It's Gettin Hot in Here...

The weather this week basically got the season kicked into high gear in a fast way. Everyone seems to be out mowing turf and actually get substantial growth. If you are farther south (Virginia and Maryland for this blogger) then things almost seem like you are in early summer mode. The weather this season is almost as unusual as the winter last season. In State College, we had our first snow on October 15th and things didn't really look back.

Below: image from the earliest snow storm in State College, PA history (October 15, 2009).

Now we are only in early April and temps have been in the mid 70's to low 80's and I am not sure what impact this will have on the turf this year. Based on some observations around the area, annual bluegrass weevils are moving, annual bluegrass seedhead treatments are going out, and early season dollar spot applications are just around the corner. This week I posted a poll (top right of the blog) and it seems that the verdict is still out with regards to when seedhead controls should be applied. So far there is a tie between those of you checking the boot stage and those of you using the degree day 50 model to time your applications. In State College, we are at 89.5 GDD this year, but I have yet to see the boot stage of annual bluegrass much less any actual seedheads. I am sure some of you have already started to see them, but I haven't yet. Although seedhead control doesn't seem to be very related to disease activity, the work coming out of Rutgers showed that controlling seedheads and then following up with Primo applications did not increase anthracnose activity and in some years even resulted in a slight reduction in disease severity. This is a question that I get a lot at this time of year because anthracnose is active throughout the region on some courses.

As I mentioned, early season dollar spot is an area gaining considerable interest among golf course superintendents and there is no shortage of controversy among pathologists either. My lab has been conducting studies on the early season control of dollar spot since 2005 and it does appear to be effective at suppressing the pathogen early in the season (See the old blog post for more info). Differences, however, have been observed in effective fungicides among geographic regions (Jim pointed this out in this post). So, although there is not an exact science with regards to these applications, here are my thoughts (for what its worth):

1. Early season applications can be applied around the second true mowing.
2. Early season fungicide applications reduce inoculum and/or delay the onset of the disease.
3. I don't care which fungicide you use as long as you pick one that you know works for dollar spot at your course.
4. There may not be a huge difference in the level of control you see from these applications when compared to a more traditionally timed (~late May), but "anecdotal" evidence suggests that these applications may reduce the severity of the disease later in the year (more work to come).
5. There is no need for these applications unless you experience chronic, difficult to control dollar spot symptoms during  the year.
6. Don't delay/reduce/stretch fungicide applications if conditions favorable for dollar spot exist in the fall.  We have seen many cases of "disease resurgence" where dollar spot within treated areas becomes more severe than in areas that had never received an application.  This is often where we see the fall pitting type of dollar spot.

So, that's about it for this week.  I would try to write more, but it is pretty difficult to type with only 9 fingers...especially when the missing finger is also my "backspace" and "enter" finger on the keyboard.  In case you missed the story this Easter weekend, I nearly lost the tip of a finger while staining my deck.  I know, this is absurd and I hear even the folks at GCSAA headquarters were getting a laugh around the water cooler with this story.  If you REALLY want to SEE what happened, feel free to check out the images here, but I warn you that they are a little gross!

Signing off from the right coast (and with only 9 fingers)...

...to hear the inspiration for the blog title click here.

Some disease and a shout out to Dr. Vittum

Tomorrow marks the start of yet another month gone by and with it usually cooler temperatures. In State College, temperatures are already decreasing with the highs only in the low to mid 70s. In Maryland, high temperatures are only getting into the low eighties, but the nighttime temps look to increase to near 70 by next week (once again if the weather reporters are correct which is usually a safe bet). Moving north to Westchester, NY and into New England, temperatures are set to be in the upper 70s and mid-70s, respectively. This means that diseases should start to subside and your interns have all headed back to school just in time to miss your fall core cultivation and leaf cleanup!

Disease activity continues to vary by region. Dollar spot continues to be a problem for most and is increasing for others. Brown patch is just about done and any new flare-ups will likely just be superficial and cause little real damage. One problem that has been a problem among superintendents managing Perennial ryegrass is gray leaf spot. This could continue to cause problems, especially where ryegrass is being overseeded into thinned areas (although you should have any thinned areas in this wet year). Another potential problem that was brought to my attention last week was the recurrence of an "unusual" Pythium patch problem on annual bluegrass. I don't have the time to get into this now, other than to say that it has been something I have been tracking for the past 4 years and seems to be a real problem for those that get it. It is a Pythium disease that selectively targets annual bluegrass with symptoms similar to summer patch. I plan to dedicate a full post to the subject next week, but for now if you think that you have summer patch on your annual bluegrass putting greens, consider sending a sample out to get checked for Pythium.

In the meantime, I thought that I would give some promotion of Dr. Pat Vittum's updates about grub and annual bluegrass problems in the Northeast. Pat is a GREAT resource for those of you in New England and was a tremendous supporter of my efforts while I was at UConn.

UMASS Update by Pat Vittum:

White grub development varies greatly from one location to another this year. Normally we would expect European chafers to emerge in mid-June and start laying eggs shortly thereafter. Oriental beetles usually are a week or two behind that, and then the Japanese beetle adults emerge around July 4th. But this year, perhaps because of cool soil temperatures, the Japanese beetle adults in particular were very...Read Full Story Here.

Annual bluegrass weevils. We are seeing activity and damage from the third generation in several locations from the metropolitan area up through Hartford. Based on our samples, most of the weevils are already large larvae or pupae, so the worst should be over. Now that the weather is breaking (lower temperatures and much lower humidity), the turf should be able to...Read Full Story Here.

OH, and one last thing...I am glad that I was not the only one who voted "No, this blog stinks". It appears that two others were in agreement with me. I just wonder if they two were blog authors or a golf course superintendent angry that there was no "PlayTurf" cover for August? Either way, it looks like most of you find the information useful so we plan to keep providing updates through the season! Thanks for all of your support and spread the word.

Happenings Around the Northeast

As I mentioned in last weeks post, dollar spot is slowly starting to kick it into high gear. In addition to dollar spot, we have seen a fairly large increase in the amount of red thread around the region as well. As the grass has been actively growing for some time now, it is likely that any residual nitrogen in the plant and soil is being utilized to sustain this growth. Red thread and dollar spot are both diseases that thrive in low N situations.

Red Thread, originally uploaded by John E Kaminski.

A few weeks back, Dr. Inguagiato at UConn reported active brown ring patch in New England and things haven't changed much during this period. With the varying wet weather and the reversion every so often back to spring-time temperatures, BRP may last several more weeks. When you start to see those symptoms disappear you should begin to prepare yourself for the typical brown patch.

Although not disease related, I am fully aware that many golf course superintendents are dealing with increasing levels of damage from the Annual Bluegrass Weevil. While this pest typicall is found feeding on annual bluegrass, increasing reports have shown that the insect can and will feed on creeping bentgrass too. In 2001, we identified ABW causing damage to a creeping bentgrass fairway in Maryland. As of last year, entomologists have identified ABW as far south as the Carolinas and as far west as Ohio! Based on recent information at our Annual bluegrass Pest Meeting, it seems that the entomologists are making headway in understanding and controlling it. Two great resources for information on the ABW include Pat Vittum's updates at the UMass Extension site and Dupont's Weevil Trak site.