Fusariummy

Late last year I made an interesting observation about how moss grew in relation to traffic patterns on putting greens. More about that can be read here . Shade makes it hard to grow healthy dense turf that can compete with moss. I have decided to study the effects of traffic and wear on moss populations on our practice chipping green this year. I have divided the putting green into plots that will be rolled daily the number of times indicated on each plot. We are using this green because in the past it has always had a problem with moss infestation due to the challenging growing conditions, namely shade, that are present on this site. The results from this study will hopefully help golf course superintendents better understand moss on putting greens and will hopefully help them manage their turf to control or prevent moss without the need for chemical pesticides. Thank you for your patients and understanding during this study.  Please continue to use this green as you normally wou...

Well 2 days have passed since I applied the Zerotol (H2O2) to my putting greens that were infected with Fusarium Patch.  Well not enough control was achieved so I was forced to apply Iprodione today to halt the spread of the disease.  I did, however, leave an area untreated from the iprodione so I will be able to see the long term effects of the Zerotol (if any). The plugs that I took as samples and incubated in my office showed no difference in the disease progression after 2 days.  The control plugs had just as much mycelium (unscientific) as the treated plugs. Unfortunately it is impossible to see this with the pictures my crappy camera takes.  Maybe in a few days the difference will be more pronounced. Perhaps the temperatures weren't right or a higher rate was needed.  More research needs to be done to really know how best to use Hydrogen Peroxide to control turfgrass diseases.

Today I had a very interesting conversation about "minimalist" sand trap maintenance with a few fellow Superintendents on Twitter. Many golf clubs these days spend as much if not more on their sand traps as they do their putting greens. I decided to stop and think about each aspect of sand trap maintenance and ask why we currently do what we do, what alternatives there are, and what is best for my golf club. Sand trap raked with Sandpro. Edges done by hand with a rake. The first and most obvious maintenance practice is raking the traps.  The purpose of raking the traps is to smooth and loosen the sand to try and provide consistently soft but firm sand. Good luck with this!  Most courses these days use motorized bunker rakes due to the speed and economics they provide. Simply put they are many times faster than raking traps by hand. They do require a large sand trap though so the smaller traps will still need to be raked by hand. Personally I do not see the advantage of hand r...

I first learned about the use of Zerotol (H2O2)(certified organic pesticide) at the 2011 Canadian Turfgrass Conference in Vancouver BC. Apparently it was registered for the control of Fusarium Patch (Michrodicium nivale) which is a major turgrass pest on the West Coast of Canada.  This fungus is active almost every month of the year in coastal British Columbia so I was eager to try it out. My first application was on May 24 2011 at 0.1L/100m2 (low end of label rate).  I reapplied again on the 30th of May at the same rate.  A week later I had to apply some propiconazole as the Zerotol had no effect on the Fusarium.  I had all but given up on the product. During this past Western Canada Turfgrass Association Conference 2012 I was talking with a fellow Superintendent and he was saying that he had success using Zerotol at the High end of the label rate or 0.2L/100m2 in the Winter only.  My interest was re-ignited. So last week I jumped the gun a bit and cut my green...

Something that I have always taken for granted at the Pender Harbour Golf Club is the fact that I can easily see what the overall disease pressure is on my turf. Due to the cost and the environmental conditions at our course we only have to apply pesticides to our putting green surfaces. This leaves the rest of my course as a "control" plot. Fusarium on the tees shows me that it is active. I can easily see when the other areas are being infected with disease or other pests. I can then take this information and use it to plan my pesticide applications on my putting greens. When pesticides are applied to my putting greens it becomes impossible for me to see what the true pest pressure is because all of the pest is suppressed by the pesticide. I had the pleasure of hearing Jeff Carlson of Martha's Vineyard Golf Club speak at this year's WCTA conference.  For those of you who don't know, Martha's Vineyard is one of a few courses that is completely organic but stil...