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Weather Update
By now, everyone has had the chance to assess any snow mold damage and winter injury that may have occurred since last November.
It appears that most of the snow mold was Typhula (Gray) snow mold, and should be healing back in as we move into warmer weather patterns.
If you have any areas of snow mold that are totally killed out, there may have been some Microdochium/Fusarium (Pink) snow mold mixed in with the gray.
There have been scattered reports of winter damage other than snow molds, mostly due to formation of ice sheets under the heavy, wet snow that sat on the turf from early December until mid-February.
(There has been some serious winter kill in the northeastern US, by the way...)
Rains in early and mid February also helped form ice layers at the soil surface, further compounding the problem.
Those same rains probably stimulated some more snow mold activity, before the final snow melt and drier weather in late February.
Fortunately, March was a very dry month for most of Illinois, thus limiting any further snow mold damage.
March was also much cooler than normal, and we didn’t see any early turf or weed growth because of the cold soil temperatures.
Subsequently, warmer temperatures and rains the week of April 9th helped green-up dormant grasses, and more warm weather is forecast for this weekend and into early next week.
Look for the blue grasses (including Poa annua), ryes, and fescues to begin rapid growth this week, while bents will probably remain fairly slow growing (?) until consistent warm weather arrives.
Also look out for earth worm activity and worm casts - nature’s aerifiers!!!
During the week of April 9, I attended a "Poa Summit" sponsored by Aventis, which was held in hot and steamy Pinehurst NC.
Part of the meeting was devoted to Poa annua seedhead suppression using Proxy and other plant growth regulators.
(Proxy and Prograss are now both owned by Aventis, which is a merger between Agrevo and Rhone-Poulenc/Chipco).
As you may recall, I tested several PGRs and wetting agents for seedhead suppression on three golf courses in Aurora and Naperville last spring.
Proxy and Embark gave the best results, if you stay away from thinning and other phytotoxicity problems.
AquaGro L is also of interest, since it has been used for a number of years to suppress Poa seedheads in early spring, and since it is no longer manufactured by Aquatrols.
I will be repeating this study again this year, with refinements(!), including addition of chelated iron to soften the yellowing and phytotoxicity.
Test setups and results will be posted on the InteractiveTurf.com website.
As of April 19, very little Poa was flowering in the Chicago area, but I expect that will change this coming week, and I hope to get the first treatments out ASAP.
It is my understanding that many superintendents around northern Illinois are interested in testing/using Proxy to suppress seedheads.
If any of you reading this update are going to "embark" on a Poa seedhead suppression program (with Embark, AquaGro, Proxy, or other), please respond to newsletter@interactiveturf.com and let me know your plans.
I would like to keep track of your activity this spring, and write up a summary at the end of the test period to see how everyone did -- success/failure wise...
(How about you fellows on the north shore???
Please report! - I know you can grow a good crop of Poa seeds up there...)
Also, please let me know if you are having any disease or other pest problems - aside from left over snow molds (eg. earthworms, ants, moss, other weeds... )
Special thanks to the following superintendents for your support of our IPM website and project development!
Tim Anderson, Prestwick CC
Dave Blomquist, Naperville CC
Brian Bossert, Bryn Mawr CC
Pete Clarno, Mt Hawley CC
Dan Dinelli, North Shore CC
Jim Evans, Turnberry CC
Don Ferreri, Seven Bridges GC
Al Fierst, Oak Park CC
Kurt Galisdorfer, Exmoor CC
Brian Green, Sunset Valley GC
Bud Green, Decatur CC
John Gurke, Aurora CC
Mike Hart, Danville CC
Nick Hongisto, Schaumburg GC
Tod Hopphan, Elgin CC
Jonathan Jennings, Chicago Golf Club
Craig Joscelyn, Deerpath GC
Tony Kalina, Prairie Landing GC
Jim Keith, St Charles CC
Timothy Kelly, Village Links of Glen Ellyn
Shane Kissack, Riverside CC
Ken Lapp, Cog Hill GC
Jeff Leonard, Chalet Hills GC
Jeff Leuzinger, Glen View Club
Tom Lively, Medinah CC
Ron McCarthy, Edgewood Valley CC
Jim McNair, Orchard Valley GC
Joe Meier, White Deer Run GC
John Parkes, Stone Creek GC
Joel Purpur, River Forest CC
Kerry Satterwhite, City of Bloomington
Mike Sauls, Butler National GC
Ray Schmitz, Flossmoor CC
Pete Sinnott, Service Scape
Mark Sladek, Forest Preserve Distr. Of Cook Co.
Scott Speiden, Itasca CC
Brian Thomson, Biltmore CC
Randy Wahler, Knollwood Club
Stacy Wallace, Northmoor CC
Scott Werner, Lincolnshire Fields CC
Scott Witte, Cantigny Golf
Les Rutan, Crystal Tree CC (inherited from Brodeur!)
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