The weather has been nice and mild recently, this is great for golfing and for getting improvements done, but not so great for keeping turf diseases at bay. One of the main culprits would be the dreaded fusarium, and so far by having regular aeration to improve drainage with our verti-drain using solid tines and the applications of chemicals when required, we are winning, touch wood!
Fusarium Patches – What Are They?
Fusarium is spread by wind, water, and foot traffic. It is common during periods of mild cool wet weather and heavy dews that an outbreak of the disease takes place. Attacks appear during late autumn through the winter.
Golf Greens are susceptible to Fusarium when the soil surface remains wet during prolonged periods of wet cool weather. Infected turf will recover when the plant becomes more active in the spring and is able to produce new healthy leaves restoring its vigour and colour.
It is important to note that the disease is always present, it lives in the thatch of the green. It usually happens every year and it just needs to be managed carefully.
More about the greens…
The greens have been fed with a granular fertiliser and have received a liquid treatment for good soil development and also a wetting agent to help maintain healthy turf.
Leatherjackets
The Acelepryn for the treatment of leatherjackets was applied in the perfect conditions, so we have now done everything we can against them with combination of the Nemotodes that were applied in September.
Project Work
So far this month we have installed a new water isolation valve by the 7th green and on the 12th medal tee to enable us to shut off the water supply to smaller areas when leaks occur and more will be replaced over the next few weeks.
The clearing of the gorse has started on the 4th, this will not only enable the green to be seen from the whole tee, but also encourage fresh new growth by removing the majority of the overgrown gorse, brambles, weeds, rubbish and quite a few old golf balls!
Thank you,
Vince & the team