Emerald Isle Turf Product Answers

KEEPING IT GREEN

Meet demands for putting speed without sacrificing quality

Problem: The rapidly escalating demands on the Superintendent to produce excellent turf quality and faster and faster putting speeds puts tremendous stress on turf at the same time that Mother Nature is generally toughest on the turf as well.

Solution: Apply a consistent program of seaplant extract with regular, small amounts of efficient True Foliar nutrition to increase color, quality, and stress tolerance without stimulating shoot growth.

The following table shows Program application rates for three types of grasses. Apply the rates of CPR plus the Emerald Isle True Foliar products shown, per 1,000 sf every 14 days:

To maintain turf physiological fitness, particularly in stressful conditions, you need the following:

• True Foliar nutrients for maximum efficiency of uptake and translocation
• Precise amounts of nutrients for consistency
• Small, efficient amounts of nutrients for controlled leaf tissue growth
• High quality, multiple sources of nutrients to avoid one-rate release
• Seaplant extract to increase stress tolerance
• Complete fertility, including chelated micronutrients and trace elements
• Balanced fertility

Historically, plant “vigor” was defined in terms of clipping yield. However, Superintendents aren’t growing an “Ag” crop like corn where yield numbers matter. Superintendents are rewarded for quality putting surfaces, and it’s important to define success in terms of aesthetics over clipping yield. Success in maintaining turf at low mowing heights under stressful conditions requires limiting turf top growth. First of all, excessive top growth means slow and/or inconsistent putting speeds—that’s simply unacceptable in today’s demanding society.

Secondly, excessive growth is also very stressful to the plant—it begins a dangerous cycle of early senescence and death. When top growth is mowed off, the plant responds by trying to grow more in order to replace the lost photosynthetic leaf area. In the summer on cool season grasses (or whenever turf roots are under stress) the plant is not capable of producing additional carbohydrate reserves. Therefore, growth must come at the expense of existing reserves. When the plant’s stored energy is continually depleted, the turf cannot survive or fight off opportunistic diseases like anthracnose, and it cannot survive extremely stressful conditions.

As Dr. Rossi said in Turfnet August 2002:
“The act of mowing, especially multiple cuts in the same day, results in significant depletion of energy reserves and weaker more disease susceptible plants.”

Finally, Superintendents who maintain the new generation of bentgrasses and the new ultra-dwarf bermudagrasses must be especially careful to limit top growth while maintaining plant health. Not only do these species have shallow root systems, they are prone to producing thatch. Thatch accumulation is directly proportionate to top growth, so limiting top growth should be an integral part of the Superintendent’s thatch-management program.

The Emerald Isle CPR-True Foliar Programs detailed above all meet the needs of the turf by providing precisely what the Superintendent needs--Complete, Controlled, Consistent Nutrition that deliver increased plant physiological fitness with controlled growth.

Top 10 Reasons To Use The CPR-True Foliar Nutrition Program

• Increase turf quality and density
• Increase root mass and depth
• Increase stress tolerance
• Increase resistance to disease, especially anthracnose
• Reduce thatch accumulation
• Increase nutrient absorption
• Reduce clipping removal and loss of applied fertilizer
• Reduce nutrient leaching
• Increase photosynthesis and phytochemical efficiency
• Reduce potential for diseases associated with excess N

“We used the Emerald Isle True Foliar Nutrition and seaplant extract products all summer and were very happy with what they gave us—consistency, great color, and controlled growth.”
Phil Landry
Belgrade Lakes Golf Club
Belgrade Lakes, Maine

“My greens have never looked better, even though 2002 was such a stressful year.”
Frank Tichenor
Glenwood Country Club
Old Bridge, NJ

State of the art technology: Foliar Nutrition

All foliars are liquids, but not all liquids are true foliars. In other words, don’t confuse the method of application with how a plant metabolizes the application. Remember that “just because you’re spraying it on doesn’t mean you’re spraying it in.”

It has been known for some time that turfgrass plants are capable of taking up nutrients through the leaf tissue. In the morning, under favorable environmental conditions, the stomates may be open for nutrient entry. However, in the heat of the day, the stomatal guard cells close to conserve moisture and protect the plant—this can solve certain stress problems for the plant, but it effectively keeps out certain larger molecules such as those found in humic acid materials.

The much smaller transcuticular pores are always open. They can be entry points for nutrients if the nutrients are in a form that is acceptable to the plant. In short, the molecules have to be small enough to pass through the very small transcuticular pores, and they have to be neutral or negatively charged to get through the electro-chemical gradients of the plant and to translocate within the leaf tissue and throughout the plant.

The value of True Foliar nutrition is considerable. First of all, True Foliars allow small, efficient amounts of nutrition to be applied consistently. This keeps the plant healthy without stimulating excessive shoot growth. Excessive shoot growth not only results in slow putting speeds, it expends plant energy and depletes stored carbohydrate reserves, which can lead to premature senescence and death. Because True Foliar nutrition does not deplete stored energy, that energy is available to support root growth, just when that support is most desperately needed.

Secondly, roots that are under stress don’t function well. Fertility programs that depend on root uptake are less effective in times of stress. True Foliar applications bypass the roots by making nutrition directly available to the plant through the leaf tissue.

Third, nutrients that enter the soil are subject to unpredictable chemical transformations and may end up less useful to the turf as nutrition. Or, they may be tied up and un-available to the plant. True Foliar nutrition avoids these problems.

