TurfComms Vol. 9,1. 7 Sept. 17, '96 PURPOSE! To pHSS 0*1 what Ipsirn v/illingly »nrj hpnnijy tn othm. in thj profession SO as to improve turf conditions around the country. AREA CODE CHANGE: Effective Sept. 14th my area code became 972. No, I haven't moved it is just that the old 214 area had too many phones in it. So the City of Dallas got to keep 214 and all of us out in the suburbs became 972. OKLAHOMA TURFGRASS FIELD DAY: Stopped here on the way to Little Rock AFB on the first leg of my Eastern Trip in late June. Drs. Jim Baird, Dennis Martin et al are producing quite a bit of interesting applied research. Now if Oklahoma State Univ. can keep this team in place it will be again a place to obtain information from which because of turn over it hasn't been since the days of Drs. Huffine and Sturgeon. Concerning fine fescues Dr. Martin reports that the chewings cultivars have held up the best under his hot, humid, full sun conditions. The first cross of Texas bluegrass with Kentucky bluegrass released for further testing (TXKY 16-1) has not held up as well as tall fescue under the same conditions. They are doin° quite a bit ii7ith creet>ina bent grass mow^d six times a wepk at putting gre^n height. Dr. Martin reports the Penn State selections A-l, A-4, G-2, and G-6 looked the best over all in 1995. Next were L-93 and Southshore. Providence was outperforming SRI 020 and Cato was out performing Crenshaw. Looking for a salt tolerant creeping bentgrass? Mariner is a new cultivar from Pickseed. It is an improvement on the parent material, Seaside, but with an overall TURFCOMMS is published at unpredictable intervals by the editor and publisher: Douglas T. Hawes, Ph.D. 2408 Roundrock Trail Certified Professional Agronomist Piano, Texas 75075 Specializing in Golf Course (972) 867-0176 Maintenance Consulting Fax (972) 519-9263 Subscription cost is $15. Send checks to Doug Hawes at the above address. ranking similar to Penncross in National tests at OK. It was brought out by Dr. Mike Kenna that these new improved cultivars build up thatch very rapidly. They need close mowing, more aerification, and light frequent topdressing to keep that linHer control One trial they started this year is Penncross and five of the new cultivars at .155 vs. .110 mowing height. No great differences yet from that research. Heritage a new fungicide to be released soon is safe on Crenshaw at the 4X rate, 1.6 oz./M. It does not control dollarspot. They also have the new wetting agents out for localized dry spot control: Primer at 6 oz/M, Aqueduct at 8 oz./M and Hydroflo at 32 oz/M. No results at this point in time. We may see Acclaim labeled as safe on warm season grasses in the future when mixed with an additive. COLD TOLERANT SEEDED BERMUDAGRASS has been developed again by OK. I say again because Gymon has that reputation. OK's newest cultivar, OKS 91-11, has not been named or released but came through this winter along side Jackpot and Mirage in good shape when the latter two thinned badly. Mirage worse than Jackpot by the way. In bermudagrass sprigging study they have concluded simazine (Princep) at one pound/A is the best herbicide to use immediately after sprigging at least in a moderately heavy soil. SOFTSPIKES: It was good to read recently that Ray Floyd was using and endorsing this new product. The article I read in The Washington Golf Monthly, July 1996 indicated that 350 golf courses were banning metal spikes. What is really nice is that the list of clubs doing this reads like who's who in the golf world. After watching the spike marks all over the greens August 10th at the PGA Championship you can't blame clubs for banning metal spikes. I was visiting one club that had banned them for summer play and one golfer was out on the course with metal spikes. You could see exactly where he walked, almost as if he was the only golfer out there. BOOKS TO READ: Here I go again suggesting some books to read I read two new authors while on my first prolonged trip of the summer. One was a mystery by Joseph Wafnbaugh. He is raunchy, raw, and sarcastic but at times my weird sense of humor was totally stimulated. I was reading in a restaurant waiting my meal and biting my tongue so as not to attract any more attention than I already had by previously laughing out loud. He writes mostly about policemen. His Chior Boys is a classic, and it sure don't end in laughter. The second author is Mike Blakely and the book was Shortgrass Song. Mr. Blakely is Doc Blakely's son. Those who attended a Texas Turf Conference or two have probably heard Doc speak to the group. Mike Blakely sung some western songs at the last conference, I believe. His Shortgrass Song is an epic western with an unexpected ending at least to me. It brought tears to my eyes as did other portions of the book. Mr. Blakely builds up some very believable characters and tells a very interesting story. I plan to read more books by both authors this summer and suggest you do the same. BIOSTIMULANTS: Kelpak and PanaSe Plus used as directed showed little to no benefit on Tifdwarf in a two year study conducted by the Univ. of Florida. Only on one of 22 dates were clippings significantly greater for the PanaSe Plus over the Kelpak, not over the control plots. The authors write, "no benefits were observed in our experiment during stressful periods." The tuif was mowed six times per week at 4.7 mm ( about 0.186 or 3/16 inches). HortTechnology pg. 261-2, July/Sept 1996 6(3). TORO CONTROLS GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT????: I wrote a letter to GCSAA and sent copies to two Board members and complained