Hi chaps
I've long had a problem with what I thought to be pyrennial ryegrass on my bentgrass green (I look after just one). After reluctantly purchasing a bottle of 'rescue' and thankfully before opening the bottle doing some intensive identification of the grass I need to eradicate, it seems like it's actually Annual Meadow Grass, due to the prolific seeding at low heights of cut and the absence of any purple on the stems. At least I can take the product back.
From my research on the web and in pitchcare I understand that a herbicide containing ethofumesate will help to control AMG however I can't find anywhere that sells it. I've found a pdf for the label of Oblix 500 but can't find anywhere that sells it. Anyone know where you can buy this or if it comes under a brand name or something?
Many thanks
Joe
Joe
Try Norton Flo from Bayer. Used to control weeds in sugar beet. When I looked int this last year it seems it just about kills everything but Perenial Rye Grass. I decided aginst using it on my tennis court as I a mix of PRG and Fesscues.
As my AMG is now so bad I am tempted to go for 100% PRG and use ethofumesate to kill the AMG.
Please let me know if you find a supply.
Phil
See these other threads and artilces:-
http://www.pitchcare.com/message/message/3315
http://www.pitchcare.com/message/message/17424
http://www.pitchcare.com/message/message/17577
http://www.pitchcare.com/message/message/5414
http://www.pitchcare.com/magazine/use-of-ethofumesate-to-control-annual-meadow-grass.html
http://www.pitchcare.com/magazine/a-turn-of-fraise.html
Thanks Phil,
I rang Bayer about Nortron Flo and the technical guy said it's not safe to use on bents so looks like I'm back to sqaure one!
Hi Joe
To post or not to ? but maybe a little debate will follow, on friend or foe with poa, some learn to live with it and some fight it, but as someone said to me once, cover is better than no cover and stop growing poa.
My opinion with poa, is to not look for a magic cure but to look at what you are doing yourself, and to take away what the poa wants regular feed and regular water compacted surfaces , you have already indentified your grasses, so the ones you want, you should be looking to feed these and water them when they need to, and not to take the signals from the poa when it wants water and feed, maybe some of the top golf boys will get posting and we can learn more.
Mark
Yes, definately avoid this on Bent swards! I have used it on Ryegrass swards to good effect during renovations, but even then it knocks back germination rates and if the sward is slightly stressed it can harm it.
Primo Max will prevent seed heads forming.
Joe
Ethofumesate does work at removing poa from bentgrass but for the back yard greenkeeper (no offense but I know this is not your career) I wouldn't recommend it, as it can be scary even for seasoned greenkeepers. It can ding the bentgrass up pretty well and without careful monitoring the bentgrass can be knocked back or killed also. As for the Bayer rep, if the product wasn't labeled for turf then he will not recommend it as they don't want to be liable if it doesn't work as labeled and simarily if it is labeled for turf then they may shy away from recommending it to a homeowner for the same reason.
As has 2 mow mentioned, maintaining poa might not be a bad option for a home green as the requirements are of the surface are not as intense as one on a course (mainly traffic and wear and tear), so poa wouldn't necessarily have the same challanges to overcome as it would with a larger number of rounds a day. The biggest issue with poa greens are the seed heads and again, as he said, they are relatively easy to control with growth regulators however timing is key to ensure good control.
As for other chemical controls there are a few products available (or coming out) in the US but as far as I know are not available in the UK. However I believe Paclobutrozol is available in the UK. It is a growth regulator that gives bentgrass a competetive advantage over poa (it stimulates stolon growth while stopping top growth which means the poa being predominately bunch type just stops growing and the bentgrass stolons creep into it), however it can discolour bentgrass so it is best to add nitrogen and some iron to help with that. It's also not a quick fix especially if you have a lot of poa in the sward and there are some restictions you neeed to be aware of such as it can't be sprayed if frost is near or if the temperatures get too high.
The one other chemical option is Round-up!! If the spots are small you can dab the poa areas with Round-up and it will kill the poa however you will be left with dead spots everywhere you had poa.
As with using all these chemicals you need to be fully aware (ie very realistic) at your poa populations as if you do eraticate it you will be left with bare spots, so keep that in mind.
The other option, that again depends on how much you have, is to hand pick it. If it is just one green this might not be too bad and to take it one step further you could plug out the bigger spots with a cup cutter and place them in the collar/cleanup pass and then eraticate it there as opposed to having spots all over the green.
Probably way to much info, so sorry!
Hope it helps
Alan FitzGerald, LedgeRock Golf Club
Thanks very much for your replies chaps,
I applied a dose of Primo Maxx yesterday so I'm hoping this will slow down the seed head prodcution for now. I like the sound of the Paclobutrozol so I might try that in a month or so if I can find somewhere that sells it. I understand that apart from chemical 'help' that its best to continue as you mentioned by favouring the bents by not feeding too much, watering heavily but not often, and causing the least mechanical stress as possible and plenty of aeration.
Thanks again
Joe
Anyone know where I could get any paclobutrazol? I believe theres a product called Bonzi but can't seem to find anywhere that sells it.
Cheers
Joe
29 Apr 2010 by Martin Williams
paclobutrazol is availiablde in the UK. Bonzi is made by Syngenta Bioline. Does it have approval for use on turf? I have the 2010 UK pesticide guide in front of me and I think not. Defiantly only an Ag product in the UK.
hi martin where did you get that 2010 pesticide guide from if you dont mined me asking
Try the BCPC bookshop, its around £44.
Sorry chaps, an Ag product what's that? Where can you get hold of it? I can't find it anywhere to buy.
Cheers
Joe
5 May 2010 by turfjack Last edited 5 May 2010
Joe
an AG product is a formulation for agriculture, it's usually the same but with a different label and at times, active ingredient percentages, rates etc can be different, also the formulations can be slightly different as agriculture plants can be less senstive than turf so the chemicals can be less refined.
Probably not what you want to hear but I would not recommend using a non turf labeled chemical on turf (and besides it's illegal to apply a chemical to an area not on the label).
Alan FitzGerald, LedgeRock Golf Club
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