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 16 – 23, 2006.
Well, we are back to hot dry weather in the forecast for the coming week. There are chances of thundershowers on Tues. and Friday. The dry conditions are starting to take their toll on many turf areas. Here at GTI, which is virtually a gravel pit (we have very good drainage and little water holding capacity – non-irrigated turf is definitely under moisture stress and some is going into dormancy. Because of the dry conditions, last week was very quiet in the GTI Turf Diagnostics Lab but that could change this coming week. The temperatures will be right for many diseases, but whether or not they develop might be determined by the percent relative humidity. Some possibilities include brown patch and anthracnose. According to the current weather forecast, the night time temperatures are to remain below 20ºC, so hopefully we will not see Pythium blight. Be aware however, of microclimates on your course that may stay hotter at night than other areas and keep an eye on them or perhaps treat them preventatively. 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
As far as insects go, I expect this week to be the calm before the storm. We are expecting to see damage from annual bluegrass weevil, black turfgrass ataenius in about a week or two. Damage from hairy chinch bugs should be in 2-3 weeks. I think European chafer adult flights will begin this coming week with the nice warm evening temperatures. As usual, you can observe them at dusk popping out of the grass and mating in near by trees.
I have had a few more inquires this week about controlling turfgrass ants. They can usually be found just at the perimeter of a sand based golf green. There are three products labeled for ant control, Dursban T, Sevin T&O and Demand. Demand is a new turf insecticide registered for use on ants only. Read labels carefully for application rates and other application instructions.
I think that broadleaf herbicide applications should be suspended for now. It is getting too hot and dry and the weeds are no longer actively growing. The crabgrass germination will get another boost with the hot weather coming. At this point you probably need to change to Acclaim Super.
Just a note on the moss treatment trial from last year. The Kocide 2000 and the Greenleaf Rapid Green both did a good job at killing the moss. In the spring there were patches up to 4-8 cm in diameter of dead moss. With a bit of fertilization, the turf has filled all but the very large patches. These dead moss areas could easily be plugged out and replaces with bentgrass sod from a nursery on a golf course green. The experiment was a success and details will be available in the 2005 GTI Annual Report shortly.
Again, thanks for phoning the turf agriphone message for this week. The next agriphone message will be recorded on Friday June 23.
– See more at: https://lawnsavers.com/turf-hotline-2006/turfgrass-management-agriphone-for-june-16-2006.html#sthash.hPp4pCc9.dpuf
