November 23^rd, 2011See you in the spring

Check back late winter/early spring for new features!
 

May 20^th, 2011Chicagoland Observations - Dr. Settle

A week of sunlight and things warm and dry (spring progresses nicely in a week).

Seedheads (Poa annua) - Last week peak annual bluegrass seedhead production was occurring in roughs and had rapidly begun in fairways. This week, seedheads likely peaked on Chicago fairways and more and more white patches of Poa flowers were occurring on greens. On the bright side, it has been great for those who conduct herbicide research - currently we are easily able to distinguish between Poa annua and bentgrass. This summer those ratings will be near impossible.

Weed Pressure High (Taraxacum officinale) - Weed pressure is notably high this year according to many Chicago superintendents. What do the golfers think? Dandelion’s tall seedheads are being noticed in roughs by members. They are asking, “Why?” It turns out part of the problem may have been our wet weather patterns of April into May which delayed/interfered with spring herbicide applications. However, I think our main issue was thinning of inner roughs due to a dry conditions last September into October. Rust foliar disease did the rest of the job given Kentucky bluegrass was dormant and not actively growing. Other openings are responsible. Last summer was rife with a disease called summer patch on low rough areas with a tendency to remain overly wet due to compaction and/or poor drainage. This residual injury has also opened the door to weed establishment this spring – Magnaporthe poae is an important root rotting disease of Poa spp.

Seed Germination and Good Growth (Agrostis stolonifera) - Good news. Seed germination of creeping bentgrass is now good/. We had been waiting for soil temperatures to get above 55 degrees and remain stable. It happened as of last week and we are seeing upper 50s for much of Chicago (average soil temperature at a 2 inch depth). We also began to finally see bentgrass green-up nicely. Purple is one of my favorite colors…but it is best left in places like Kansas where it complements the color white - K-State Wild Cats! Bentgrass looks better when it’s blue-green.

Dollar spot (Sclerotinia homoeocarpa) - Our nemesis dollar spot was spotted a week ago for the first time by Bill Sharp U of I (Champaign-Urbana). More reports occurred from central Illinois (Bloomington) this week. In both cases the symptoms for first infection centers of dollar spot have a reddish color instead of the usual bleached-white. If you look closely and squint hard (better yet use a 10x hand lens) a bleached white lesion can be found trying to do that hourglass thingy. Everything is in miniature because we are talking creeping bentgrass leaf blades. Large acre fairway fungicide programs will likely begin in central and northern Illinois to target dollar spot. Still, it’s important to remember that dollar spot development remains sluggish in the upper Midwest through much of June. Don’t panic.

Woody ornamentals bloom (Syringa spp. and Crataegus spp.) - This past cold and rainy weekend I noticed that lilacs had just begun to bloom in Chicago. Meyer lilac (Syringa meyerii) as well as common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) were the two I spotted. On Wednesday, common lilacs were progressing nicely in N. Barrington (north Chicago suburb) but blooms were still about half open and without scent. The next day while in Bloomington Illinois I was surprised to see those lilacs in full bloom – I took photos and enjoyed the smell. As a bonus, I saw a nice representative of the Rosaceae family covered in white – a hawthorn tree. Chicago’s hawthorns were not blooming yet. I shouldn’t have been too surprised because central Illinois remains about 1 week ahead of Chicago. And so it was. On the whole it is important to understand the region is still recovering from a slow spring and, depending on who you talk to, our outdoor landscape remains 1 to 2 weeks behind.

 

May 13^th, 2011Summer makes a preview visit, weeds everywhere.

Disease - Dollar Spot (first report) Our first report of dollar spot occurred in Central Illinois on Wed morning. Bill Sharp, University of Illinois, called me and was impressed with some mycelium in the middle of his research plots. He confirmed a second golf course in the area was dealing with an outbreak of dollar spot on fairways as well. Later he sent me a couple of photos with a nickel from his pocket for scale. I could see it was dollar spot that had gotten in the way of an important herbicide study. Thanks Bill. I relayed this to Tim Sibicky back at HQ in Lemont. I was involved in diagnostics – looking at off-color bentgrass greens in Chicago (the record cloudy month of April was harsh on Agrostis stolonifera). An email two hours later from Tim said it all: “Subject Heading: First Dollar Spot seen on Sunshine Course this morning!” Dollar spot had responded to a string of 3 humid nights with warm nights in the 60s. Interestingly the outbreak matched the GDDTracker early dollar spot alerts that Chicago’s suburbs received this week. For example, Dan Dinelli at North Shore Country Club received his early dollar spot alert today. It read “Model: Early Season DMI, Range: Target (140 - 176), GDD Total: 147 (Base 50). So a simple model (relative to other fungal disease standards) seems to work.

