Turf Scouting Report, September 9th

22 Sep Sunshine Course hosts iTurf Expo: Soil Temps Drop to 60s, Poa annua Roots?, Dollar Spot, and Tim says Bewitched! 

Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle -

It now quickly feels and looks like fall. How do I know? You see I looked out my apartment window this morning and there it was. I found a yellow color decorating a favorite tree of mine. It was thornless honeylocust and it had begun to develop fall color - overnight it seemed. The Chicago nighttime temps must have gotten to it this week - we logged a couple 40-somethings. How do I know? In the human environment; by day our air conditioning is off more than it is on, by night our windows are closed and we are back into the closet so we can sport light jackets. In the turf environment; bentgrass is as healthy as we've seen all year, superintendents are poking holes (aerification), and greens are lightning fast. That's all positive news. It tells you we are getting beyond the thrashings of a summer called 2011. But are we? I didn't mention Poa greens did I? Well, they continue to give us some trouble. This week they still didn't look quite right in Chicago. I was asked to rule out anthracnose basal stem rot a couple of times - it was not. Instead, the problem was the inablity of Poa annua to respond to cooler soil temps with new healthy roots. Be patient, with cool-season turf, there is a lag time after shock therapy - summer 2011. Under the microscope this week I saw new roots and a sudden appearance of root hairs. It tells me it's going to be OK. In fact, the best Poa plant health on greens was centered directly over needle-tine holes that were made very recently. I'm speachless? Not really...roots! 

Click here to view the September 9, 2011 Scouting Report. 

Enjoy your weekend...without the winds of Lee! 

Derek Settle, PhD 
Director of Turfgrass Program 
630-685-2307
dsettle@cdga.org 
Weather Blog 

Timothy A. Sibicky, MS 
Manager of Turfgrass Research 
630-685-2310 
tsibicky@cdga.org 
Research Blog