Successful Turf Management and Disease Control Methods

There’s more to turf management than just painting the field and filling in the divots. Being able to recognize turfgrass disease is extremely important for successful turf management and disease control. Forecast, diagnose and treat disease, environmental and insect problems in a strategic and cost-effective manner with these suggestions.

There are many ways to go about diagnosing turf diseases on sports fields. Here are some tips for successful turf management and disease control.

Write it down. With all of the inputs, applications, and staff, it’s best to keep a running list of the maintenance and any issues. Keep a record book filled with detailed notes on products used, application rates, locations of troubled areas, application equipment, etc. It is a helpful tool in overall disease management.

Consider the symptoms. When considering turf diseases, they come in many shapes and sizes. Knowing the symptoms goes a long way towards narrowing down the number of possibilities. Make observations about which part of the plant seem to be affected the most such as, odd-looking spots on the leaves, mushy roots and interesting patterns on the field will be essential information when matching it to disease field guides.

Look it up. Expert or not, a quick comparison will never hurt. When an incorrect diagnosis is made, products chosen to fix what was thought to be the problem will not work or could cause more problems. The following books are good resources, as well as the many identification tools offered by land-grant universities:

1. “Compendium of Turfgrass Diseases,” by Smiley, Dernoeden and Clark
2. “Managing Turfgrass Pests,” by Watschke, Shetlar and Dernoeden
3. “Integrated Turfgrass Management for the Northern Great Plains,” by Baxendale and Gaussoin
4. “Controlling Turfgrass Pests,” by Shurtleff, Fermanian and Randell

Timing is everything. Timing is a key control factor because, in the life cycle of each disease, there is an optimal point for treatment. Be sure to apply a fungicide product at the most vulnerable stage of the cycle to get the greatest degree of efficacy. It is equally important to make sure you are targeting the correct zone. Timing is vital because most diseases are favored by certain environmental or weather-related conditions. As such, the season of the year becomes crucial in the consideration of potential pathogens. Knowing which diseases are likely to occur at what point in the growing season is a powerful tool in disease management.

Get a fresh perspective. Take a step back to gain a fresh perspective of your field. It’s quite possible that other factors have led to the turf issues. Some of these other factors, such as compaction, scalping, heat, localized dry spots and nutrient deficiencies, can cause symptoms that mimic those of diseases.

Tell us about your successful turf management and disease control methods using the hashtag #MirimichiGreen on Instagram or Twitter.

Help Customers Avoid Soil Erosion and Runoff

Fall Is The Best Time To Improve The Soil

Fall is the best time to improve the soil for next year’s growing season. By adding a proper soil amendment to your client’s yard in the fall, the yard will have all winter to restore the soil’s biology and nutrients. Before you can improve your client’s soil, determine what the soil needs and use products that can replenish it.

Start by testing the soil

Testing the soil is the first step you need to take in order to improve the soil. Without a soil test, you are often walking in blind as to what your client’s property needs. Assuming all soil in the area is the same can result in using the incorrect fertilizer or amount of soil amendment.

Be sure to take multiple samples from the property. Separate samples should come from areas that differ in texture, color and previous applications of fertilizers, organic amendments, and lime.

Adjust the pH level to improve the soil

The soil’s pH level is important because a majority of the necessary plant nutrients are soluble at levels of 6.5 to 6.8. When the levels are too low or too high, plants can suffer from the soil problems and develop diseases.

Mirimichi Green’s CarbonizPN Soil Enhancer is the ideal soil amendment for any soil pH problem. The product is a pH optimizer – it is able to lower the pH if it is too high or raise the pH if it is too low.

Add organic material to improve the soil

Organic materials are all ideal to add in the fall as they help provide food for soil microbes and protect the soil from being bare during the winter.

Compost is a good material to consider adding as it helps nourish microbes. Compost easily gets worked into the soil over time in the fall and winter thanks to the rainy or snowy weather. Additionally, spring-applied compost can attract a number of pests. Luckily, Mirimichi Green’s CarbonizPN is 50% compost and 50% biochar, so not only will adjust the pH, but it will also provide organic material to the soil.

Tell us how you improve soil for your customers during the fall using the hashtag #MirimichiGreen on Instagram or Twitter.

Post-Hurricane Harvey Insecticide Aerial Spray

Clean up efforts and support after Hurricane Harvey are underway including monetary donations, food, water, volunteering, etc. With the excessive amount of sitting water in the Houston area, there is a growing concern about the growth of pest insect populations, such as mosquitoes. Now, a post-Hurricane Harvey chemical insecticide aerial spray application is underway. The Pentagon announced that it has dispatched C-130H Sprayers from the Air Force Reserve’s 910th Airlift Wing in order to “assist with recovery efforts in eastern Texas,” by spraying the insecticide, Naled. The aircrafts are set to spray a chemical insecticide in order to help control pest insect populations. The pest populations pose a health risk to rescue workers and residents of Houston.

The aircrafts will spray more than 6 million acres throughout the Houston, Texas area. The Air Force stated this effort is expected to surpass any previous aerial spraying applications. The Pentagon’s choice of insecticide could do more harm than good for Texas citizens. The Air Force reported the mosquito control aerial spray protocol involves spraying the “Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved and regulated material, Naled,” which the Air Force says will not be used in amounts large enough to “cause any concern for human health.” However, the insecticide Naled, is currently banned in the European Union due to the “unacceptable risk” it presents to human health and safety.

Chemical Insecticides Come with Side Effects

Although Naled is an “EPA approved” insecticide, the EPA is re-evaluating the product and its safety. The EPA’s website states, “the EPA expects to issue new human health and ecological risk assessments for Naled before the end of 2017.” Scientists and many alarmed citizens have stated that Naled will surely be banned soon as the EPA has found it to harm 22 out of 28 endangered species exposed to it.

Naled is a known neurotoxin in animals and humans, as it inhibits acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme essential to nerve function and communication, and has even been known to have caused paralysis. Scientific evidence, including a recent Harvard study, has pointed to Naled’s responsibility for the mass killing of North American bees. After only one day of Naled being sprayed in South Carolina last year, more than 2.5 million bees died.

Naled’s manufacturer, Sumimoto Chemical Corp., is also the manufacturer of SumiLarv.  SumiLarv is a product that is now believed to have been the cause of the spike in birth defects in Brazil that was originally blamed on the Zika virus. The most concerning consequence Naled poses for human health is the chemical’s ability to harm pregnant women and fetuses. Side effects include smaller brain sizes of newborns, having a child born with an autism-spectrum disorder and other symptoms like dizziness and nausea.

Alternative to Chemical Insecticide and Pesticide Products

With the extreme side effects that are possible by using harsh chemical products, Mirimichi Green urges landscapers, homeowners, and others that are seeking a pesticide or insecticide to use natural and safe products.

There will be a safe alternative for insecticide spray applications after natural disasters occur. Mirimichi Green will be launching a 100% natural and safe pesticide – Mirimichi Green Pest Control. A common stereotype of natural products is the natural products don’t work as well as chemical products. Mirimichi Green’s Pest Control has been tested by the World Health Organization, exhibiting an 80% kill rate efficacy report for pests and larvae upon contact. Products don’t have to be chemically based to be effective.

The soon-to-come pesticide works on mosquitoes, fleas, ants, roaches, no-see-ums, chiggers, spiders, mites, whitefly, aphids, plus many more insects. Mirimichi Green’s Pest Control is safe to spray around people, pets, and plants and has an immediate re-entry time after the spray has settled, making it ideal for any outdoor space.