Insect – Black Turfgrass Aetaenius (first report) On Wednesday, I received a text message while looking at a sample of red bentgrass in the lab. No disease could be found and then my phone received a text. Just a single photo. The photo was a very small black beetle in the palm of someones hand. I texted back BTA? Later I would get a phone call that confirmed our first adult BTA siting had occurred in far northwestern Illinois. BTA can be troublesome on golf courses especially on irrigated fairways and greens. The adults overwinter beneath woodland debris and so get a head start on their reproduction. The result is that our first white grubs that feed on turfgrass roots are BTA, and they really seem to like the taste of bentgrass. Our first injury by their small white grubs occurs in early June – usually our first real drought stress of the season in Chicago (never mind what just happened this week). We are at 154 GDD (base 50) in Lemont and so the first report matches the threshold of 150. The entire state of Illinois is now predicted with first generation egg laying according to the map. So it worked too!

Weeds? (a couple observations this week) Dandilions are twisted and contorted in many places. Their peak bloom occurred last week and this week the puffball seedheads had begun. Many golf courses are using a new product by DuPont called Imprellis. A golf course superintendent and his two assistants showed me how Imprellis caused a bright red color on dandelion leaves (applied the day prior). The effect was noted to occur within a few hours of application and control seemed a given. At another course a nice blanket of wild violets were in full bloom and the colonies color ranged from white, to white-violet, to violet. For some this would be undesirable, but at this golf course native woodland areas are being cultivated on its edges. The superintendent Dave Ward was pampering his violets and the effect was beautiful – several woodland areas have been created using a wide variety of native Illinois plant material. This day, while sweating profusely, I enjoyed Dave’s encyclopedia knowledge of herbaceous and woody plants of Illinois. I liked all the quizzes too. “Umm the name starts with an F.”

Poa annua Seedheads – (Peak bloom now occurring) Annual bluegrass is in full bloom in unmowed roughs by the end of this week. About mid-week I was impressed to find a fairway appear white with Poa seedheads on the southside of Chicago. No seedhead suppression had been applied at this course and it showed. Greens have just begun to seed and Tim Sibicky was able to rate an experiment this week for the first time on a PennA-4 practice putting green at Cog Hill Golf Course in Lemont. He was finding our Proxy/Primo plots had a level seedheads, but it’s too soon to tell efficacy. Our first application was timed April 12 according to GDD and boarder forsythia bloom. To be continued…

 

May 12^th, 2011Spring in full swing.

Crabgrass Germination - soil temperatures, GDD models, observations all agreed this week that early crabgrass germination was underway. In the morning, I received an Alert for Early Crabgrass Germination in EL. A quick look at soil temps from the turf center confirmed that the last five days have reached at least 60 degrees at the 0-2" depth. As I was driving across campus, Aaron Hathaway sent me a text wit a photo of tiny crabgrass plants breaking through the soil surface on 'crabgrass hill' at the turf center. This would be a great time to do some scouting on those indicator areas of your property.

Weeds Everywhere - cool temps in April delayed the flowering of some weeds like dandelion and chickweed. Other weeds, more responsive to day-length, are flowering at their 'normal' times. The result? Tons of weeds flowering everywhere, including a bunch that we don't often see flowering at the same time. This week in mid-Michigan: dandelion, wild violets, ground ivy, common chickweed, mouseear chickweed, henbit, shepherds purse, wild strawberry, and maybe a few others.

Poa annua Seedheads - peak flowering hit on Tuesday through Thursday for southern part of the the LP. Now would be a very good time to evaluate your spring seedhead suppression treatments. Folks in the northern part of the LP should look for peak flowering to arrive very soon.

 

May 4^th, 2011Spring 2011 Obseravations from Dr. Settle

Purple: As we enter the first week of May many had assumed (me included) that we would now enjoy days filled with sunshine, warmth, and a feeling of late spring. April turned out to be the cloudiest ever and parts of Illinois were in the news as significant flooding threatened towns and courses in southern Illinois. As we experience the 4th day of May we continue to see frosts at night and bentgrass that looks like it has a black eye on greens (purple color in patches). Some have offered a feeling that their early timing of PGRs and pre-emergent materials was maybe off. Likely not the case at all.