Finally, True Foliar nutrition increases metabolic activity in the leaf, which increases photosynthesis and chlorophyll production. The plant then increases its uptake of water from the soil. Because Emerald Isle True Foliars are engineered to incorporate the beneficial properties of seaplant extract and many beneficial nutrients, the products increase production and efficiency of photosynthesis and increase the water absorption and holding capability of the plant. The turf is nourished and strengthened, and it is more physiologically fit and better able to withstand environmental stresses.

Emerald Isle NutriRational True Foliars represent the state of the art True Foliar technology for providing more effective and efficient Nutrition for closely mowed turf.

• Each product contains multiple sources of nutrients
• The sources of nutrients are high quality—often food or pharmaceutical grade
• The nutrients are combined in carefully considered ratios
• The nutrients are chelated and complexed with organic sequestrants
• The True Foliars contain seaplant extract

Increase fungicide and PGR effectiveness with CPR

Problem: Fungicide applications are important, and they are expensive—when you use them, you want to make sure that you get the most value and efficacy from them as possible.

Solution: In tank-mixes with fungicide and PGR applications (especially when suppressing poa annua seed heads), apply the following:

• 2 oz of PanaSea Plus per 1,000 sf (fungicides)
-or-

• 6 oz of CPR per 1,000 sf (PGRs)

Research conducted by Virginia Tech and Michigan State Universities demonstrated that fungicides, growth regulators, and some selective herbicides could function more effectively when combined with seaplant extract. For that reason, many Superintendents in New York have been adding 2 oz per 1,000 sf of PanaSea Plus to every tank-mix application for years.

In 1993, Dr. Joe Vargas of Michigan State University demonstrated, under conditions of disease pressure in midseason, that half rates of Bayleton and Banner mixed with 4 oz of PanaSea Plus provided nearly the same control of Summer Patch as full rates of the fungicides alone. In 2002, research conducted at Virginia Tech University demonstrated that the efficacy of a variety of growth regulators was increased when mixed with seaplant extract.

In spring 2002, Steve Shadle—Golf Course Superintendent at Berkleigh Country Club (host of the Betsy King LPGA Tournament)—applied CPR with Embark Lite for poa seed head suppression on the back nine. Not only did he observe better color on the back nine, he also observed better seed head suppression. Later that summer, the front nine suffered from an outbreak of Summer Patch while the back nine greens did not. The turf on the back nine was healthier going into the summer—and therefore more disease resistant—because less energy had been expended by the plant to produce seed heads. To keep poa strong in the summer, it’s important to have an effective seed head suppression program—CPR with Embark or Proxy can provide good turf color and can help increase suppression effectiveness

In the 1993 study conducted by Dr. Vargas, applications of PanaSea Plus without fungicides provided a statistically significant reduction in Summer Patch compared to the untreated plots and to the fungicide-only plots.

(Note: Always follow the fungicide manufacturer’s recommendations for dilution rates and for tank-mixing fungicides with other products.)

Use True Foliar Silica to enhance disease resistance

Include True Foliar Silica (at 3 oz per 1,000 sf) as a regular component of True Foliar Nutrition and in the last fungicide spray of the season for ôhardening offö turf and for additional disease resistance.

Silica is not just for tournament prep! For several years, Superintendents have been advised to use liquid applications of silica to increase putting speed. Actually, what a good silica product can do is help stand-up the leaf blade for a better quality ball roll. This particularly helps with bents and bermudagrasses that get leggy and with poa that loses its turgidity in the summer. A truer roll will often be experienced by the golfer as “faster,” and it is always preferable to make the ball roll as smoothly as possible. So, after you have made sure that the greens mower reels are as sharp as possible, using silica for tournament prep makes a lot of sense.

However, the real value of silica is that it can harden the leaf tissue and enhance disease resistance. That’s why our True Foliar Silica 3-0-10, with 50% seaplant extract by volume, is included in all of our True Foliar Nutrition Programs.

An article in The Journal of Plant Nutrition, 1999 provided a short summary of the benefits of silicates documented by researchers at Virginia Tech:

• Creeping bentgrass: foliar applications stimulated antioxidant activity, increased photosynthetic capacity and chlorophyll content, and significantly reduced dollar spot disease without increasing clipping yields. These benefits were observed even under low water (drought) conditions.
• Cucumber plants: darker green leaf color, better position for light interception, less propensity of the leaves to wilt, 50% higher chlorophyll content, retarded senescence, and greater root mass.
• Strawberry plants: increased chlorophyll content, improved metabolism
• Rice: increased photosynthesis

Silica is associated with many of the same benefits as our seaplant extract—disease resistance, increased photosynthesis, increased chlorophyll, drought resistance, etc. When combined with seaplant extract and the multiple forms of True Foliar potassium unique to our products, Emerald Isle True Foliar Silica 3-0-10 represents the best silicate available to Golf Course Superintendents. It contains 50% Seaplant Extract and 1% immediately available Silica and provides these benefits:

• Increased photosynthesis
• Increased chlorophyll content
• Increased drought tolerance
• Increased disease tolerance
• Increased root mass

How to ensure a successful renovation and grow-in

Problem: Owners and members want to play on new turf before it has had an opportunity to reach full maturity. Turf that hasn’t had an opportunity to mature properly won’t survive stress, won’t meet expectations for quality, and is likely to become a future problem area.

Solution: Use GroWin at pre-plant and a combination of PanaSea Plus and True Foliar P 6-12-6 at post-plant to promote a vigorous root system and speed maturity.

