Golfdom, February 2019

RESEARCH FOR REAL SUPERINTENDENTS Hosted by Clark Throssell Ph D clarkthrossell@ bresnan net Super Science A LESSER OF TWO WEEVILS By Katherine H Diehl Matthew T Elmore Ph D Albrecht M Koppenhöfer Ph D and James A Murphy Ph D NEWS UPDATES February 2019 Golfdom 33 Golfdom com PHOTO BY KATHERINE DIEHL ABW CONTROL OF ANNUAL BLUEGRASS T he annual bluegrass weevil ABW can inflict severe damage on annual bluegrass Poa annua fairways greens and collars Because the ABW showcases a strong preference for annual bluegrass over creeping bentgrass Agrostis stolonifera we hypothesized that manipulating traditional insecticide programs to allow some ABW damage might help superintendents control annual bluegrass in creeping bentgrass fairways In 2017 research we observed that ABW damage to annual bluegrass was more severe in PGR treated plots To further explore the relationship between ABW damage and paclobutrazol we initiated a separate experiment in 2018 We conducted this research on a simulated fairway with a history of ABWs at Rutgers University Treatments consisted of three insecticide programs combined with four rates of paclobutrazol We applied paclobutrazol monthly and included rates 4 6 and 12 fl oz A and a nontreated control The first insecticide program was preventative and controlled the ABW at all larval stages to prevent turfgrass injury as is standard on many golf courses where the ABW is endemic Second was the threshold insecticide program which did not offer any early larval control we applied insecticides only after we observed threshold damage unacceptable fairway turfgrass quality May 30 2018 We also included a no insecticide program as a scientific control We assessed annual bluegrass cover and turfgrass quality monthly Preliminary results indicate that the paclobutrazol program had a greater impact on season long annual bluegrass control than an insecticide program Initial results also suggest that in the absence of paclobutrazol the turfgrass quality of the threshold treatments was quick to recover from initial ABW damage after rescue insecticide applications were made This experiment will be repeated in 2019 G Katherine H Diehl Matthew T Elmore Ph D Albrecht M Koppenhöfer Ph D and James A Murphy Ph D are turfgrass scientists at Rutgers University GOWAN CO CREATES NEW BUSINESS UNIT Gowan Co is creating a new business unit dedicated to biological development and innovation As part of this initiative Gowan has purchased the remaining shares of Colombia based EcoFlora Agro SAS through its U K subsidiary and the global biological business will be built around the EcoFlora brand EcoFlora Agro SAS was founded in 1998 and develops plant botanical extracts for effective and sustainable crop protection such as EcoSwing biofungicide This acquisition combines EcoFloras biorational product development capabilities with Gowans more than 50 years of experience in the coordination of registration development marketing and sales to provide solutions for integrated pest and disease management around the world The newly formed unit reinforces Gowans global commitment to deliver more integrated crop solutions to organic and conventional growers according to the company We have developed and registered organic products since the 1960s said Gowan Group CEO Juli Jessen Our circumstances today such as rapid adoption in our Latin American business and opportunity in Europe led us to this focused venture A MORE INTEGRATED CONTROL APPROACH IS NEEDED TO MANAGE THE ABW IN THE FUTURE Ben McGraw Ph D see story on page 34 ABW damage on preventative left threshold middle and no insecticide right treatments not treated with paclobutrazol on June 5 2018 six days after threshold damage was met