EFFECT OF SPECIES COMPOSITION AND MACRONUTRIENT CONTENT ON FOOTBALL TURF RIGIDITY AND ELASTICITY

The aim of the experiment was to determine the effect of species composition on the rigidity and elasticity of football pitch turf. The research was conducted for three years on micro-plots of 1 m(2) at the Toya Golf & Country Club (51 degrees 20'E, 17 degrees 07'N). The variable was M1-M12 lawn grass mixtures with different species composition. Commercially available M1-M5 mixtures were composed with a predominant share of red fescue varieties (Festuca rubra L). Mixtures M6-M12, consisting of bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) varieties, were purposefully composed in the Department of Meadows and Green Area Creation. Rigidity and elasticity determination was assessing the response of sports turf subjected to deforming forces similar to those present during sports events. The assessment was based on a 5-point scale, with 5 points for the highest value and 1 for the least desirable. The highest average rigidity rating was assigned to bluegrass turf and the lowest to fescue turf. In terms of the grass ability to spring back to the upright position after the pressure was removed, the highest average elasticity ratings were also recorded for bluegrass turf, and the lowest for perennial ryegrass turf. However, a high variability in turf parameters at different times of the year was recorded, depending on the mixtures. The average elasticity of grass species, i.e. their ability to spring back to an upright position after compression was removed, was ranked in the following order: bluegrass turf> fescue turf > perennial ryegrass and bluegrass dominant turf > ryegrass turf. Of all macronutrients, calcium affected leaf rigidity and elasticity in a statistically significant way.