Weather
The long range forecast for the coming week is for pretty warm temperatures and a humidex today and Saturday and again on Wed. and Thurs. next week. There is some rain in the forecast, but it is mainly in the form of thundershowers. Night-time lows are going to be in the mid-teens, so the temperatures aren’t going to be high enough for the summer foliar diseases yet, but they will be perfect for dollar spot. Golf courses have finally been able to get in and cut roughs. Some courses went as long as 14-16 days without being able to cut roughs. Trees that were down from the storms last week have been cleared up, but it has been pretty chaotic on golf course turf so far this spring. The weather not only has had an impact on course maintenance, it has also affected the demand for rounds. Similarly, the sod growers are experiencing poor sales because of the wet spring and the inability of landscapers to do much work this spring.
Dollar spot will continue to be active. There was active mycelium found this morning while scouting. There will also be a possibility of some Waitea patch developing. Symptoms resemble yellow patch but they appear during warmer conditions than yellow patch and the yellow ring can progress to form a dead brown ring (hence its other name – brown ring path). There is an excellent factsheet written by Dr. John Kaminski and Dr. Frank Wong on brown ring patch. You may see some signs of take-all patch developing next week. The conditions so far this spring have favoured the development of summer patch. Symptoms won’t be evident for about a month. Another result of the high ET’s is the struggle to keep localized dry spots under control.
Home lawns are looking better now that things have dried out a bit. We are seeing some good recovery of areas that had leaf spot and melting out damage. Also, those pesky seedheads are no longer evident.
If you do encounter a turf problem that you can’t identify, you can always send a sample to GTI Turf Diagnostics. Information on this service is available on the GTI web site. You can also email them at diagnostics@guelphturfgrass.ca or telephone at (519) 824-4120 x 58873.
Dr. Michael Brownbridge from Vineland Research and Innovation Centre emailed me earlier this week that European chafer adults are flying in the Niagara Peninsula. I was out last night and did not see any adult chafers in my neighbourhood, but it is probably only a matter of days now before they start flying.
The annual bluegrass weevil damage is very evident now. The feeding damage may continue to worsen for another week or two and after that we should be in the clear.
More on those caterpillars that I mentioned last week. They are black cutworms. I was 99% sure that they were, based on their appearance, but I was a bit stumped at how early the damaged appeared this year, especially because of how cold the spring was. My crop entomology colleagues confirmed that they were seeing the same thing in field crops and vegetables. If you are seeing what might be black cutworm damage, pour 4 L of water that contains 15 mL of dishwashing liquid on a small area of turf 0.1m2 and wait to see if any caterpillars surface. This soapy disclosure solution will also flush out BTA adults and you can get an idea of how many of those you have also. One of the key cultural practices for controlling black cutworms is to dispose of the clippings away from greens during adult flights. For products registered to control insects on turf in Ontario refer to OMAFRA Publication 384, Turfgrass Management Recommendations. There is an excellent factsheet on black cutworms in turf at the Michigan State Turf website.
Weed control products and timing
Clover and black medick are flowering in home lawns at the moment. All broadleaf weeds are still actively growing and this is still an excellent time to apply a broad-leaf herbicide. Our plots with one application of Fiesta did not make a significant impact on the clover. We are due to apply the second application next week and I will keep you posted about the results.
Just a tiny bit of crabgrass evident on the sides of driveways and other open areas. It is not widespread yet.
Just another reminder of the deadline for posting the golf course 2010 Annual Report– Pest Control Product Usage and associated maps is coming up quickly. Both of these documents must be posted in a public area of the golf course and on the IPM Council of Canada website before June 30, 2011. Golf courses that submitted their 2010 desk reviews in paper form must obtain a user name and password for the Members Only portion of the website and upload their 2010 Annual Report and map before June 30, 2011. For more information, go to www.ipmcouncilcanada.org and click on the Members tab. There is also more information on the preparation and posting of the annual report in the Technical Guidance – Pesticides Act and Ontario Regulation 63/09 Golf Courses posted on the Ministry of Environment web site. In addition, scouting reports can now be created and saved automatically to your account on-line. Log into the members only part of the IPM Council of Canada website, click on Scout Data and follow the instructions.
Kocide 2000 for silvery thread moss control
The Kocide 2000 label expansion with the silvery thread moss control on golf course and lawn bowling greens has received approval. This is the first pesticide registered for moss control on creeping bentgrass golf and lawn bowling greens in Canada. The new label is not on the PMRA website yet, but it should be shortly.
I appreciate the feedback. You can reach me by phone or email at (519-824-4120 x 52597) or by email at pamela.charbonneau@ontario.ca.
– See more at: https://lawnsavers.com/turf-hotline-2011/turfgrass-management-agriphone-for-june-17-2011.html#sthash.rB3c9Oxx.dpuf
