SportsTurf

September 2013

SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.

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up faster throughout spring until late spring where there were no differences. The fall fertilization treatments did not yield the same distinct treatment differences as reported for the various cultivars shown. Table 1 shows visual percent turf cover of the three cultivars influenced by traffic and fall nitrogen fertilization programs. Percent turfgrass cover of trafficked September-ending and October-ending fertilization plots was similar on ratings taken 6 and 8 weeks after initial traffic treatment. However, on both the rating dates, the extended fertilization showed significantly higher percent coverage than the August-ending fertilization. These findings suggest applying fall N will increase fall traffic tolerance. Spring turf density was also increased from fall nitrogen applications due to the significantly lower bare ground percentages in early spring. Both September and October-ending fertilization events decreased to below 27% bare ground, whereas the Augustending fertility treatment had greater than 34% bare ground (Table 2). The lower bare ground ratings of fall fertilization will also lead to faster spring green-up and recovery, allowing for a longer active growth period to increase traffic tolerance for the upcoming sports season. Extended fertilization provided benefits that persisted beyond the current season. As the research has continued on what are now well-established plots, the degree of treatment responses from the fall fertilization is somewhat less as compared to the establishment year. There are still recorded differences in turf density in the fall and spring rating periods, but the genetic differences in the cultivars result in differing greening and growth rates exceeds the treatment responses due to the fall fertilization. We recommend that transition zone managers strive to keep bermudagrass actively growing as long as they can in the late growing season, but that they use lower levels and split applications of N so that the nutrient is used efficiently and there is little potential for nutrient leaching or runoff. Establishment and overall growth rates/traffic tolerance are ranked Patriot > Riviera > Wayland. Extending N fertilization treatments into September and October increased fall percent turfgrass cover in www.stma.org trafficked plots for all cultivars, decreased early spring bare ground ratings, and accelerated spring greening. While all three cultivars tend to have better fall and spring turf coverage ratings from extended fall fertilization, the differences in traffic tolerance seem to be more related to differences in inherent growth rates and turf density than fertilization treatments as the plots mature. n Eric H. Reasor is a graduate research assistant, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Dr. Michael Goatley is a professor and turfgrass extension specialist, Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, and President of the Sports Turf Managers Association. SportsTurf 19

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