Thursday, December 13, 2012

Course Update 12/13/12

Last week we battled a significant disease outbreak on both the North and South greens. Fortunately, we were able to respond quickly enough to prevent the disease from causing any real damage.
One of the great things about working in this industry is the amazing network of professionals. Immediately after Mike McCarty notified me of the symptoms we were able to take pictures and solicit help from experts all around the country. This consultation confirmed our diagnosis and allowed us to make correct curative treatments. I thought I would share with you the email that I sent out this week to summarizing the disease. Please feel free to check out the links at the bottom of the message.
Good Morning,

I hope everyone is staying warm this morning. I just wanted to drop everyone a quick note to say thanks for the help and to provide an update on the disease issues that we experienced over the last few days. Overall, the greens look much better. I think the applications and reduced disease pressure did the trick!

We first noticed this "disease" on 12/6. It appeared to be spreading at a substantial rate, and was visible on most of our South Greens (Emerald Dwarf bermuda). We also saw similar patterns (much less severe) on our North Greens (Miniverde bermuda). It was worse on the edges but was also found in the center of some of the greens. It can be described as dark purple/orange spotting. Some spots were the size of a penny with others closer to a baseball. Weather conditions San Antonio in the week leading up to the outbreak can be described as cool/cloudy/misty in the morning, with warmer sunny afternoons. Highs in the mid to upper 70s with lows in the upper 50s to mid 60s. These weather conditions continued until the afternoon of 12/9 when a cold front blew in. After consulting with several industry professionals we determined that the most likely culprit was a combination of Pythium blight and Leaf spot. We treated all greens with a combination of Subdue Maxx and Secure between 12/7 and 12/8. On 12/10 it appeared that disease has been greatly diminished and substantial turf recovery can be seen. My theory is that the application of the above products allowed us to stop the disease in time for some recovery prior to the cold front’s arrival on 12/9. In addition, we will be covering select areas with makeshift covers the next couple of nights to boost the chances for recovery. I also believe that disease pressure was greatly reduced due to environmental conditions associated with the front. Feel free to browse the pictures by clicking the link below. Please contact me before downloading photos for personnel or professional use. Also feel free to shoot me an email at tmoore@clubatsonterra.com for more information.


Thanks again and Merry Christmas to all of you

Link to Pictures:

Link to interesting post by Lane Tredway discussing Pythium on bermuda grass greens:


Travis Moore
GCS, The Club at Sonterra
San Antonio, Texas
www.sonterraturf.blogspot.com

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