Viridescent - the Asian Turfgrass Center blog

Golf Course Management Blogging World

You may have already seen the impressive blog aggregator, Golf Course Management Blogging World. If you haven't, and are at all interested in golf course maintenance, you will want to check it out now and bookmark it for future reference. 

A blog aggregator brings all the latest posts from multiple sources into one place, and the Golf Course Management Blogging World site does a great job of compiling superintendent blogs, industry magazines, and university researcher blogs all into one attractive site.

It is, actually, too much information to read all at once, but when you are wanting to find out what is going on in golf course maintenance and how it is being done, this site is a great resource. It is put together by Steven Biehl, who himself works as a golf course superintendent.

ATC Articles Featured on Pitchcare Oceania

Have you seen the Pitchcare Oceania site? This online magazine has information about turfgrass management for golf and sports turf and this year has begun featuring selected articles from ATC.

With news, information, online message boards, and links to a variety of suppliers, this is a site that may be of interest to turfgrass managers in Asia. Check it out here.

New Calendar Page on ATC Website

I've added a new page to the Asian Turfgrass Center website with a calendar of selected turfgrass conferences and educational seminars that may be of interest to turfgrass managers in Asia. This is not a comprehensive list of events, but I will keep it updated with events as I become aware of them. If you would like me to add an event to this calendar, please send me an e-mail with details of the event.

Two Excellent (and free) Resources about Turfgrass Diseases

Controlling turfgrass diseases is one of the most important ways turfgrass managers modify the growing environment to produce the desired playing surfaces. Two resources that I find quite useful as reference material and as a source of new information are the Turf Diseases website and the University of Kentucky's Chemical Control of Turfgrass Diseases 2011.

At the Turf Diseases site, you will find updates about disease outbreaks, control options for different diseases, new information about ongoing research, and witty banter from an interesting group of university professors. The associated page on Facebook also contains information that can help turfgrass managers in their efforts to produce better playing surfaces.

The 24 page Chemical Control of Turfgrass Diseases 2011 was written by Paul Vincelli and David Williams at the University of Kentucky and is a guide that you are likely to find useful throughout the year. Not only does this document contain the latest information about fungicides and which products are most effective at controlling specific diseases, it also discusses cultural controls of turfgrass diseases and gives suggestions on how to minimize disease intensity. There is a wealth of useful information in this free document.

The Turf Diseases Website

If you are looking for a great source of information about turfgrass diseases, the most effective methods of prevention and control, and updates on the latest turfgrass research, then you should subscribe to the Turf Diseases website. Almost all the information on the site is from university professors in the United States. I occasionally contribute an update about international turfgrass disease issues. Some of my recent posts include:

Mites, a Corpse Plant, and Native Grasses

Clouds With No Rain

Large Patch on Zoysiagrass

More About Seashore Paspalum

A Most Unsightly Disease

The Wow Factor, Seashore Paspalum, and Dollar Spot

Nozzle Selection for Spraying Pesticides and Fertilizer

One of the topics I will discuss at next week's Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2010 seminar is nozzle selection, spray droplet size, and water volume. Depending on the product (fertilizer? herbicide? fungicide?) being applied, its mode of action, and the reason for the application, one can choose the nozzle type that will produce the most effective spray pattern on the turf.

The Turf Diseases blog has some good posts on this topic, including photos that show the drastic differences in spray patterns between different nozzles and tips on improving disease control by proper nozzle selection.

Don't Neglect Your Nozzles by Dr. John Kaminski

Mazel Tov! It's Nozzle Talk! by Dr. Megan Kennelly

Should I Water That In? by Dr. Lane Tredway

I also recommend reviewing the guide to nozzle selection that Tee-Jet publishes, available for download here.

Bermudagrass White Leaf

I recently wrote about bermudagrass white leaf, a mollicute disease seen in Asia on bermudagrass, at the Turf Diseases blog. See the bermudagrass white leaf post here. If you have this problem on your grass, it will probably go away in time as healthy plants grow over the dying chlorotic plants. For more information about ATC's investigations of bermudagrass white leaf, download the Field Day Book from 2008 at the Turf Information page of the ATC website.

The Wow Factor, Seashore Paspalum and Dollar Spot

The Wow Factor, Seashore Paspalum and Dollar Spot is now posted on the Turf Diseases Blog and may be of interest to those who manage seashore paspalum in Asia.

I will be contributing some posts to the Turf Diseases Blog on topics related turfgrass diseases in Asia. For information about all types of turfgrass diseases on warm and cool season grasses, and for advice on the management of these diseases from expert plant pathologists, you will want to read the Turf Diseases Blog this year.