Welcome back to the “Turf Management Report” sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This message is being recorded for the week of April 17-24, 2009. This service will continue until October and the messages will be updated weekly. These messages are available in three forms. You can listen to a recorded message by telephoning the local number 519-826-3414 or 1-888-290-4441. The reports are also available online. Just follow this link for Turf Management Updates. They are available as a text document and also as a podcast. The easiest way to get these weekly reports is to go to the subscribe/unsubscribe button at the Turf Management Report web site and subscribe. That way you will get an email and a link each time a new Turf Management Report is posted. If you are interested in subscribing to the podcast, simply click on the podcast button and follow the instructions.
Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act
On Wed. April 22, 2009 the Pesticides Act, which has been amended by the Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act, 2008 and Ontario Regulation 63-09 that will take effect. There are numerous ways to get more information on the legislation. You can go to the Ministry of the Environment’s banning pesticides web site at the related links below. This web site has the Act and the Regulations, the new 11 pesticide classes the warning signs and the new green notice sign and fact sheets for each of the sectors that are impacted by this legislation. You can also telephone the Ministry of the Environment at 1-800-565-4923. This will get you to their Public Information Centre and you can dial 0 to speak to an Information Officer. They will direct you to a Regional Pesticide Information Officer. If you know the telephone number of your Regional MOE Office, you can telephone them directly and ask to speak to the Pesticide Information Officer. A list of all the regional offices and the 1-800 numbers are listed on the MOE web site. For information specific to the golf courses there is a golf course fact sheet under the “What you need to know” section. Information specific to the Golf Course IPM Accreditation can be obtained by contacting the IPM-PHC Council of Canada at tyamada@ipmphccanada.org
GTI Turf Diagnostics
The GTI Turf Diagnostics is open for business for the season. Erica Gunn and Dr. Katerina Jordan are back in the lab ready for turf samples to come in. Information on this service is available at the link below on the GTI web site. You can also email them at diagnostics@guelphturfgrass.ca or telephone at (519) 824-4120 x 58873. The diseases that you can expect to see on golf courses in the next couple of weeks, especially after the rain are Fusarium or Microdochium patch, yellow patch and maybe some anthracnose basal rot that started last fall.
Weather
According to the 14 day forecast, the beginning of the week is bringing clouds and showers and temperatures below seasonal normals. The temperatures will spike on the weekend to the low 20’s, which is much above seasonal normals. The rain will no doubt spur on some turf growth. Things have greened up nicely, but there hasn’t been much growth yet this season. Before the rain began, things had dried up quite nicely and were even getting a bit on the dry side. This helped to warm up soil temperatures, which in turn will promote turf growth.
Overseeding
Turf with snow mould will benefit by some raking to get rid of the matted damaged turf leaf blades, followed by mowing. Try to hold off on fertilizing until late May, especially in areas that received a late fall fertilization. For home lawns, we are in the ideal seeding window now. If areas still have some turf cover, aerating or power raking or regular raking will disturb the soil to ensure good seed to soil contact. A layer of compost can be incorporated into the surface of the turf as well. Seed can be applied with a drop spreader or a slit seeder. If using a drop spreader, a light rolling or raking will also help insure good seed to soil contact. The seedbed needs to be kept moist (this may involve watering three to four times daily). If turf areas are totally bare, just add compost and apply seed with a drop spreader, roll lightly and keep the area moist. With the implementation of the new Pesticides Act, overseeding is one of the key cultural practices to help keep home lawns and sportsfields thick and healthy. If the damage to the lawn is severe or covers a very large area sodding may be the best option.
Winter Injury
As I mentioned last week, there has been some winter injury reported on golf greens. It seems to be localized and not too extensive. As occurs in many years, the annual bluegrass may look ok at first when it comes out of the winter. This spring, the lack of snow cover and very windy conditions in the spring may have resulted in some spring desiccation of the turf. Sometimes this is just superficial and only the leaf blades bleach out. In some cases it is more serious and the crowns of the plants may have been damaged. By now you will know how much damage you have and can start your overseeding program immediately. For successful overseeding, closing the area to play is best. To get good seed to soil contact, aggressively aerate with small shallow tines, verticut or use a slit seeder. Broadcast an improved cultivar of bentgrass that is suited to the site. Keep seed bed moist until seedlings are well established. If possible, cover the greens at night to help maintain the elevated soil temperatures that result from sunny days. Once seeds have germinated, raise the height of cut to reduce stress on new seedlings and keep a close eye out for diseases such as damping off. If damage to greens is extensive, temporary greens might be the bet to insure turf recovery by late spring/early summer.
Inescts
Grubs are up at the soil thatch interface now. In general, not a lot of new grub damage occurs in the spring. It is mainly the secondary damage from starlings, crows, skunks and raccoons that causes the problems. The problem is that grub control is not effective in the spring. This is true whether we are talking about control with entomopathogenic nematodes for home lawn use or pesticides for golf courses and sod farms. For golf courses, sod farms and other excepted areas make a note of areas with grub problems and consult OMAFRA Pub. 384, Turfgrass Management Recommendation.. This publication has a list of pesticides registered for use against grubs and plan to apply those products preventatively against grubs to control the next generation of grubs. For home lawns, sports fields and other non-excepted areas, make a note of the areas with grub problems and apply entomopathogenic nematodes in the late summer to early fall.
Leatherjacket feeding has been going on through most of the spring. Conditions last fall were excellent for leatherjacket hatch and survival. They are still relatively small in size and will put on their big growth spurge over the next month. Whether damage occurs from leatherjacket feeding will depend on how vigorous the turf growth is and how dense the populations of leatherjackets are. For areas on golf courses, sod farms and other excepted areas, consult OMAFRA Pub. 384, Turfgrass Management Recommendation. This publication has a list of pesticides registered for use against leatherjackets. The preventative products are best applied in the fall, but there are some curative products that can be used in the spring. For home lawns, sports fields and other non-excepted areas, entomopathogenic nematodes can be applied to control leatherjackets, however research trials utilizing Steinernema feltiae in late spring and late October/early November did not provide control in one research trial conducted at the Guelph Turfgrass Institute. There is a need for more work in this area to find the best nematode species and the proper timing for leatherjacket control.
Other insects that overwinter as adults such as annual bluegrass weevil and black turfgrass ataenius have not emerged from their overwintering sites yet and are not expected to do so for about three weeks. If the weather warms up substantially, this could occur a bit earlier.
Biopesticides
I have had quite a few inquiries about replacement product for three way mix broadleaf herbicides and glyphosate under the new act and regulations. The list of actives that can be used can be found on the MOE website under the Class 11 pesticides. Currently there is one selective broadleaf active ingredient, Sclerotinia minor. There is one pre-emergent herbicide active ingredient, corn gluten meal. For non-selective weed control there are two actives, acetic acid and fatty acid. There are also non-selective weeding tools that rely on super-heated water or propane flames that can kill weeds. There are also hand-weeding tools available.
As far as weeds are concerned on home lawns, sports fields, etc., it is more important than ever to maximize turf health through proper mowing, fertilizing, watering, aerating and overseeding. A five year study at the GTI showed that by fertilizing regularly four times a year, percent weed cover in turfgrass maintained as a home lawn could be reduced to between 5-10%. – See more at: https://lawnsavers.com/turf-hotline-2009/turfgrass-management-agriphone-for-april-20-2009.html#sthash.KdnVSHE1.dpuf
