20
Appendix 3
Interpreting EC Readings
From Turf Grass
When taking direct
-
insert EC readings in turf grass
with the Field Scout meter, it is often helpful to con-
vert the measurement to the equivalent Saturated
Media Extract (SME) value. This conversion will
vary for different soils. For sandy soils, the expres-
sion:
SME = 2.7FS + 0.8
provides a good approximation. FS refers to the
reading taken by the Field Scout meter. This equa-
tion is the basis for table 1. Table 2 lists a variety of
grass species and the range of EC values (converted
to SME) they can tolerate.
FS
SME
FS
SME
FS
SME
0.1
1.1
1.1
3.8
2.1
6.5
0.2
1.3
1.2
4.0
2.2
6.7
0.3
1.6
1.3
4.3
2.3
7.0
0.4
1.9
1.4
4.6
2.4
7.3
0.5
2.2
1.5
4.9
2.5
7.6
0.6
2.4
1.6
5.1
2.6
7.8
0.7
2.7
1.7
5.4
2.7
8.1
0.8
3.0
1.8
5.7
2.8
8.4
0.9
3.2
1.9
5.9
2.9
8.6
1.0
3.5
2.0
6.2
3.0
8.9
Table 1: Conversion from Field Scout direct readings
(
FS
) to equivalent Saturated Media Extract (
SME
)
values. (
Reference 9:3
. PACE Turfgrass Research
Institute. San Diego, CA)
