial activity.
Q & A CORNER
(Questions and comments from our readers)
We would like to hear from our readers! Please write us at .
Submitted By:
Todd Gribling, Superintendent
The Timbers at Troy Golf Course
Elkridge, MD
This is my fourth year as Superintendent at The Timbers at Troy Golf Course. The course is owned by Howard County, MD and operated by Kemper Sports Management; designed by Ken Killian/Ault Clark. The Timbers was opened 8 years ago with Penn Cross tees, Penn Links and Crenshaw fairways, and Penn Cross L-93 greens built with a USGA mix.
2004 will be my second year using I-MOL on the course and my first year using MICRO-MOL. Due to the record setting rains of last year, my application of I-MOL averaged about every other week. I attribute the use of I-MOL to my remarkable 8” root depth that was maintained in 2003 during the prolonged saturation. I also believe that the MOL products will continue to maintain my approximate ¼ thatch. I was also able to decrease the amount of fertilizer that I would normally use.
There is an unusual – and unfortunately permanent – disruption to the course this year as the county is finally making good on a promise to lay a now obsolete road (a major commuter artery was built nearby) through the heart of the golf course, placing 12 of the holes across the road from the maintenance yard. The only access is now going to be through 3 new tunnels, which are smaller than the main rough mower and the primary spray rig. The cost of my new, more compact sprayer is somewhat offset by my approximate savings of $7,000.00 (after the cost of I-MOL) from the amount of fertilizer that I was able to decrease. I am particularly anxious to evaluate the changes this spring in the back tees which had more thatch, and in the effects that the new MICRO-MOL has on the growing in of the new green replaced last year.
Distributor Introduction
SPORTSAGGREGATES is a distributor of various products to golf courses, sport fields, and general contracting industries. The company was started in the spring of 2003 and is based in Towson, Maryland. Mike Hutchison and Sports Aggregates was the second firm appointed to promote and distribute MOL products from From The Ground Up, Inc. Mike currently serves lower New Jersey, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and the northern half of Virginia.
Mike has drawn upon his 20-plus years of experience in distribution to concrete repair, specialty, and general contractors to create a company based on product performance. In addition to the MOL line of products, Mike’s main product line ranges from exceptional bunker sand, golf course construction and maintenance sands, gravels, and mixes. It also includes concrete and dam repair products, drainage medium, filter fabric, and specialty stone.
Mike’s experience includes selecting and developing product solutions for such projects as: the renovations to the Pentagon, the Camden Yards Warehouse. Maintenance of the Washington Metro, and restoration of the exterior wall panels of the Mormon Temple in Silver Spring.
Distributor’s
Southern Green Distributing serves all of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Southern Virginia, and Eastern Tennessee.
Mark Goodman
Southern Green Distributing
1323 New Garden Road
Greensboro, NC 27410
336-558-7663
SPORTSAGGREGATES Serves all of Maryland, Delaware, Southern New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and the West Virginia Panhandle.
Mike Hutchison
SPORTSAGGREGATES
1107 Kenilworth Avenue, #310
Towson, MD 21204
240-994-2225
RADEN ENTERPRISES, INC. Serves all of Ohio, Southern Michigan and Western Pennsylvania.
Jim Raden
RADEN ENTERPRISES, INC.
PO Box 26275
Akron, Ohio 44319
In Ohio 800-686-8873
330-730-8878
Manufacturer
From The Ground Up, Inc.
611 Baltimore Avenue
Clarksburg, WV 26301
Tel. 304-624-3844 Fax 304-623-4665
Cellular: 304-629-0525 and 304-629-0527
We are continually expanding and searching for energetic self motivated people to head up different distributor-ships throughout the country. If you are interested contact Gary Grandstaff via E-mail or call him direct at 304-629-0525.
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