Welcome to the “Turf Agriphone” sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This message is being recorded for the week of July 7-14, 2006.
Diseases
I think we had rain in most parts of the province around Canada Day. One thing I do know is that it really perked the turf up, especially the non-irrigated turf. The weather forecast for the next week is for warm temperatures (day time high’s around 28 and night time lows about 18-20ºC). Whether or not this weather results in disease development will depend on relative humidity, rainfall and irrigation management. If the relative humidity is high enough we could see some brown patch, Pythium blight or summer patch development. This is especially true if we get thunderstorms moving through. When temperatures are high, it is a good idea to scout vigilantly first thing in the morning to keep an eye on disease development at you course. The weather conditions will probably be good for dollar spot as well, although it generally is more of a problem when temperatures are more moderate. If you do have disease samples that you want diagnosed, you can send them to the GTI Turf Diagnostics. Information on this service is available at www.uoguelph.ca/GTI/turf_diag
Insects
European chafer adult flights have been heavy for two weeks now. Over the next week, I expect them to taper off. Japanese beetle adults are out now in the Sarnia and Niagara areas. Applications of Merit in areas which had grub damage last fall or this spring can go down anytime now. Be sure to water Merit in within 24 hours. For lawn care operators in the City of Toronto there is information posted on their web site about the use of Merit. See the related links below.
Hairy chinch bug nymphs are still very small and not damage associated with them yet. Every time I am out on turf these days I am surprised by the number of sod webworm adults flying around. This makes me think that we may see a lot of damage from the caterpillars in mid-late September.
I would say, based on the calls that I am receiving that annual bluegrass weevil damage has peaked. If you are finding mostly larvae and pupae, it is still of to treat. If you are finding mostly pupae and adults, it is too late and all the feeding damage has been done. The threshold for damage is 30-80 per 0.1m2. The only product registered for use in Ontario for annual bluegrass weevils is Dusban Turf.
GTI Turf Research Field Day
Mark your calendars for the GTI Turf Research Field Day on Thurs. Aug. 24th, 2006. Information on this event will be on the GTI web site shortly.
Again, thanks for phoning the turf agriphone message for this week. The next agriphone message will be recorded on Friday July 14, 2006.
– See more at: https://lawnsavers.com/turf-hotline-2006/turfgrass-management-agriphone-for-july-7-2006.html#sthash.arHRHoTn.dpuf
