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Purdue studies annual bluegrass control

By and |  March 1, 2013

purdue_study_tudorCreeping bentgrass greens often are invaded by annual bluegrass. Management tools have potential to minimize annual bluegrass encroachment, but their interactions are not well understood. These include root-absorbed plant growth regulators such as flurprimidol (Cutless), fertility source (46-0-0 vs. 20-20-20), nitrogen application rate (0.15 vs. 0.30 lbs. N/1000 ft2) and soil surfactants.

This three-year field study evaluated the effects of twice monthly applications of the aforementioned products and treatment combinations. Treatments were applied during active growth to a native-soil research green with approximately 30 percent annual bluegrass. The most effective annual bluegrass reductions occurred wherever flurprimidol was applied. When it wasn’t applied, a fertilizer source and rate effect were measured. Annual bluegrass decreased roughly 25 percent when 46-0-0 was applied at either rate. By contrast, applying 20-20-20 fertilizer increased annual bluegrass 84 percent at the high application rate.

This study demonstrates the potential for flurprimidol to reduce amounts of annual bluegrass and the potential influence of fertilizer source and rate on annual bluegrass invasion.

William Tudor, an M.S. candidate at Purdue University, can be contacted at wtudor@purdue.edu.

This article is tagged with and posted in Research

About the Author: Kelly Limpert

Kelly Limpert is the former digital media content producer for North Coast Media.


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