Experts explain about the yellow withered grass in My Dinh yard

On the morning of December 26, Director General of the General Department of Sports and Sports Dang Ha Viet shared that the grass of My Dinh yard was not green and beautiful due to lack of sunshine and frost. This creates a lot of debate, but for experts who specialize in lawn care, Mr. Viet's share is reasonable.

Mr. Khuat Duy Ta, who has experience in lawn care for Hang Day and many golf courses in the northern region, said that frost when the outdoor temperature is low causes the most damage to the grass, so taking care in winter is the most damaging. and spring is the hardest. "The water in the grass is frozen, breaking down the cells, the plastic ducts," he shared. "The next day, when the sun rises, the water evaporates, the grass temperature drops suddenly, destroying the cell mechanism, leading to wilting, burning and atrophy."

According to a survey by MetaSports, not only My Dinh yard, the phenomenon of yellowing grass also occurs at Hang Day yard (Hanoi), Lach Tray yard (Hai Phong), PVF (Hung Yen) or Thien Truong (Nam Dinh). the last cold days.

The above yards are all in the northern area and use Bermuda conifers. In professional football, there are usually two types of natural grass. In particular, coniferous grass (Bermuda) is a high-class but expensive care cost, while large-leaf grass (ginger leaf grass) is cheap but spoils quickly and makes it more difficult for players to compete.

Currently, domestic leagues are not playing, so some clubs such as Hai Phong, Nam Dinh ... take advantage of the repair of the pitch. Meanwhile, Hang Day yard maintains daily care due to the previous renovation in mid-2022.

According to Mr. Ta, under the frosty weather, the yards need to be watered for about 10 minutes in the early morning before sunrise. In addition to adding water, this helps wash away the frost layer on the grass surface, limiting the damage of the grass when the water evaporates in the sun. In the evening, the yard can be watered again to increase the amount of moisture in the soil and improve thermal conductivity.

"The best fix is ​​to build a covered field or have a turf heating system like the European teams, but the installation and operating costs are high, often more suitable for countries with snowfall. Easy method. and the most effective method used for many years is watering, but it only reduces the damage, does not help the grass to completely avoid yellowing, "said Mr. Ta.

Before that, during the practice session on December 24, the Vietnamese team's coaching board noticed that the surface of the My Dinh field was more subsided than usual, so it was recommended that the players use iron spikes to increase grip. According to Mr. Ta, this can be overcome by rolling back the yard with a roller. "Under the grass is a layer of black sand, like Hang Day yard about 30 cm high," he said. "Where there is subsidence, use a beam machine, or add sand and then roll it back".

The care must take place regularly every day with a basic cost of about 500-700 million VND per year. Mr. Ta shared: "The yard care includes some basic steps such as pouring sand, leveling the ground, fertilizing, spraying pesticides periodically. Now modern machines should be faster. If there are weeds, We have to pull it out. The grass is also trimmed to a certain height depending on the competition. Like in Hang Day, we cut the grass to 2cm high but with the golf course, it's only 1cm."

In addition, he suggested that about a week before the match should avoid holding events such as concerts.

Also in yesterday's press conference, Director General Dang Ha Viet affirmed that My Dinh yard does not lack funding for care. Besides, the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) has checked and evaluated the field to be eligible to play, and the Malaysian team has not complained about the pitch.

Vietnam will face Malaysia at 19:30 today, December 27. This is the first home match of coach Park Hang-seo's team at the AFF Cup 2022.