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Publications
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Turf Agrifax - Week 5, 2001 ( May 11th, 2001 ) |
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Welcome to the "Turf Agriphone" sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This message is being recorded for the week of May 11-18, 2001.
Rain is falling here in Guelph at the time of recording this message. It is really needed. According to the weather data from Ontario up to May 8 we have received about half the rain from last year. Our growing degree days are higher than this time last year. We have had good temperatures for turf growth, but moisture has been the limiting factor. The dry conditions have caused some browning of the shallow rooted grass species such as rough bluegrass and creeping bentgrass on home lawns. Expect a bit of a surge of growth after the rain.
The dry conditions have meant that there are virtually no disease problems to speak of at the moment. If we do get a few days of rain, expect to see some leaf spot and possibly some red thread. There may be some Fusarium patch activity if we have some cool nights associated with this rain.
More calls coming in about leatherjackets. These are 1.5-2.0 cm long larvae that are grey/green in colour. Unlike caterpillars, they do not have any legs. Leatherjackets feed on the turf blades and the crowns and can cause a fair bit of damage http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crops/facts/damage.jpg. I am still interested in the distribution and spread of this pest. If you are encountering leatherjackets in areas outside of Burlington, Ancaster, Niagara, Windsor and Sarnia, please give my office a call at (519) 824-4120 x2597 or send me an e-mail at
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Black turfgrass ataenius are starting to emerge from their overwintering sites now on golf courses. They can be founding flying around on sunny afternoons around golf greens. Make a note of areas with heavy adult flights. Check these areas in about 3 weeks time for signs of ataenius grub feeding. The damage usually shows up first on collars and the edges of fairways.
Forsythia have pretty much finished flowering here in Guelph. I have not seen any crabgrass yet, however. Lawn care companies are in the middle of their crabgrass treatments. With the product Dimension you have a much larger window for pre-emergence crabgrass treatments because of the early post emergence activity provided by this product. Many people seem to be skipping the pre-emergence crabgrass treatment in favour of an Acclaim treatment later in the season, if necessary. Remember not to apply these crabgrass products to lawns that have been reseeded because the products will prevent weed seeds from germinating, but they will also prevent grass seed from germinating. For Dimension, you must wait 3 months before reseeding.
Dandelion flowering has peaked here in the Guelph area. Even though this is the time when homeowners expect weed control, it is often best to wait a couple of weeks to let the spring annual weeds germinate and then they will be controlled by the herbicide application too. The exception might be areas that have a lot of ground ivy and other hard to control weeds. It is best to apply herbicide when they are flowering.
Annual bluegrass seedhead formation is peaking also. To help maintain a good putting surface on greens, try light vertical mowing to control grain. I would advise, however, to wait until we get some rain to start any cultural practices such as core aeration, verticutting, topdressing, etc..
In general, now is usually a good time for core aerating turf. Conditions should be ideal after the rain. Any turf that did not get a late season fertilization would probably benefit with a light nitrogen application right now. Turf that did get a late season fertilization should be good for a couple of weeks still.
A research company is trying to find sites for hairy chinch bug insecticide trials in the Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener or Hamilton area. They are looking for commercial turf sites with a history of hairy chinch bug damage. They would like to be able to go in in a couple a week or so when the chinch bugs are moving in from their overwintering sites to get some adult counts. If you think you have such a site and are willing to have research conducted there, could you please give me a call at (519) 824-4120 x 2597.
Again, thanks for phoning the Turf Agriphone for this week. The next agriphone message will be recorded on Fri. May 18,2001. |
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Turf Agrifax - Week 4, 2001 ( April 27th, 2001 ) |
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Welcome to the "Turf Agriphone" sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This message is being recorded for the week of April 27-May 4, 2001. This service will continue until mid-late September and the message will be updated weekly on Fri. mornings. For those of you who are interested in either a fax or an e-mail copy of this message, you can order the service by calling 1-888-466-2372.
The grass is growing fast and furious now. This is the time of year when keeping up with mowing is one of the greatest challenges.
Again, as far as the snow mould goes, a light raking or verticutting will help the snow mould scars dry out. Mowing will take off a lot of the dead leaf tissue. A very light nitrogen application will also help heal the snow mould scars. The good growing weather has helped the scars heal and many of them have green grass recovering in the centres of the scars. The Fusarium patch phase of pink snow mould is still very active. You can tell by the bronze outer ring on the pink snow mould scars (Figure 1). It is probably wise to apply a fungicide application to keep the Fusarium patch in check this spring. As long as we have cool weather, rain, heavy dew and cool nights Fusarium patch will remain active.
Vole damage is starting to recover (Figure 2). These vegetarian rodents chew the grass blades down to the crowns during the winter under the snow. To help the runways fill in, rake the areas to remove the dead grass blades and put down a light application of fertilizer now. There also seems to be quite a bit of mole damage as well. The star nosed moles that are common in these areas leave mounds of soil just outside their exit holes. The moles are the ones that feed on insects and they seem to prefer beetles, white grubs and earthworms. They seem to prefer moist areas near streams and such.
The spring grub calls are tapering off. Spring grub control is not recommended. The recommended time for grub treatment with curative products is late summer, early fall. The other product Merit, which is registered for grubs is definitely not active against grubs in the spring. The timing for grub control with Merit is June or July. It would be wise to make note of customers or areas that have grub problems this spring and target them for a Merit application in the summer. At this point in the spring, it is best to rake up areas where grub damage has occurred and re-seed the areas.. Sodding the damaged areas is also an option.
Early cultivars of forsythia are blooming in the Guelph areas now. This is the signal that crabgrass will be germinating soon. It is time to think about those spring preventative crabgrass applications. We only recommend using these products in areas with a history of crabgrass. The newer products like Dimension do not need to be watered in to be affective. Remember not to apply these crabgrass products to lawns that have been reseeded because the products will prevent weed seeds from germinating, but they will also prevent grass seed from germinating. For Dimension, you must wait 3 months before reseeding.
There is a lot of winterkill this spring on stands of perennial ryegrass (Figure 3). We have an area here at the GTI where there was a thick ice layer in the late winter and the whole area is dead. I suspect that the same may be true for some perennial ryegrass sports fields and home lawns.
Now is a good time for core aerating turf. It is best to aerate when soil is neither too wet or too dry. Now is also a good time to overseed areas that have been damaged by snow mould or winter injury. Turf that did not get a late season fertilization would probably benefit with a light nitrogen application right now.
Again, thanks for phoning the Turf Agriphone for this week. The next agriphone message will be recorded on Fri. May 4. |
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