Green soil temperature is hot, Hot, HOT!!!!

Our green soil temperatures are very hot right now.  As you can see from my temperature gauge, it is pegged past 90.  Once it is over 90, roots do not differentiate a few degrees.  They are beginning to shut down, slough off and die.  Microscopic root hairs which are where a majority of nutrients and moisture are taken up by the plant are completely shutting down and or not continuing to grow or function properly.  Light cooling applications of water help reduce canopy temperature for short periods of time.  Aeration holes like you see in the background allow air into the green soil system and allow moisture out to help reduce temperatures more quickly during cooler periods.

Reductions of inputs to the turf including mowing, increasing height of cut, rolling instead of mowing all help to reduce pressure on the plants during this extreme heat.  Applications of sea weed extracts, growth hormones, humic acid, and light amounts of fertilizer assist the plant in handling stress.

We have gone without rain now since July 12th but my preference for our greens would be to go another week or two before we receive any rain unless the temperatures begin to moderate.  I can increase and decrease the water an needed but lose complete control of the situation when rain falls on the greens.  Over the next couple of weeks, the expectation of quick greens will not be a goal that we will attempt to attain.  The long range forecast for at least 15 days is for temperatures to be above 90 almost every day and upper 90's are being predicted later next week.  If we reach 90 each day for the rest of July, we will be 9 days over the average for July and will have totaled 41 for the year so far which is 1 below the normal for the season with August(average 12.2) and September(average 4.5) still remaining.