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.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/49194
FieldScience >> NUMEROUS STUDIES at North Carolina State University have evaluated various colorant products, including use on bermudagrass mowed at heights similar to those commonly used on athletic fields. Table 1. The progression of colorant color using Pantone® Color chips following colorant treatment. Treatment/rate Green Lawnger 80 gpa LESCO Green 80 gpa Mtp Turfgreen 80 gpa Titan Green Turf 80 gpa Turf in a Bottle 80 gpa Regreen 80 gpa Wintergreen Plus 80 gpa Ryegrass 80 gpa Ultradwarf Super 80 gpa Ultradwarf Plus 80 gpa Bermudagrass 80 gpa Bermuda Green 80 gpa Green Lawnger 160 gpa Turf in a Bottle 160 gpa Ultradwarf Super 160 gpa Bermudagrass Day 0 Day 56 >> SMALL SPRAYER COLORANT APPLICATION on semi-dormant bermudagrass athletic field. Green Turf (Burnett Athletics), Turf in a Bottle (US Specialty Coatings), Regreen (Precision Laboratories), Wintergreen Plus (Precision Laboratories), Ryegrass (Pioneer Athletics), Ultrad- warf Super (Pioneer Athletics), Ultradwarf Plus (Pioneer Ath- letics), Bermudagrass (Pioneer Athletics), and Bermuda Green (J.C. Whitlam Manufacturing). It is worth noting that by the time this article is in print, we will have initiated new trials that will include most of these col- orants plus at least thirteen others. Manufacturers/Distributors that have provided products (to date) for these trials include the companies listed above, plus products from D. Ervasti Sales, Enviroseal, Geoponics, Harrell's, Milliken, Poulenger USA, So- larfast, and World Class Athletic Surfaces. Some of the col- orants we will be testing were from existing product lines but many are newly introduced colorants. The rapid increase in new products is in response to the growing interest in using colorants. In the earlier studies we applied colorant treatments to com- pletely dormant turfgrass in late October to early November using a boom sprayer calibrated at 40 gallons per acre (gpa). Each plot was sprayed in two directions to provide uniform coverage, resulting in application rates of 80 gpa for each col- orant. A few of the colorants were applied at alternative rates due to their label recommendations and to verify the influence of rate and longevity. Applied to bermudagrass, colorant in- creased turf color from 38 to 67 percent relative to the control at the time of painting. Of course there was some variation in how the color was judged over time. But remember the saying, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." We felt that at 56 days after treatment the colorants Rye- grass, Ultradwarf Plus, Bermudagrass, and Bermuda Green failed to provide acceptable colorant color when applied to dor- mant bermudagrass. Only Turf in a Bottle had acceptable color 56 days after treatment on bermudagrass. This illustrates that most of these products will have a date in which they will need to be re-applied to get season-long green color. In another study applied to semi-dormant turfgrass, the 18 SportsTurf | December 2011 www.sportsturfonline.com