Welcome to the “Turf Agriphone” sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This message is being recorded for the week of June 1- June 8, 2001.
We have had a couple of weeks now with rain off and on. There has been a lot of new Fusarium patch activity. The symptoms are small (1-4 cm diameter) spots that are bronze in colour. This stage of Fusarium patch doesn’ t look at all like the pink snow mould stage. With more rain and cool weather in the forecast this disease will remain active. Leaf spot is active on Kentucky bluegrass. There is a possibility of “melting out” occurring if we get some hot weather following this cool weather. According to work done at GTI by Dr. Brenda Walsh, we should start seeing the first dollar spot epidemic when irises and peonies are in full bloom. This should be any week now.
Anyone who observed large numbers of adult ataenius should be looking for signs of damage in the next week or so. These areas will first appear drought stressed, but on closer examination of the soil you will see the small white grubs feeding on the grass roots. The damage usually shows up first on collars and the edges of fairways. No more new reports of June beetle activity this week. European chafer grubs here at Guelph are not showing any signs of pupating yet. I think the cool weather has slowed them down somewhat. There have been continuous reports of leatherjackets. The newest location is right here in Guelph. Any of the three turf insecticides can be used to control this pest, however, we are getting close to the time when these insects go into a resting stage and they may not be affected by insecticide. The ideal time to treat is late fall and early spring.
Turfgrass scale adults are laying their eggs now. These scale insects can be found at the base of bluegrass plants. Adult females will have a cottony mass attached to their bodies, which is filled with eggs. These eggs hatch into crawlers around the end of June, beginning of July. For more information on scale visit http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crops/facts/turfscal.htm.
We are in the ideal window for broadleaf herbicide applications. The weather, however, has not been cooperating. All the rain and high winds have made it a bit difficult over the last couple of weeks for lawn care companies to apply herbicide treatments.
Now is still a good time to apply a spring fertilizer treatment to turf that received a late fall fertilization. A 4-1-2 ratio is a good overall ratio for turf at this time of the year. Turf that has been recently fertilized is growing rapidly with the rain. Keeping up with mowing will be a big challenge at this point.
Again, thanks for phoning the Turf Agriphone for this week. The next agriphone message will be recorded on Fri. June 8,2001. – See more at: https://lawnsavers.com/turf-hotline-2001/-turf-agrifax-week-8-2001-june-1st-2001.html#sthash.tQmaxp9d.dpuf