There are a lot of ways to define a successful renovation. Clearly the most important thing is the finished product. Whatever the renovation or construction objective—rebuilding problem greens, expanding tees or reworking bunker banks, a Superintendent is generally judged by the quality of the work itself. However, he or she is also judged by whether or not the renovation is done on budget and on time. The people who play the course pay the bills, and they are also the ones who are the least tolerant of cost overruns and schedule delays.

The Emerald Isle two-step approach to renovations and new construction has been developed, tested, and refined through more than twenty years of research and real-world feedback. In order to ensure your success we recommend the following program:

Step One: Incorporate 25 lbs of GroWin in the top inch of soil or mix
Optimize the growing media—by incorporating GroWin you can achieve the following proven and tested results:

• Faster establishment
• Significantly better rooting
• Significantly better stress tolerance
• Turf that is ready for play sooner

By incorporating GroWin into the top of our sand mix, we can have a playable tee in 30-60 days. Without the GroWin, the tees take one month longer to be ready for play.”
Robert Steinman, CGCS
Beekman Country Club
Hopewell, New York

Step Two: Strengthen the Turf with True Foliar Nutrition
Once there is enough coverage to begin spraying, apply 4 oz. of PanaSea Plus and 4 oz of True Foliar P 6-12-6 every two weeks for the next 8 weeks, in addition to a pre-plant and post-plant fertility program. This part of the program provides the following:

• Increased root mass and depth
• High temperature stress tolerance
• Foliar absorption to provide uptake under a wide variety of conditions
• Promote increased physiological fitness

Dr. Roch Gaussoin at the University of Nebraska tested this grow-in Program, and it resulted in excellent turf quality and faster establishment (than plots with conventional fertility) with much lower nutrient inputs. The payoff from the lower nutrient inputs was that the EI plots were disease free, while Pythium attacked the plots grown in conventionally.

Independent research conducted by Dr. Gaussoin of The University of Nebraska and Dr. Kevin Frank of Michigan State University on the effects of Emerald Isle products on creeping bentgrass during establishment also indicated that,

“the cell wall content of bentgrass treated with Emerald Isle products was significantly higher than bentgrass treated with conventional grow-in procedures. A higher cell wall content has been proven to indicate higher traffic tolerance.”

Our strategic grow-in Program enables Superintendents to build better turf faster in a more environmentally responsible way with less disease than conventional methods. Whether you are trying to establish cool season or warm season grasses—and whether you’re seeding, sprigging, or sodding—using our Program will help you do it better, faster, and more cost efficiently.

“We use GroWin whenever we enlarge greens back to their original size. After scalping the turf, we double-aerify and topdress with seed, GroWin, and sand. GroWin is a fantastic tool.”
Patrick Daly, CGCS
Framingham Country Club
Framingham, Massachusetts

How to survive rainy season stress

Problem: Excessive rain causes root dieback, and excessive cloudiness limits photosynthesis, resulting in severe stress for turf.

Solution: CPR increases photosynthetic efficiency, and the high concentration of cytokinins, amino acids, and vitamins in CPR promote cell division and root development and make the turf stronger and more stress tolerant.

Apply 3 oz CPR per 1,000 sf weekly or 6 oz per 1,000 sf (2 gallons per acre) every 14 days

Relentless rain will always cause root dieback because waterlogged soils deprive roots of the oxygen they need. Even when it’s not raining, cloudy days deprive turf of the sunlight it needs for photosynthesis. These stressful conditions result in weak turf that is prone to early senescence. Even if the plant survives, it won’t be healthy and strong, and turf that’s not strong won’t survive other environmental stresses like excessive heat. Stressed turf won’t exhibit the quality demanded by today’s players, and it cannot tolerate the low mowing heights necessary to meet the constant demands for putting speed.

Researchers agree that turfgrass cells under stress will age and die because of damaging free radical molecules (much like cancer-causing free radicals in humans). Recent studies at Virginia Tech, plus Dr. Huang's research at Kansas State, have shown that applications of CPR can increase antioxidant levels, thereby increasing cell life and maintaining turf strength. At both universities, the independent studies also confirmed that applying CPR to turf produced statistically significant increases in the following:

• Photosynthetic Rate and Efficiency
• Root Growth
• Turf Quality
• Turf Chlorophyll Content and Color

The high concentration of cytokinins in CPR promotes cell division, and its unique plant-derived amino acids help the plant synthesize proteins. CPR’s vitamins, plant sugars, and chelated micronutrients provide the necessary supplemental nutrition to complete and balance your fertility program.

Weekly applications of CPR at one gal/acre or biweekly applications of two gals/acre will help promote root development and enhance plant physiological fitness—even in the rain.

“Since I started using CPR, I have seen a lot of improvement in our root structure and development, even through the rainy season. We get very good results with CPR.”
Jack Hester
The Yacht and Country Club
Stuart, Florida

Build the soil and boost turf health through organic matter management

Problem: Sand-based greens have many desirable physical characteristics, but they have very low CEC, which makes nutrient management constantly challenging. Plus, the low sterility in sand-based greens makes disease prevention difficult.

Solution: Apply Sand-Aid (pre-plant and after core aerification) to increase CEC and beneficial microbial activity while maintaining favorable physical characteristics—macro-porosity and water retention. Sand-Aid has the highest CEC of any soil amendment available.

There is no doubt that sand-based rootzones are here to stay. There is also no doubt that the reasons for building sand-based rootzones have much more to do with moving water, than creating a biologically diverse and healthy growing system.