in the last issue of this newsletter about an infomercial on a Toro product in the March, 1996 issue of Golf Course Management. Now, mid-August, I'm reading the August issue and I find another one: Water Injection: out of the ordinary. This is nothing more than an infomercial for HydroJect 3000 with testimonials. No, it isn't written by a Toro employee like the last one but by a writer based in Minneapolis. You have three quesses as to what is headquartered there and the first two quesses don't count. GCSAA members is this what you want your publication to become??? Don't write or call me scream your head off at Headquarters or your friendly Board member. If Toro wants to put this information out let them mail it out under their own letterhead with their dollars. My last comment to GCSAA was, "Are you ready to run an article on turf consulting by me? Maybe, if I was a big advertiser and contributor?" CHOICEŽ - MOLE CRICKET CONTROL: This is not a play on words This is a new insecticide in a new chemical group that at present you can't buy. But, you can in some areas have it drilled into your turf. Cost $315/A but, six months guarantee. For that amount of money you are paying for an 1/8 of a pound of active ingredient and having Chipco apply it or Rhone-Poulenc. The active ingredient is fipronil. The company has been looking at it since 1987. It is also good for grubs, ticks, frit fly, wire worm, thrips, leafhoppers, and chinch bugs. But U.S. label is only experimental use on mole crickets. It only has a caution label, is not easily absorbed through the skin and not overly toxic to mammals orally. It is toxic to quail, pheasant and partridge but, not to house sparrows, pigeons, and mallard ducks. It is considered highly toxic to some aquatic species but, drilled into the soil it shouldn't move. Earthworms and spiders appear to be very tolerant. It is currently registered for use in 22 countries around the world. It has thus been sold under other trade names. At present they are Regent, Ascend, Termidor and Goliath. It is a nerve toxic but works differently than the organophosphates or carbamates. We'll probably be hearing a lot about this in the future. SDS (Spring Dead Spot): For those that didn't catch it in Landscape & Irrigation there was a two page article comparing resistance to SDS as found by OK State U. researchers. They were reporting on two years of data on 26 cultivars. The authors sum it up nicely by writing "Overall, these data indicated that the most cold-hardy bermudagrasses were also the most tolerant to SDS." COMPUTER PROBLEMS: On July 4, a virus went off in my lap top and I had to have it wiped clean and reloaded while in the second week of a month long trip. For the last three months I have been trying to get my office computer upgraded with more RAM and a faster CD drive. The old one was IX speed. I'm now having to have that one wiped clean to accomplish that conversion. Yuk! Life can get frustrating at times. TRUCK MINUS REAR AXLE: I thought the above was a problem until Sept. 7th when I goofed and turned in front of a car I thought had to stop at what I thought was a stop sign. Managed to do this stupid trick in Blue Springs, MO. Now my brand new to-me-truck is sitting there waiting for major repairs. No physical damage to me, the truck was hit on the right rear wheel and slammed into a curb, broke the axle and dented two rims and a fender. READER WRITES: Thanks Doug, Love your reports. Need more on (1) Phosphorus on greens Š Summer use? Alliete affect? What? (2) More on mixing (overseeding) newer bents into newer bents: i.e. Crenshaw into Providence, J.-93 into Providence, etc. (3) Why does the guy (Mr. Baker, master gardener) Horticulturist for K-Mart or Walmart on TV use Beer and Tea and (?) something else, spraying it on his lawn and needs no fungicide, or fertilizer etc. Dear Reader, I don't have any more on (1). (2) I do not recommend overseeding these newer bents. Even Penncross didn't establish very well in an established putting green unless you sprayed the old with Roundup or gassed it. I was never impressed by Penncross's ability to establish itself in an old green and Penncross is a pretty aggressive seedling compared to most of the newer selections. Now if you want to mix at initial establishment that may be a worthwhile endeavor but it will be a decade or more before we learn which of the cultivars mix well together in the long run. Although mixing may not give you something that looks as patchy as an old South German bentgrass green I would tend to think indiscriminate mixing of new cultivars in time (20 years) might very well give us patchiness. I don't think we know for sure that a pure stand of some of these new cultivars won't give us patchiness; after all they are only synthetic cultivars not hybrids or apomixic like the bluegrasses. (3) You're the second guy I've heard recently complain about Mr. Baker and the recommenda-tions he makes on TV. He wasn't talking about turf the one time I heard him. All I can say is that if you bag a pesticide and sell it you have to provide some proof it works; label it with the EPA, etc. But, any idiot can get on TV and say anything he wants about concoctions he feels work for him. Mr. Baker probably lives where the soils are fertile and conditions are so ideal for the grass he is growing it doesn't need any fungicide, fertilizer or beer & tea. Your turf wouldn't need so much fungicide and fertilizer if you mowed those greens at 3/4 inch and the fairways at two inches Š would it? Especially if the members didn't tramp on it while expecting perfection. END B®