Few Issues: On the other hand, this spring has been welcome in Chicago because it is one of the few in recent years that has enjoyed healthy turf to this degree – very little winter injury and snow mold pressure was low. The only difficulty might be those golf courses that did not see good recovery from summer injury last fall – bentgrass growth in spring is sluggish/erratic at best (soils can be slow to warm).

A ‘Rough’ Issue: On golf courses inner rough remains thin (in 2010 Kentucky bluegrass was vulnerable to both summer patch root rot, significant defoliation due to rust in the autumn). One weed that can be seen filling the inner rough void on courses is knotweed. Its cotyledon leaves initially look almost grass-like because of their dense proximity to each other during germination. Closer inspection and one finds a single reddish shoot that gives rise to two opposite leaves. It is likely that we will have to endure high weed pressure during summer 2011.

Flowers - weeds: On this front things continue to move along. Henbit is increasingly purple and how about dandelions! Dandelions, where allowed, now blanket areas entirely in yellow - looks great if you are a kid and/or if you like an exotic French salad recipe? Poa annua is now beginning to flower on all surfaces – we are seeing seedhead development golf greens.

Flowers – landscape: Ornamental pears are in full bloom, Redbuds are now in their pink display, red maples are producing their winged fruit (samara = fun helicopters), Viburnum carlesii ‘Korean Spice’ has begun to bloom as has the earliest blooming varieties of crabapple. Two trees that stand out with a Poa yellow to Poa green color in flower catch our eyes too. Ash trees are a nice lime-green and willow trees are a bright yellow. On the ground level, tulips and other bulbs are currently putting on quite a show in beds. Spring flowers tell us this season is progressing – albeit slowly for some.

 

April 26^th, 2011Clouds, water, and weeds.

On the wet weather: Cloudiest April ever in Chicago – we have counted cloud-free days on only 30% of the days this month and normally we should experience half our days as cloud-free. It means we’ve also seen quite a bit of precipitation for April and CDGA’s Sunshine Course in Lemont is already over 4 inches. However, others can beat that and since Good Friday last week, Carbondale has over 5.5 inches. Major flooding is occurring to the south in the Midwest and in the Ohio River Valley. In Chicago, are fortunate to only complain about pale skin and chlorotic and/or purple turf.

On GDD timing and weed notes: Soil temperatures have returned to 50 degrees on average at a 2 inch depth after remaining in the 40s for about a week. Many superintendents have made their second Proxy/Primo application within the week to suppress Poa annua seedheads. Today I am noticed for the first time quite a bit of dandelions in bloom. Also complementing dandelion are more purple flowers of ground ivy or creeping Charlie is also noticeable. Both weeds had begun their bloom a week ago in Kentucky bluegrass lawns/rough. First signs of emerging crabgrass were reported over the Easter weekend at Brookfield Zoo. In addition prostrate knotweed and clover were actively growing. Our first herbicide treatments to target broadleaf weeds have begun.

 

April 20^th, 2011Embark Timing and Rain (lots of rain)

For those folks following the Embark Timer on GDDTracker you may find it difficult to get your application out in the optimum window with the near constant rain of the last week (and predicted for the next few days). Embark is foliar absorbed and needs a 24 hour rainfree period after application. It is possible that we might have rain everyday of the target range for much of the southern part of the state. If conditions dry out over the weekend, you may still have some benefit of applying even if you are past the ideal range. Getting 60-80 percent suppression may still be desirable over not applying at all. What a dramatic change from 2010 (the driest April on record).

 

April 19^th, 2011Some questions about Proxy/Primo and seedheads.

Research at MSU has shown that a single, early spring-timed application of Proxy/Primo will provide a 40 percent reduction in seedhead production. Results from trials at MSU indicate that a second application can yield an additional 10-20 percent suppression and extend the control window another 2-3 weeks.

So, should I apply a second application?

If you made an application of Proxy/Primo at the beginning of the application range (i.e. the first week of April), then you may get more of a benefit from a second application. For those that decide (or decided) to wait, you may not get much of a bump in performance from a second application. Success with Proxy/Primo has everything to do with the level of seedhead pressure we experience in a given year. In years when seedheads are heavy you will more likely see a benefit from a second application. So, keep your eyes open during that first week of May. If the seedheads are coming hot and heavy then you may want to consider making a repeat application. If things are under control, then maybe you could save yourself the effort.

