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Nematodes Beware: NIMITZ is coming!

By |  February 11, 2016 0 Comments

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“NIMITZ Pro G puts nematodes six feet under,” says Marie Knox, resident nematologist and technical services manager for Quali-Pro, a brand of Pasadena, Texas-based Control Solutions Inc. (CSI).

Knox and Rick Grant, CSI’s business director for turf and ornamental markets, discussed nematodes and their soon-to-be arch nemesis — NIMITZ Pro G — at a breakfast meeting with superintendents and distributors at the 2016 Golf Industry Show (GIS) in San Diego.

Rick Grant, CSI’s business director for turf and ornamental markets discusses nematodes and NIMITZ Pro G at GIS 2016.

Rick Grant, CSI’s business director for turf and ornamental markets discusses nematodes and NIMITZ Pro G at GIS 2016.

Pending federal registration, NIMITZ Pro G leverages a new class of chemistry — fluoroalkenyle (-thioether). No other plant-protection product uses this novel chemistry.

NIMITZ Pro G’s active ingredient (AI) is fluensulfone, which delivers a novel mode of action proven to stop nematodes dead in their ‘S’ tracks, typically within 48 hours. The AI is delivered through the soil profile, where it comes into contact with nematodes through water movement via irrigation and rainfall following product applications. ADAMA, parent company of CSI, manufactures the AI at its new facility in Israel.

Quali-Pro expects NIMITZ Pro G will achieve federal and state registrations in time for the nematicide to be available this summer. Grant and Knox said NIMITZ Pro G will be the first chemical nematicide developed and registered in the U.S. in more than 20 years.

Packaged in 40-pound buckets, NIMITZ Pro G is formulated on a Biodac granule for optimal greening. Long-proven on the ag side, the AI fluensulfone has passed the test at thousands of sites spanning 23 countries and every continent.

“Obviously, we adjusted the ag formulation for the turf market,” Knox added. “We took great care to ensure NIMITZ Pro G enhances plant health while sinking nasty nematodes,” Knox added.

Nematode-a-nator

“NIMITZ Pro G puts nematodes six feet under,” says Marie Knox, resident nematologist and technical services manager for Quali-Pro.

“NIMITZ Pro G puts nematodes six feet under,” says Marie Knox, resident nematologist and technical services manager for Quali-Pro.

NIMITZ Pro G targets turf’s top-four offending nematodes: root-knot, lance, sting and lesion nematodes.

The AI’s top-three effects on plant-parasitic nematodes are:

Irreversible paralysis and impaired motility within six to 24 hours for all nematode stages;
Severely stunted egg laying and hatching: The few eggs that do hatch typically do not progress beyond the Juvenile 1 larva stage; and
Cessation of feeding, typically within one hour.

NIMITZ Pro G is tested to take out nematodes and enhance plant health on an array of turfgrasses, including:

  • Bermudagrass;
  • Centipedegrass;
  • Creeping bentgrass;
  • Tall fescue;
  • Seashore paspalum;
  • St. Augustinegrass;
  • Zoysiagrass;
  • Perennial ryegrass; and
  • Rough bluegrass.

“NIMITZ Pro G is proven to enhance plant health — root quality, color quality, leaf density, plant vigor and sod tensile strength,” Grant added.

Initially, Quali-Pro’s NIMITZ Pro G will set its sights on Southeast U.S., helping supers say goodbye to these wicked worms long-plaguing supers’ precious greens, as well as tee boxes and fairways. After that, NIMITZ Pro G will be deployed wherever nematodes are worming their way across America (again, pending federal and state registrations).

NIMITZ Pro G’s intended use sites include:

  • Golf course greens, tee boxes and fairways;
  • Sports fields;
  • Commercial turfgrass;
  • Residential lawns; and
  • Sod farms.

NIMITZ Pro G is university tested: Turf and plant health researchers at The University of Florida, North Carolina State University, Texas A&M, Clemson University and the University of Massachusetts helped CSI study and fine-tune the nematicide.

“Nematodes are subterranean pests, stealthy picking off plant health from below the surface,” Grant said. “Not any more. NIMITZ Pro G sinks nematodes for good.”

Other Quali-Pro News

At the event, Grant discussed a trio of recent personnel additions: Gary Custis, turf tech services manager; Paul Fox, Gulf Coast area manager; and Scott Pinkerton, product development manager.

Grant also shared news of three new Quali-Pro turf solutions and two enhanced formulations:

  • Strobe 2L — A new systemic, broad-spectrum fungicide with preventative and curative properties;
  • Strobe T — Also a new systemic, broad-spectrum fungicide with preventative and curative properties, but with two active ingredients;
  • Pac-Low — A new plant growth regulator (PGR) labeled for non-residential, warm- and cool-season turfgrasses;
  • T-Nex — A proven PGR with a recently enhanced formulation featuring an increased AI rate; and
  • Ipro 2 — A recently enhanced systemic, broad-spectrum fungicide.

“We also hope to launch, later this year, our triple-threat: Taurus Trio G featuring a trio of AIs,” Grant added. “Turf pests, diseases and weeds don’t sleep, and either does CSI’s product development team.”

Photos: Golfdom

This article is tagged with , , and posted in Industry News, Research

About the Author: Marty Whitford

Martin Whitford is an award-winning journalist and editorial leader at North Coast Media. He has served NCM’s Green Group for four years. Whitford brings with him 18 years of experience in business-to-business integrated media. He served in the U.S. Navy during the first Persian Gulf War.


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