COMAND Greens Grade Organics
What is COMAND?
COMAND is a one-of-a-kind specialty soil amendment produced with precise proprietary blends of enzyme-producing microbes, some unique composting methodology, and inventive techniques of maximizing beneficial microorganisms in the finished product. COMAND is truly a bio-engineered, yet completely natural product.
COMAND can be utilized straight, to amend and improve existing soils, or alternatively, can be custom blended with varying amounts of high quality sand to create topdressings and rootzone mixes.
Turf Materials and COMAND® – Exclusive Territory
What Makes COMAND So Unique?
Through many years of research, Harvest Quest developed an inoculum, which accelerates and uniquely enhances the natural biological process of composting.
The use of the inoculum reverses the physics of composting, with initial temperatures being generated on the outside of the piles and the heat front moving inwards. This unique phenomenon allows microbes to increase optimally and results in the creation of very mature and biologically diverse compost.
COMAND is screened to a very fine consistency, which removes woody particles, making it suitable for applying to even the most closely mown turf.
Improved Soil Structure
Organic matter plays a key role in the structural stability of the rootzone. Many experiments have shown that compost improves the aggregate strength of soils. A rootzone without organic matter compacts very easily and suffers from poor aggregation. Conversely, healthy soil maintains pore spaces and has much improved oxygen
transfer and water infiltration rates. The addition of Comand® improves friability, porosity, and water permeability meaning roots can penetrate more easily and find nutrients and water. Reduced compaction and surface hardness, coupled with the benefit of a smooth and level surface from topdressing, can lead to reduced injury risks on sports fields.
Better Water Management
COMAND has the ability to improve the water holding capacity of sandy soils, while at the same time increasing infiltration and permeability. As a result, percolation rates are maintained, making COMAND an important water conservation tool for turfgrass management. The addition of COMAND can provide greater drought resistance and more efficient water utilization, allowing the frequency and intensity of irrigation to be reduced.
Increased Cation Exchange Capacity
Coarse-textured sandy soils possess a low cation exchange capacity (CEC) and adding COMAND greatly improves the CEC of these soils. Cations are positively charged ions such as calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+) and iron (Fe2+). The organic matter in COMAND is comprised of negatively charged particles, which attract and hold, through electrostatic forces, the positively changed ions. This enables the soil to better absorb and retain nutrients in the root zone while reducing nutrient losses through leaching.
Provides Slow-Release Nutrients
COMAND contains a considerable variety of macro and important micronutrients. Since COMAND contains stable sources of organic matter, these nutrients are supplied in a slow-release form. When compared to commercial fertilizers, on a pound-by-pound basis, COMAND has far less nutrients and is not characterized as a fertilizer. However, COMAND can have a significant cumulative effect on nutrient availability and existing fertilizer program inputs can typically be much more effective.
Provides Soil Biota / Thatch Reduction
COMAND provides Actinomycetes (enzyme-producing bacteria) and fungi. These groups of living organisms are essential in productive soils and serve a critical function metabolizing nutrients. They also play an important role in the decomposition of organic material (debris), inducing the breakdown of the turf’s thatch layer.
Thatch forms a layer in the upper root zone and restricts the percolation of water and movement of air. This coupled with compaction, can result in anaerobic conditions, leading to very shallow root systems, drought stresses, and disease pressures.
The microbial colonists in COMAND can consume thatch, converting it to humus and plant food. Strictly speaking, Thatch is ‘organic material’ (largely undecomposed), whereas COMAND is ‘organic matter’ (decomposed, stabilized and partially mineralized). In practical terms, the degradation of thatch (organic material) and its conversion to humus (organic matter) and humic compounds provides the turf manager with a host of practical benefits, potentially saving work time and costs whilst improving the playing surface.
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