Throughout the Southeast, and especially Florida, I am seeing more and more issues with roots and root health. Roots are what helps carry turfgrass through stress periods. When looking at living roots, especially on putting greens, some important things to consider and record are:

Root appearance – Are roots uniform in diameter or are they malformed and swollen?  Are they white to yellow or brown to black? Do they have feeder roots or are the feeder roots small nubs?

Root length – Are the living white roots long or are they concentrated in the top one-half inch of thatch and soil? Ideally, there should be several long roots in a small core sample.

Root density – Are the living roots dense underneath the turfgrass core sample or are they sporadic and confined to the organic matter layer?