I want to re-apply, when do I make the second application?

The metabolism of Proxy is totally driven by air temperatures. Part of the reason that the application range is so generous is that in cold weather it takes longer to get active in the plant and in warmer weather it gets active faster. Primo provides up to two weeks of seedhead delay; and cold weather it can take 10-14 days for the Proxy to get metabolized, so even in colder weather the tankmix has it’s benefits. The activity of Proxy/Primo will either be ‘extended’ by cold weather or ‘activated’ by warm weather.

Here’s the deal.

If things stay cold (e.g. winter weather advisory on 18 April) you can easily delay your second application as the product will remain in the plant longer in cold weather. Typically, the second application is made 14-21 days after the initial application. It’s no big deal to delay that another 7-10 days due to a cold snap.

 

April 15^th, 2011Weeds are waking up.

Weeds began their first bloom across a spectrum of color across the plethora of Chicago suburbs. In a week I saw first bloom of several.

• Clarendon Hills on Sat: Dandelion with its unmistakable bright yellow bloom growing from a crack in a parking lot.
• St. Charles on Sun: Mouseear chickweed with its pubescent leaves, prostrate growth, and miniature star-like flowers growing in a rose bed.
• Downers Grove on Thu: Creeping Charlie or ground ivy with its purple tube-like flowers growing in a shaded Kentucky bluegrass lawn (thin due to shade/winter injury).

On Tuesday this week I saw my first healthy crop of Poa annua flowers/seedheads on Cog Hill’s large Penn A4 nursery green – we were beginning an experiment to control the stuff selectively. Proxy/Primo application was made as well in that trial, though we are now approaching the tail end of the GDD32 window for seedhead suppression. Most Chicago superintendents make their first Proxy/Primo applications on greens about 1 April-15 April.

A good question from a Chicago Super this week: “What about timing for Kentucky bluegrass seedhead suppression?” Dr. Calhoun wrote back, “You're looking at 4-5 weeks after P. annua. The timing is probably 10-14 days after the P. annua hit full flower. In mid-Michigan, we see the KBG flower after Memorial Day.” Thanks Ron!

 

April 8^th, 2011Chicagoland Observations - Dr. Settle

Another frost-free night. So far this week we’ve experienced a string of days without freezing nights which began on Sunday, April 2. We are now in a nice weather pattern for spring. In Lemont, our superintendent Chris Painter mowed Sunshine Course greens for the first time yesterday on 4-6-11. The next day he mowed our L-93 bentgrass fairways. We are green! The color of bentgrass is not the purple patches that we experienced a week ago with cold nights in the 20s. Few issues have been experienced other than we began to see Poa annua seedheads as predicted/expected. In response, Proxy/Primo applications began at most Chicago courses this week. The seedheads were accurately predicted by a GDD (Growing Degree Day) model using base 32 degree temperature and a target value of 200-250. Also, first sighting of boarder forsythia bloom occurred on Monday at Cog Hill GC - forsythia is a phenological indicator that closely matches Poa annua seed head development/flower.

 

April 8^th, 2011Proxy/Primo Application Timing

Warm temps in mid-to-late-March have us on the doorstep of triggering several target ranges on GDDTracker. Seems like each year we receive emails and phone calls from superintendents ready to spray Proxy/Primo the minute their GDD totals are 'in the green.' Remember, a GDD application range is just that, a range. It does not mean that you have to get your sprayer on your water-logged, mostly dormant golf course just to get an application down right at 250. From almost tens years of research there is no difference between applications at 250, 300, 350, or 400. That's the beauty of the application range; you have some flexibility to make the application when it's convenient for you and fits in to your operation. We use anything over 250 GDD (base 32) as a guide to making the first application. However, there are other factors that you should consider. Both products are foliar absorbed. As such, you need living, green, plant tissue present for uptake. Applying Proxy/Primo to dormant turf will not be effective. Here are some additional things to consider.

