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 24-May 1st, 2009. If you are tuning in for the first time, 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 the 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.
Pesticides Act and 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 have been changes that affect each of the sectors: golf courses; commercial operator; cemetery; park; conservation authority, municipality, homeowner, etc., 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. This web site has the Act and the Regulation, 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. The web site also outlines the products that can be used for cosmetic purposes. For cosmetic uses only Class 4 pesticide that contains a Class 11 pesticide (biopesticide or lower risk pesticide) can be used to manage weeds, insects and plant diseases on lawns, gardens, parks and school yards. Please consult this web site for the most accurate information on pesticide use. 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. There are fact sheets under the “What you need to know” for all the sectors that are affected by the ban. In addition, 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 Fusarium or Microdochium patch did flare up over the last week, just after the rainfall earlier in the week. We could see some yellow patch and maybe some anthracnose basal rot that started last fall as well.
According to the 14 day forecast is predicting a beautiful weekend with high’s in the mid- twenties followed by a return to seasonal day-time highs of 16ºC next week. The rain last week would have spurred some turf growth if the air temperatures hadn’t been so cold. With the air temperatures warming up, there will be a growth spurt over the next week. 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
For those of you with winter injury, the weather has not been on your side. The very cool spring so far has not been ideal for seed germination. This will probably change drastically over the next week or two with some high temperatures this weekend and some more seasonal temperatures over the next week. For successful overseeding of large areas, 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 the 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.
Insects
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 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 in the fall for the most up to date list of products available. 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.
Leatherjackets are growing rapidly as we speak. The wet conditions so far have been perfect for them. The verdict is still out as to whether or not their will be significant damage from leatherjacket feeding this spring. Whether damage occurs or not 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.
It is still too early for the overwintering adults such as annual bluegrass weevil and black turfgrass ataenius to emerge, however we might see a few adults emerging over the next 2-3 weeks. We now have a new product (Acelepryn) registered for control of annual bluegrass weevil and the timing for applying that is when forsythia are in the half green to half gold stage. At the moment forsythia are just starting to show a bit of yellow. Monitoring primary roughs and fairways edges, especially those that are tree lined will help you determine if the migration is occurring on your golf course. A disclosure solution of soapy water works for this. Mix 15 mL of dishwashing liquid with 4 litres of water and apply on roughly 0.1m2. Treating a swath of turf on the edge of the fairways at this time will hopefully control the adults as they are returning into fairways and before they lay their eggs.
Weed Control
I have had quite a few inquiries about replacement product for three way mix broadleaf herbicides and glyphosate under the new act and regulations. Class 4 pesticide that contains a Class 11 pesticide (biopesticide or lower risk pesticide) can be used to manage weeds, insects and plant diseases on lawns, gardens, parks and school yards. These lists can be found on the MOE website. There is also a searchable database that can be found here. 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 that are available from various suppliers. There are also hand-weeding tools available.
We are coming up to the application window for corn gluten meal for pre-emergence crabgrass control. As I mentioned earlier, the forsythia in Guelph are just starting to bloom. You have until late bloom of forsythia to get corn gluten meal down. For best results either apply corn gluten meal when rain is expected or water the product in.
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-24-2009.html#sthash.yBEjzGRY.dpuf
