Hybrid bermudagrass and soil response to liquid aeration compared with hollow-tine cultivation

Liquid aeration products claiming to remediate soil compaction have recently entered the market with minimal supporting research. The objective of our research was to compare the response of plant and soil parameters to liquid aeration and hollow-tine cultivation. Field experiments were conducted during the summer of 2020–2022 in Athens, GA, on a TifTuf hybrid bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt Davy] fairway established on a Cecil clay loam. Treatments consisted of monthly applications of liquid aeration (humic and fulvic acid) alone or in combination with fertilizer or seaweed extract, fertilizer alone, single or sequential hollow-tine cultivation, and hollow-tine cultivation followed by liquid aeration. Treatments containing fertilizer resulted in the greatest normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) measurements, while NDVI readings in response to hollow-tine cultivation were similar to the non-treated check. More soil moisture retention was observed in response to treatments containing liquid aeration and/or fertility. Fertilizer treatments resulted in less of an increase in surface hardness than liquid aeration; however, sequential hollow-tine cultivation reduced surface hardness over time. Penetration resistance was reduced by sequential hollow-tine cultivation, while all other treatments were similar to the non-treated check. A long-term increase in water infiltration was observed in response to sequential hollow-tine cultivation. Increased rooting was observed in response to all liquid aeration and fertility treatments compared to the non-treated check, but the greatest increase was observed in response to hollow-tine cultivation. Liquid aeration does not substitute hollow-tine cultivation for the reduction of penetration resistance or increase in water infiltration.