Emerald Isle Ltd. have conducted extensive research on the use of organic amendments in sand-based root zones, as well as the use of organic based fertilizers and their impact on the attributes of sand based systems, including:

• Use of Nitrogen – quantities and rates
• Carbon / Nitrogen ratios of amendments and their effect
• Availability of Carbon – quantities and rates
• Moisture and Nutrient holding capacity
• Cation Exchange Capacity
• Improved tolerance to cold temperature stress
• Tolerance to senescence and wilt due to high temperature and drought stress

The research conclusions provide important reasons for including an organic nutrient and amendment program in an overall sand-based root zone management scheme. So, while the organic fraction may be small, it is vitally important and requires sophisticated and sensitive management.

Golf Course Superintendents are rapidly discovering that better organic matter management is key to producing superior sports turf under intense maintenance conditions. It’s clear that better organic matter management can dramatically improve turf’s tolerance to a broad range of environmental stresses including high temperatures and drought. In a three-year study at Michigan State University, SAND-AID significantly improved tolerance to high and low temperature stress in high sand content tees and greens. In addition, SAND-AID “jump-starts” microbial populations, thereby increasing resistance to certain soil-borne disease pathogens. It also dramatically reduces moisture and nutrient losses, decreasing irrigation and fertilization expenses.

Now that high sand content root zone mixes are the generally accepted media for golf course greens and tees, and high sand content topdressing programs are the rule rather than the exception, precise and sophisticated organic matter management is even more critical. While conventional slow decomposing materials like sphagnum peat and reed sedge peat can provide important long-term benefits when they are incorporated as organic constituents in root zone or top dressing mixes, they have some serious limitations.

Turf Diagnostics & Design, Inc. conducted a comprehensive series of tests evaluating SAND-AID™ as an organic amendment in USGA sand based root zone mixes. The results were really quite extraordinary.

To summarize, the results confirm that SAND-AID can add a significant dimension to better organic matter management.

What makes SAND-AID so uniquely useful is its ability to dramatically increase the organic matter content, cation exchange capacity, and moisture and nutrient holding capacity of root zone mixes without disturbing the mixes’ desirable physical properties such as soil porosity.

One of the most serious shortcomings to peat as an organic amendment is that you must incorporate a considerable volume of peat (10% to 20%) to sand mixes in order to reach even the minimum (1% to 1.5%) organic matter levels specified by the USGA and others for greens and tees. It’s often not possible to reach optimal (1.5% to 2%) organic matter levels using peat because the amount needed would overload the system and degrade the physical performance characteristics, especially the infiltration rate of the mix.

Following are a few highlights from Turf Diagnostic’s report “Concerning Physical Evaluation of SAND-AID in USGA Sand Based Root-Zone Materials.”

• Adding SAND-AID at the recommended rates increased the organic matter content of the sand/peat mixes and pure sand in all cases
• Adding SAND-AID increased the organic matter content of the 80:20 sand/Canadian sphagnum peat mix by 60%
• SAND-AID increased the organic matter content of the 90:10 sand/Dakota peat mix by 53.8%
• ‘The pure sand mixes were improved physically by the addition of SAND-AID…”and “The pure sand treatments indicate improving physical attributes with increasing amounts of SAND-AID.”
• The data generated by this series of tests show no negative impact on the physics of the greens…SAND-AID’s ability to significantly increase organic matter content without layering is “a positive attribute.”
• As a companion amendment for peat, the increase in organic matter produced by SAND-AID without any adverse effects on the physical properties of the mixes is highly beneficial.

SAND-AID appears to have no negative impact on infiltration rates, and it improves water-holding capacity. On the other hand, adding the amount of peat it would take to equal the increase in organic matter produced by SAND-AID would have a significant negative impact on the mix’s physical properties.

The importance of pre-stress conditioning

Problem: Environmental stress (heat, drought, excessive rain, etc.) can weaken turf and cause root dieback, resulting in drastically reduced quality and color.

Solution: Increase the turf’s physiological fitness, its cell strength, and its root development before stress occurs. For Pre-Stress Conditioning and Root Development, apply the following as soon as spraying starts:

• 6 oz of CPR per 1,000 sf every 14 days -or-
• 2 oz of PanaSea Plus per 1,000 sf every 14 days, plus
• 3 oz of True Foliar K 2-0-16 per 1,000 sf every 14 days, plus
• 3 oz of True Foliar Calcium 6-0-0 per 1,000 sf every 14 days

At the very same time that photosynthesis declines in turf, respiration increases considerably.

This is a “double bogey” for Golf Course Superintendents, and it means that cool season turf is under its greatest stress at the very same time that Superintendents are called on to produce the best conditions for the most golfers. The combination of decreasing photosynthesis with increasing respiration results in rapidly declining root production.

Because a shallow root system places turfgrass at greater risk both to moisture deficits and high soil temperatures, it’s very important to do everything you can to increase root mass and length going into the summer and throughout the season.

As Dr. Bingru Huang of Rutgers University says,

“Grasses that develop deep, viable roots systems are capable of taking up water from the deeper soil profile and maintaining a cooler canopy. Therefore, management practices that promote new root growth or slow root dieback, especially in the surface soil, during July and August would reduce the susceptibility of creeping bentgrass to summer stresses.”

How do you promote new growth in the summer? Many recommendations—such as “raise the mowing height” or “mow every other day”—make sense theoretically but are not practical in the real world where the demand for speed is relentless.

Low mowing heights at a period of increasing respiration and decreasing photosynthesis is analogous to “burning the candle at both ends.”