Proxy/Primo Application Timing

• GDD total greater than 250 (base 32) and up to 450
• mowed at least twice
• turf is 100 percent green

 

April 1^st, 2011Proxy/Primo Application Timing

In Chicago word spread that several golf courses begun their first mowing of fairways. A first foliar application of the new season may also have occurred. Some superintendents on the south and west suburbs used the last week of March to time their first Proxy/Primo application. Growing Degree Days base32 are now between 200-250 and this is in the target range to address Poa annua seedheads in Chicagoland. Given a calendar-based timing of 1 April or use of the GDD32 model Proxy/Primo applications made this week into next week will be well-timed. However, we are still are without forsythia flower bloom in Chicago, indicating that the target application range may extend for another 7-10 days. One indication that the current GDD32 model is correct – I found my first Poa annua seedhead while scouting Sunshine Course on Tuesday, March 29. Kentucky bluegrass roughs are still more tan than green (roughs remain semi-dormant), as one would expect following a cold week in Chicago with lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s. Brrr.

 

April 1^st, 2011Tell Me More About Poa annua Seedheads

Many golf course superintendents try to manage Poa annua, annual bluegrass seedheads in the spring. One of the main objections to 'Poa' is the prolific seedhead production in the spring that interferes with surface uniformity and limits root production. A thorough explanation of the seedhead model is provided in the About section of the GDDTracker web site.

 

March 25^th, 2011We're feeling it now!

It’s gotten cold with lows (20s) similar to what we saw in early March. We should see bentgrass really purple this week as a result – normal reaction. Last week GDD Tracker indicted Chicago just entered the initial window for Proxy/Primo applications. So here we go scouting for Poa seedheads. We anticipate Poa annua flower with GDD, but other flowers like forsythia can be used since their biological timing is often similar. A year ago Central Illinois saw Forsythia bloom on 1 April. This year, Keith Rincker reported Forsythia bloom on March 23 near Decatur in central Illinois. For Chicago we are still waiting. A year ago Chicago saw its yellow blooms about 14 April. So, our flower indicators are currently telling us we are ahead early spring bloom by 1 week compared to last year. Last year! The uninterrupted snow/ice cover of winter 2009/10 was at play. This winter has been very different – snow cover was interrupted twice! It is why both superintendents and turf continue to smile this year! Me too. - Derek Settle

 

March 21^st, 2011Chicagoland Observations - Dr. Settle

Spring is gaining a foothold in Chicagoland. Saw the first crocus begin to bloom today. Also, we have added several more map pins for Chicagoland. Zoom in on the map to see the added location points.

 

March 17^th, 2011Update from Dr. Bigelow

Mid-state is dry and greens are pretty dry (dry enough to mow anyway). I would think with near 70 today grass blades will kick in. Still not at 'full green up', but close. I still feel like we have a little longer to wait but if plant is capable of taking the product up (will be after today) then courses should consider pulling the trigger. After last summer there is a TON of poa out there to deal with. Embark timing is still a ways off.

 

March 17^th, 2011Ohio Turf Managers Logging in to GDDTracker

Since March 1st, turfgrass managers in Ohio have been logging into GDDTracker at a brisk pace. In only two weeks users from Ohio have requested nearly 600 automatic email alerts. This is a tremendous response in only few weeks. Stayed tuned as we continue to add features.

 

March 17^th, 2011Growing Degree-Day Refresher

Growing degree day models use a base temperature for calculating biological activity on a given day. Base temperatures are related to the organism being tracked. For instance, insects are cold-blooded and the base temperature for most insect models is 55 degrees F. The base temperature will vary depending on the organism.

Example Calculations: One way to calculate growing degree days (GDD) is to use a simple average. In this method you take the average temperature from a given day (low temp + high temp / 2) and subtract the base temperature for the model you are tracking. If the result is less than zero then the GDD total for that day is zero. If the result is greater than zero then the result of the formula is your GDD total for that day. The models use cumulative totals to predict their target ranges. The GDDTracker site starts recording on March 1st of each year. The GDD totals displayed for a given location will vary depending on the base temperature for each model and the target ranges for that model.

 

March 1^st, 2011Introducing GDDTracker 4.0

The GDDTracker Team is proud to bring you version 4.0 of gddtracker.net. We have been very hard at work to bring you an even better product in 2011. One major upgrade is the addition of Ohio to the GDDTracker network. Thanks to the Ohio Turfrass Foundation and John Deere Landscapes for supporting this expansion and welcome to all the Buckeyes.

Significant upgrades to the network include the addition of daily max/min air and soil temperatures and improved (12 km) resolution across the entire GDDTracker user region. Check out the welcome video to learn more about the changes we've made for 2011.