Organic pesticide, dyed greens, aerification preparation....

Fairways and tees were treated late this week with fungicides as disease "dollar spot" was seen on these areas. Dollar spot is caused by the fungi Schlerotinia homeocarpa, and is the disease most commonly seen in our climate from May until October. This year we have sprayed tees and fairways a record seven times for dollar spot. As we cover over 22 acres with each application, seven applications adds up to an expensive, yet important maintenance operation.

Fairways and tees are sprayed on a "curative" basis. This means that these areas are treated only after disease is seen. The other method is to treat on a "preventative" schedule. Prevention management is far more costly because it results in far more actual fungicide applications.

Greens have greatly improved since our last blog posting. They are accepting water again after wetting agent applications, and dry edges are healing. Steady rains Saturday (1.77") and last weekend have helped.

On Friday, we again treated for disease anthracnose on the greens. We used a new Canadian organic material, Civitas, that is environmentally friendly. For a reason I have yet to understand, a dark green dye component is required when spraying Civitas. Expect the greens to stay this odd color of green for a week or two.

We are in the process of preparing greens for three aeration processes that begin after October 13th. Heights of cut are being raised five thousandths of an inch a week, and greens were heavily fertilized Friday October 2nd. Our intent is to get greens growing very aggressively this week despite colder temperatures, so greens heal quickly after renovation. Our challenge is to promote turfgrass growth so aeration holes are not present during winter weather. Greens that haven't healed for winter are referred to as "open greens" and are more prone to excessive desiccation (drying) if we see a windy, snow-free winter.

We should note that forcing quick growth of greens' turfgrass is the opposite management philosophy we employ during the true golf season. During the season, we prepare the greens' surfaces for optimum playability and speed using daily low mowing and occasional double mowing, rolling, and little fertilizer use. Growth regulators are also used to slow and even stop grass growth. Desiring thick, lush growth on greens is new to us!!!

Enjoy your week, and go Sox, Pats, and Nittany Lions!!!