As Dr. Frank Rossi of Cornell University wrote in the October 4, 2002 issue of Superintendent News,

“The industry is being asked to accept lowered mowing heights and is searching for ways to compensate for the known stresses. A unique array of products emphasizes their benefits when plants are under stress. Biostimulants, hormone-containing products, and foliar fertilizers designed for uptake through the leaves might provide some benefit to plant health that has heretofore been difficult to quantify.”

One of Dr. Huang’s recommendations for increasing root mass is to increase the “photosynthetic rate or period.” Her research at Kansas State University in 2000 showed that CPR and True Foliar K were successful in doing just that, plus increasing the plant leaf chlorophyll content, turf color, and root mass, even in July and August, without affecting the leaf area index. Dr. Richard Schmidt has conducted years of research at Virginia Tech that has proved that seaplant extract increases the plant’s photosynthetic rate, and Dr. Ervin’s research at Virginia Tech in 2001 demonstrated that CPR increased photochemical activity. Increased photochemical activity correlates with increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity:

“SOD is an integral enzyme in all plants’ mechanisms of defense against environmental stress. During oxidative stress, SOD is first in the antioxidant line of defense. In chloroplasts, SOD turns superoxide radicals (O2.-) into hydrogen peroxide, which are then rendered harmless to PSII by a peroxidase antioxidant that turns hydrogen peroxide to water. In general, the higher the SOD activity in leaves, the greater a plant’s ability to protect its photosynthetic apparatus and tolerate and recover from stress.”

Many of us take a variety of antioxidant vitamins and nutritional supplements because free radicals are damaging to human cells. The research cited above demonstrated that free radicals are also damaging to plant cells and that seaplant extract can act as an antioxidant for turf. As in the KSU research trial, CPR increased root mass significantly in August.

The scientific evidence is overwhelming that the proprietary high-quality seaplant extract available in CPR, PanaSea Plus, SeaQuential, and Emerald Isle True Foliars can improve the turf’s photosynthetic rate and its physiological fitness while helping increase root development and mass. Foliar applications of CPR (or PanaSea Plus) should be applied as early as the first fungicide spray (in advance of summer heat stress) and should be continued with True Foliar Nutrition through September.

Calcium plays a major role in strengthening the plant’s cell walls and thereby helping it in its stress tolerance and disease resistance. As important as it is to manage and balance calcium in the soil, calcium is an immobile nutrient. True Foliar applications of calcium are optimal for providing calcium to the plant’s cell walls.

For Pre-Stress Conditioning and Root Development, apply the following as soon as spraying begins:

• 6 oz of CPR per 1,000 sf every 14 days -or-
• 2 oz of PanaSea Plus per 1,000 sf every 14 days, plus
• 3 oz of True Foliar K 2-0-16 per 1,000 sf every 14 days, plus
• 3 oz of True Foliar Calcium 6-0-0 per 1,000 sf every 14 days

Continue the seaplant extract applications (CPR or PanaSea Plus) and True Foliar K throughout the summer in conjunction with a complete, balanced True Foliar Nutrition Program. Continue the True Foliar Calcium applications if soil tests show a deficiency in available calcium.

Defending against Basal Rot Anthracnose

Problem: Incidents and intensity of Basal Rot Anthracnose on poa annua have increased in recent years in direct relation to lowered mowing heights and stressful cultural practices designed to increase putting speeds. Fungicides are less effective if the turf is stressed, and once the crown of the turf is infected, there is no cure.

Solution: The best defense against an opportunistic, secondary disease like Anthracnose is to “grow healthy turf”—that means increased plant physiological fitness without excessive shoot growth. For an effective strategy against Basal Rot Anthracnose on bent-poa greens and tees, start with a good preventive fungicide program (include 2 oz of PanaSea Plus with all apps), and follow a complete, balanced Emerald Isle True Foliar Nutrition Program:

Research has shown that Basal Rot Anthracnose is an opportunistic disease—it’s stress related and attacks weak or wounded turf. On healthy turf, it’s a weak pathogen, but on stressed turf, it’s virulent and difficult to control.

The best and primary preventive strategy is to “grow healthy turf.” Dr. Bruce Clarke of Rutgers University has said that he cannot inoculate healthy turf with anthracnose.

How do you promote healthy turf while meeting today’s demands for lower mowing heights and higher putting speeds?

• Increase root growth
• Increase the turf’s photosynthetic rate
• Increase the turf’s phytochemical efficiency
• Replace hormones the plant can’t produce under stress
• Replace depleted vitamins and amino acids
• Use small amounts of efficient fertility
• Don’t promote shoot growth in the summer
• Retain carbohydrate reserves in the root tissue
• Apply balanced fertility with micronutrients
• Follow a complete, balanced program consistently
• Don’t wound the turf when disease is active
• Suppress seed heads so the poa is as strong as possible going into the summer

Seaplant extract has been shown by independent research to achieve the first five objectives listed above. Combined with an efficient True Foliar nutrition program that doesn’t promote shoot growth, you have the foundation for keeping plant physiological fitness as high as possible.

Research trials at Penn State University in the summer of 2002 demonstrated the effectiveness of the Emerald Isle Pre-Stress and True Foliar Nutrition Program in combating basal rot anthracnose. Even though the Emerald Isle True Foliar Nutrition Program tested contained no fungicides, it provided 43% better disease control than the untreated check plot. In fact, the Program outperformed all individual fungicides except Signature and Spectro, on the basis of average ratings.

