Author: Bill Kreuser, PhD
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August Sugar Lows
It’s the middle August and many turfgrass plants are feeling as tired as their turfgrass managers. The recent extreme heat is taxing cool-season grasses like ryegrass, bluegrasses and bentgrass while summer weeds like goosegrass, foxtail and crabgrass are thriving. Diseases like Pythium blight and root rot, summer patch, and Anthracnose…
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How much grass WOULD have been in the buckets?
For years, golf course superintendents have asked the question to their greens mowing crew, “How much grass did you get today?” Common answers usually included “a lot” or “a little” or maybe more precisely how many times they needed to dump the mower buckets. But have you ever wondered how…
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Growth Rate Goals
We have been advocating daily measurement of growth rate on highly maintained turfgrass to improve management precision. Clipping volume measurements provide actionable data to help guide PGR applications and evaluate the efficiency of a fertilization program. But how much growth is required on a given day? Relating ClipVol to other…
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Simple but Actionable Data: Part One
The word is getting out. Data collection and analysis can improve turf management efficiency. The team at GreenKeeper are excited to bring artificial intelligence and mower-mounted sensors to the turf management industry in 2023. These forms of data and analysis will help transform turf management decision-making. But not all data…
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Evolution of Data-Driven Turf Management
The thought of using data and models to guide turfgrass management decisions may seem daunting, but golf course superintendents have been using both to improve course conditioning for centuries. Superintendents are incredibly observant, and data are simply a set of recorded observations. These data can help us understand what happened…
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Frustrating Frost Formation
It can be so frustrating to scout a golf course for frost on a crisp fall morning. It’s 6AM and there is no frost on the course. Then the mowers get out and frost covers every blade of grass. How does this happen? The sun is starting to rise and…
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Do Wetting Agents Help Fairways?
Wetting agents can easily pay for themselves when managing turf growing on sand-based or sand-capped soil. These products improve soil moisture uniformity, water infiltration rate and alleviate issues of soil water repellency – called soil hydrophobicity – in sandy soils. Their use in sand-based turf systems can save water, minimize…
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PGR Resistance During Summer Heat?
It’s been hot and humid, and many golf course putting greens are growing rapidly. Plant growth regulator programs that were dialed-in during May and June appear to be non-existent during July. Growth rate is surging, green speeds are declining, and puffy conditions are starting to plague golf course superintendents. So,…
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Cold Spring Weather Wreak Havoc on Spray Programs
Spring can be a frustrating season for many in the golf industry. Golfers, Club Professionals, GMs, and owners want to escape the winter doldrums and return to their predestine golf courses with firm and fast conditions. Unfortunately, the weather doesn’t always cooperate. The spring of 2022 has been a tough…
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Winterkill Recovery Techniques
There are more reports of turfgrass winterkill from around the US. At first, we thought most of the damage was limited to winter desiccation in the Central Great Plains. Unfortunately, we’ve received reports from coast to coast. Zac Reicher, PhD from Bayer Environmental Science and I hosted a live web-meeting…
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Don’t Let the Tail Wag the Dog
Many factors influence turfgrass growth rate. Some are beyond the manager’s control while others are frequently manipulated through normal management. Environmental factors including the recent weather and soil conditions, turfgrass genetics, traffic levels and even the soil microbiome all have a big impact on growth rate, but are difficulty or…
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Moving Beyond PGR GDD Intervals
For nearly 15 years, Dr. Doug Soldat and I have been creating growing degree day (GDD) models for plant growth regulators (PGRs) and now DMI fungicides. These sinewave shaped models predict how these routinely applied products affect the relative growth rate of various turfgrass areas. We’ve created models for different…