Monthly Archives: November 2014

Anthracnose is a disease common in Poa golf greens throughout summer. It attacks weakened Poa and can lead to turf death. It commonly follows drought stress and is favoured by high humidity. Preventive fungicide treatment is essential as recovery of Poa from damage in mid-summer can be very slow. A recent presentation from Dr John Kaminski of Penn State University highlighted the latest research on Anthracnose control. Key points : Regular, light nitrogen apps equivalent to 1-2 bags Nutrite Bentgrass Soluble per ha monthly is essential. It is actually preferable to apply fertiliser biweekly at 0.5-1 bag. Cutting greens with… ...Read More

These days turf mites rate as a major economic pest, and are credited with severe restriction of couch regeneration in Spring!  Mite populations build quickly as new shoots are produced in early spring, providing an inviting food source for this difficult to control pest.  Modern thinking suggests that protecting this early season tissue from mites with a rotation of control products will go a long way to establishing season long control. This year Living Turf's accredited spray service has been busy supplying and applying programmed applications of Thumper® and Higran® (detailed below), with truly astounding results.  Scores of couch sportsfields… ...Read More

In recent times, Bayer have introduced an additive to new fungicide products they call StressGuard™.  With a characteristically green pigment, StressGuard™ is shown in university studies to impart plant health benefits including but not limited to increase in drought tolerance, improved root function/nutrient uptake, increased root mass, increased tiller density, UV protection, increased chlorophyll production in low light conditions and better overall stress resistance in treated plants. The latest product from Bayer to include StressGuard™ is Interface®.  A dependable dual active fungicide, Interface is registered for control and protection against Dollar Spot, Brown Patch, Fusarium , Helminthosporium, Rust and Grey Leaf Spot.  In addition to StressGuard™, Interface® contains a powerful combination of active ingredients (Iprodione… ...Read More

This month Syngenta launched Spinner®, a new and useful insecticide for damaging turf pests including soil feeding grubs, stem boring weevils and surface feeding caterpillars. Containing two active ingredients (cyantraniliprole and thiamethoxam), Spinner® controls pests with a dual mode of action, making it an extremely fast acting curative and also preventative treatment for damaging turf insects. This is the first insecticide to hit the market containing cyantraniliprole, an insecticide that shares the same family as chlorantraniliprole (Acelepryn®), the anthranilic diamide family. While the mode of action is the same, the key difference between the two chemistries is that cyantraniliprole works faster to… ...Read More