Welcome to the “Turf Management Updates” sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This message is for the week of Sept. 24, 2007. Just to let you know, this is the final turf management update for 2007.
Weather
The soil moisture that we had because of timely rains is almost depleted now on the lighter soils. There are thundershowers in the forecast for Tuesday and scattered showers on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, the hot spell that we have had is moving through, followed by colder more seasonal weather. It is almost October and it feels like August and conditions are still drier than normal for this time of year.
Diseases
On golf courses, from here on in, the main problems will be dollar spot and Michrodochium patch. It is wise to keep Microdochium patch under control to minimize inoculum going into the winter so that snow mould is minimized.
Insects
The last flights of European crane flies are winding down in all areas now. On non-irrigated turf, conditions have not been that favourable for egg hatch of leatherjackets. It may be that leatherjacket populations may be lower next spring because of this. I have had quite a few calls about the best time to treat for leatherjackets. The main period of damage is during the month of May. If damage is beginning to be noticed in early to mid-May, treat before the damage is extensive. This is consistent with the Sevin T&O label which states to treat the later instars. Based on some of the insecticide trial work that we have done, you can get good results if you treat in the spring. This makes it important to make note of areas with large numbers of adult crane flies and to monitor them next spring to determine if treatment is necessary.
If you are in the lawn care business and you have lawns with significant damage from hairy chinch bugs or bluegrass billbug, you may be interested to know about some research into endophytic turfgrasses. A student of Dr. David Shetlar, Ohio State University named Dr. Doug Richmond) performed a set of experiments and found that having 30 to 40% of the stand of lawn grasses containing endophytes is all that is needed to prevent billbugs, chinch bugs and sod webworms from achieving damaging levels. If you are currently overseeding damaged lawns, it might make sense to use endophytic perennial ryegrass.
There is still time to treat curatively for European chafer grubs if you are finding them now. Once we get to mid-late October, which is when the grub damage is usually visible, it is too late. It is important to scout areas that might potentially have grub infestations and treat before it is too late. For areas that were not treated with Merit, that have significant grub infestation, an application of Sevin T&O will still be effective in controlling grubs. Just be sure to follow the label carefully and water the product in.
Weeds
If turf is not under drought stress, you can apply post-emergence broadleaf herbicides now. Be sure to be aware of any municipal pesticide by-laws that might restrict or prohibit herbicide use.
Fall Fertilization
There are two approaches to fall fertilization for turf. One is to apply an application before mid-September and another in late October, early November. The second approach is to apply one application now, at double the normal rate (1.0 kg of N/100m2) now and skip the late fall application. Regardless of which approach you chose, it important to fertilize in the fall to insure quick spring green up and deep root growth next spring
Again, thanks for phoning the turf management update for this week. As stated earlier in this message, this is the last Turf Management Update of the season. These updates will begin again on the first Fri. in April, 2008.
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