“To provide a true roll on my greens I have to groom, topdress, and roll often; but when you do that you need a quick recovery. It’s a lot easier to beat up a healthy plant than a sick one. By using CPR and the Emerald Isle True Foliars, I get great color, great recovery, and, best of all, disease suppression.”
Tony Grasso
Metropolis Country Club
White Plains, New York

“CPR and the Emerald Isle True Foliars are a cornerstone to my program, and I believe they significantly contribute to the fact that I haven't had to deal with anthracnose in the two years that I have been using the products.”
Steve Shadle
Berkleigh Country Club
Kutztown, Pennsylvania

How to recover from winter kill

Problem: Severe winter temperatures, wind, and ice and snow cover can desiccate and/or freeze the plant and crown. Even if the turf is not killed, it will be extremely weak and may die shortly after winter is over. Poa annua is especially vulnerable.

Solution: Use GroWin® with sand and seed to germinate grass quickly and hasten its maturity; use PanaSea Plus and True Foliar N 19-1-6 and P 6-12-6 to nourish the juvenile turf.

• Aerify (shallow tine, ╝-⅜ in diameter), and topdress the damaged area with a mix containing the desired amount of seed and 10 - 20 lbs of GroWin per cubic yard of sand.
• Apply 3 oz of PanaSea Plus, 3 oz of True Foliar N and 3 oz of True Foliar P to the entire green.

Winterkill can be devastating to a course, often resulting in the loss of more than 50% of turf on one or more greens. The Superintendent is under pressure to restore the lost area while still maintaining the areas in play. GroWin mixed with seed will help the germinating turf mature faster so that it can be put back into play more quickly and so that it will be less vulnerable to early season stress.

Juvenile turf requires more phosphorous than mature turf. It also needs True Foliar nutrition because juvenile root systems cannot process granular fertility in the same way that mature turf can. Furthermore, applying granular fertility to a green to accelerate establishment of a damaged area will result in excessive growth in the other areas.

The best solution while growing in one of more areas of a green in play—for both newly seeded and mature turf—is to apply PanaSea Plus and True Foliar N and P to the entire green.

“In 2000, we had extensive winterkill, and we needed to push recovery for the members and for the Massachusetts Amateur Qualifier. We aerified the damaged areas in early April with ¼ inch hollow tines and spread a mixture of ½ lb of bentgrass seed with 5 lbs of GroWin per 1,000 sf. We topdressed lightly with sand and repeated the process 3 weeks later. We had good density in 6 weeks and full recovery within 8 weeks.”
Patrick Daly, CGCS
Framingham Country Club
Framingham, Massachusetts

The Benefits of Seaplant Extracts

Seaplant Extract is a major component throughout our product line because no other natural material has been proven to provide as many plant benefits.

Seaplant Extract is the foundation of our biostimulant line—PanaSeá Plus® and CPR®—and it is a key ingredient in our NutriRational® True Foliar and SeaQuential® Micronutrient line of products as well. Granular seaplant meal is one of the key constituents of our root zone amendments Sand-Aid® and GroWin®, and it is also a component in our SeaBlend® fertilizers.

Our proprietary Seaplant Extract contains naturally occurring hormones (cytokinins and auxins) plus 17 naturally occurring plant-based amino acids plus vitamins plus all the major and minor nutrients and trace elements known to be essential for turfgrass health and growth. Furthermore, our Seaplant Extract has been shown by independent research to provide all of the following benefits on turf:

• Increases plant physiological fitness
• Increases plant photosynthetic capacity
• Increases chlorophyll content
• Increases plant antioxidant levels
• Increases cell wall strength
• Increases stress tolerance
• Increases resistance to diseases
• Increases drought tolerance
• Increases root mass and length

“Emerald Isle products—such as PanaSea, PanaSea Plus, and CPR—have been an integral component of my spray program for 20 years. The products have significantly improved the health and stress tolerance of the turf at Ridgeway Country Club, allowing it to successfully withstand severe heat and drought conditions. Emerald Isle products have also helped me in reducing irrigation practices by at least 30 percent.”
Earl Millet
Ridgeway Country Club
White Plains, New York

In the July-August 2000 issue of the Virginia Turfgrass Journal, Drs. Richard Schmidt and Erik Ervin summarized their findings after years of research with seaplant extract. They also referenced research by others and summarized the various conclusions.

They noted that not all seaplant extracts are created equal—they vary by source and extracting process—and Virginia Tech's research was based on what they consider to be superior seaplant extract, i.e., material extracted from waters off Nova Scotia and prepared by alkaline hydrolysis. This description of superior quality seaplant extract fits our materials used in PanaSea Plus, CPR, and our NutriRational True Foliars.

Their basic conclusions were:

1. Under favorable, non-stressful conditions, molecular oxygen accepts electrons during metabolic processes, producing water as a by-product. Under unfavorable, stressful conditions, this oxygen-accepting electron process can be overwhelmed, resulting in the production of a number of toxic oxygen species (such as peroxide) known as free radicals. These free radicals lead to loss of photosynthetic efficiency, cell death, and eventually plant death.
2. Ordinarily, plants can product anti-oxidants to react with free radicals to produce nontoxic end products such as water; however, under high-stress, greater levels of "ethylene" are produced that signal leaf senescence to proceed and conserve energy in plant-growing points (turfgrass crowns). Photosynthesis halts, and higher levels of ethylene coincide with reductions in growth hormones ("cytokinins" and "auxins").
3. Researchers believe that pre-treatment with seaplant extract may change the hormonal balance to favor cytokinins and auxins over ethylene so that the antioxidant production can continue under stress. "In effect, the turf may be 'triggered' into continuing to grow and protect itself during periods of stress when it normally would begin to shut down." This beneficial effect has been quantified in research at Virginia Tech on turf under stress from drought, salinity, heat, dollar spot, high UV light intensity, and nematodes. (Research at KSU also confirmed and quantified the effect under stress caused by high soil temperature.)
4. Turfgrass plants treated with seaplant extract produce and retain more moisture, and they can even extract more from droughty soils than non-treated turf. Furthermore:
1. Biostimulants can increase translocation of pre-and post-emergent herbicides
2. Biostimulants and triazole fungicides work synergistically together
3. The addition of biostimulants with PrimoMAXX may encourage the development of roots under stress periods
4. Iron fertilization could be beneficial during stress conditions, so it makes sense to combine chelated iron with biostimulants
5. Biostimulants should be used in conjunction with proper mineral fertilization and “spoon feeding"

