Welcome to the turf management update for the week of Aug. 11-16, 2008. I have had some computer problems that have delayed getting this update out. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. We are expecting a little lower than season averages this week with a return to some warmer weather on the weekend, with the humidity building as we get to the weekend. There are scattered thundershowers in the forecast for the next day or two and slight chance of rain on Thursday.
Well the big news over the last week was the rain. It just doesn’t seem right to have such lush conditions at this time of year. Mowing grass is like bailing hay. Poorly drained areas have standing water. Creeks are over flowing and poorly drained greens are suffering. Roots need air to grow and function. If the air spaces in the soil below a green are filled with water the roots aren’t very happy. The change in the weather to sunny windy conditions is sucking moisture out turf plants very quickly. If the turf roots aren’t healthy and functioning these high ET rates can put added stress on turf. This is causing some general and localized off colour areas. It is usually the lower leaves that are dying, which is a typical stress response.
All the rain has been ideal for sod production because sod farmers have not had to irrigate fields. On the down side, this is the normal seeding window and at this point most fields have been too wet to work to get the fields prepared for seeding. They could really stand to have a good week of dry weather to allow the fields to dry out in preparation for their fall seeding.
As far as diseases are concerned, there might be some lingering summer patch. There are a lot of problems related to the excess water such as algae and moss on putting greens. The cooler temperatures and wet conditions have been good for dollar spot. It can be found on untreated fairways and home lawns at the moment. There is also a lot or active red thread because of all the rain. The wet soil conditions are also good for necrotic ring spot and take all patch. Anthracnose basal rot has also been a continuous problem over the last few weeks.
Cutworms continue to be very active. European chafer grubs are developing slowly. There was some bluegrass billbug damage earlier, but this is pretty much over. I think chinch bugs have drowned. A few weeks ago there was some damage, but I don’ t think that it has gotten any worse. We should start to see European crane flies pupating soon.
Weeds are completely out of control. Crabgrass has invaded most thin areas, along with wood sorrel and black medick to name a few. The only option with the advent of the provincial ban will be to apply corn gluten meal next spring. This will control the germinating crabgrass and some germinating broadleaf weeds. This acts as a natural weed and feed. There is also the new biological weed control product Sarritor that should be widely available to lawn care companies next year.
Greens and areas where clippings aren’t recycled could probably use some fertilizer now. With the growth rates that we have had and all the rain, the nitrogen is probably all used up. On other turf where clippings are recycled, you can probably wait for a few more weeks before you fertilize. Any poorly drained greens would benefit at the moment from core aeration and topdressing to get some air into the root zone. This will also help areas with anthracnose basal rot. Contrary to what was first thought, core aeration and topdressing will help turf recover from anthracnose basal rot, not promote the disease by wounding the turf tissue.
Don’t forget the GTI Turf Research Field Day next week on Aug. 21, 2008. Registration information is available online at www.guelphturfgrass.ca. The day begins with registration at 8:30 followed by plot tours and lunch at 11:30. Come see first- hand what the GTI researchers have been up to for the past year.
– See more at: https://lawnsavers.com/turf-hotline-2008/turfgrass-management-agriphone-for-august-12-2008.html#sthash.OegOpY89.dpuf