Improve fairway quality and drought resistance

Problem: Expectations for fairway quality are higher than ever, matching what used to be the standards for greens. PGRs can help with density, but they can also affect color adversely. Lower mowing heights can also affect color and subject the fairway turf to environmental stress.

Solution: SeaQuential or SeaQuential with Micronutrients applied once a month in the summer will improve the turf color, its drought and heat tolerance, and its overall appearance and quality.

• Apply SeaQuential or SeaQuential with Micronutrients at a rate of 2-3 oz per 1,000 sf every four weeks
-or-
• Apply CPR at a rate of 6 oz per 1,000 sf every four weeks

Golfers today are more demanding than they were years ago, and Superintendents have had to respond by maintaining fairways at the same level of quality that used to be expected of greens. Today’s players expect great color and consistent density of tee and fairway turf, regardless of how bad summer stress is.

As a result of these increased expectations, many Superintendents have been forced to lower the height of cut and increase their fungicide sprays. Even with intensive management programs, the turf can still be vulnerable to stress. The seaplant extract in SeaQuential and CPR can increase drought and stress tolerance and can make the turf more disease-resistant. An independent research project at Virginia Tech University in the summer of 2001 demonstrated that plots treated with CPR and CPR + PrimoMAXX had excellent color throughout the trial. The appearance was noticeably better than plots that didn’t receive CPR, and there was less incidence of dollar spot with CPR.

Fairways are being maintained at lower mowing heights, and many Superintendents are using growth regulators as a management tool to limit top growth and increase density. These management practices can sometimes affect turf color adversely, and SeaQuential can help create—and hold—excellent turf color for up to four weeks.

To maximize turf color and quality, apply 2-3 oz of SeaQuential or SeaQuential with Micronutrients per 1,000 sf every four weeks. The cytokinins and amino acids in the seaplant extract in SeaQuential will make the turf more drought tolerant and stress resistant, and the uniquely chelated minor nutrients will improve the turf color.

“When we ran out of water in August 2002, we sprayed SeaQuential instead—after that, our fairways looked the best they had all year, and they were much more drought tolerant.”
Jim Rusnic
Bear Brook Golf Club
Fredon, New Jersey

Early Season True Foliar™ Applications For Better Turf Color & Quality

Early Season True Foliar Applications for Better Turf Color & Quality

Problem: The first warm spell of the year brings out golfers anxious to play, but intolerant of a course that doesn’t meet their expectations.

Solution: At the first sign of weather warm enough to bring out the golfers, apply the following:

• 3 oz of True Foliar N 19-1-6 per 1,000 sf every 14 days, plus
• 3 oz of True Foliar Si 3-0-10 per 1,000 sf every 14 days, plus
• 3 oz of SeaQuential with Micros per 1,000 sf every 14 days

Every year, the same thing happens: The PGA Tour makes its Florida swing in March leading up to the Masters in April. Up north, the winter weather breaks, at least for a weekend. After being cooped up all winter, nothing gets a golfer’s blood flowing like Tiger and his peers making birdies when it’s suddenly sunny and 10 degrees warmer outside. That means that the pressure on the Superintendent begins when that first warm weekend hits. It may get cold again right after that, but today’s players seem to want perfection earlier and earlier. At the very least, they want good color and putting quality on the greens. Outside of Hawaii and the Sunbelt, one thing is always true about spring golf and course conditions:

The golfers are ready before the soil is!

In early spring, the worst thing a Superintendent can do is over-apply granular fertility trying to get a turf response. It won’t happen, because the soil temperatures are not high enough to support microbial activity, but that excess residual soil fertility will kick in when the soil temperatures rise for good, and you’ll be “bailing hay.” If you want good quality and good putting speeds in May-June, be careful what you do in late March-April. Heavy granular applications in early spring can really hurt you in late spring, but True Foliar applications can help by getting small, efficient amounts of nutrients directly into the leaf tissue.

“We used True Foliar N 19-1-6 in early March when it was still pretty cold, and we were really pleased with the results. We got a great color response that was visible in less than 24 hours.”
JL Griffith
The Signature at West Neck
Virginia Beach, Virginia

“We had an early warm-up in April when it was still pretty cold at night. I used the True Foliar N 19-1-6 to get a green-up going into the weekend, and it really worked well—the color lasted about 18 days.”
Dave D’Andrea
Riverside Golf Course
Portland, Maine

Introduction

The Golf Course Superintendent’s profession of managing and maintaining high value turf is a very difficult one. In fact, it’s a daily battle, and Superintendents are on the front line. Emerald Isle, Ltd. take great pride in providing products, programs, and creative solutions for Superintendents that help them solve problems and meet the extreme demands for quality made by golfers today.

Mother Nature often makes it very difficult for Golf Course Superintendents to meet those demands. For example, weather stress and demands for faster and faster green speeds occur at the same time that cool season grasses are their most vulnerable, and warm season grasses decline at the same time that the rainy season is in full force. Our Emerald Isle products and programs are designed and formulated to help increase the turf’s physiological fitness, its stress tolerance, and its disease resistance. These programs provide Superintendents with the cost-effective tools they need to produce excellent turf quality even under the most difficult conditions.

Many companies make product claims, but our company backs its claims with independent, thorough research. For more than twenty years, the Emerald Isle, Ltd. product line has undergone stringent testing at many of the country’s leading universities. That’s why we confidently urge Superintendents to “Put Science on Your Side™.”

As important as it is to have solid research supporting our product claims, it’s even more important that we have the confidence and trust of Superintendents who have used our products in all kinds of stressful conditions. Superintendents are the ones striving for quality on greens and tees in play—that’s where the real battle exists. We are very proud of the testimonials we have from Superintendents from all over the country—from high visibility tournament venues to private clubs to high volume daily fee courses—who use our programs to maintain turf in an astonishing array of stressful conditions. What these Superintendents have in common is a commitment to produce the highest quality turf possible with the resources available to them.

We are especially proud of the faith Superintendents have placed in our products, our programs, and in us. Superintendents know that they can count on us to provide safe, effective products that deliver predictable, high quality results consistently.

These are the values that guide us in our commitment to assist the Golf Course Superintendent in producing the best turf quality possible in a cost-effective manner.

Since 1980, our commitment to research and to proving the value of our products has been demonstrated repeatedly. The independent research projects listed below have provided verification of the merits of our approach to problem solving, and we appreciate very much the help and suggestions we have received from researchers that have resulted in continuous product improvement.

1. Virginia Polytechnic University, Dr. Erik Ervin
2. University of Arkansas, Dr. Mike Richardson
3. University of Nebraska, Dr. Roch Gaussoin
4. University of Rhode Island, Dr. Bridget Ruemmele, Dr. Noel Jackson, Dr. Richard Koske, and Dr. Jane Gemma.
5. University of Wisconsin, Dr. Wayne Kussow, and Sabrina Mueller
6. Clemson University, Dr. Bert McCarty, Dr. Horrace Skipper, Jason Higenbottom, and Matt Gregg
7. University Of Massachusetts, Dr. William Torrello, and Dr. Rich Cooper
8. Kansas State University, Dr. Bingru Huang
9. The Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Wakkar Uddin
10. University of Florida, Dr. Grady Miller
11. Cornell University, Dr. Frank Rossi, and Dr. Norman Hummel
12. Michigan State University, Dr. Kevin Frank, and Dr. Joe Vargas.
13. Southern Illinois University, Dr. Ken Diesburg.
14. University of Georgia, Dr. Keith Karnok
15. Turf Diagnostics & Design, Chuck Dixon
16. Predictive Modeling, Dr. John Gilmour

Control and reduce thatch

Problem: Excessive thatch causes a host of management and quality problems for the Superintendent. Not only does it make the surface of the green too soft, fertilizers and fungicides get tied up, and localized dry spots can be a constant problem. Worst of all, thatch results in shallow rooting, and shallow rooting makes the turf vulnerable to disease and stress.

Solution: Control thatch by following a Program of True Foliar Nutrition with seaplant extract in the late spring through the summer. Reduce thatch by using Thatch-X® and PanaSea Plus in conjunction with mechanical cultivation methods such as verticutting, Graden, and core aerification.

The accumulation of excess thatch is directly related to shoot growth. If you can control growth, you can control thatch. This is especially important if you are maintaining one of the newer varieties of bentgrass or one of the ultradwarf bermudas. To control growth, you need to control Nitrogen inputs—that’s best done by using a complete True Foliar nutrition program to provide the balanced nutrition essential for turf health. In a 2001 study conducted at The University of Arkansas by Dr. Mike Richardson, Crenshaw creeping bentgrass treated with the Emerald Isle True Foliar Nutrition Program had 40% less thatch accumulation than plots treated with conventional granular fertilizer regimes.

Because cool season shoot growth is naturally limited as daylight and temperatures decrease, Dr. Zach Reicher of Purdue University recommends that approximately 60% of the nitrogen fertility for turf be applied in fall and late fall. The nitrogen in fall and late fall applications will help develop roots and will build carbohydrate reserves. A lean fertility program for cool season turf built around his recommendation that would also limit thatch build-up could be structured as follows:

• One-third to one-half pound of nitrogen per 1,000 sf from SeaBlend in spring to aid recovery from core aerification
• 1.0 lb of nitrogen per 1,000 sf through 10-12 True Foliar Nutrition Program applications May-September
• 2.0 lbs of nitrogen per 1,000 sf from SeaBlend in fall and late fall applications

For Superintendents who have inherited a thatch problem, some mechanical removal is necessary. Core aerification, verticutting, and the Graden process can all be very useful. Applying Thatch-X and PanaSea Plus with these cultivation methods provides beneficial microbial activity that will help reduce thatch beyond what is physically removed. Independent research at the University of Rhode Island documented the effectiveness of Thatch-X in reducing the thickness and density of the thatch layer.

• Apply Thatch-X at a rate of 3-5 lbs per 1,000 sf in conjunction with the Graden, verticutting, and/or aerification 1-3 times per year
• Apply PanaSea Plus at a rate of 2 oz per 1,000 sf monthly to accelerate beneficial microbial activity