OVERSEED TRIALS ON FAIRWAY AND PUTTING GREEN BERMUDAGRASSES

Transcription

1 production phase. Although petunia plant quality declined more rapidly as the PW frequency increased, as reflected by plant grade change, plant grade at termination of the postproduction phase was not affected by PW. Again, little differ ence was seen at the end of postproduction for plant quality and number of blooms produced for plants watered every three or four days during production. PPW also influenced the number of flowers produced per pot, with number of flowers decreasing as watering frequency decreased from daily to once every three days, then showing little change when watering frequency was lowered to once every four days. Only plants watered daily during postproduc tion phase were of acceptable quality when research was ter minated on Jun. 1993, with a decline in plant quality during the postproduction phase similar to that seen in pansies as a result of PPW. Conclusions To receive fullest satisfaction (the highest number of blooms and longer-lasting plant quality) from fully grown an nuals in bloom in large containers, home gardeners would probably need to provide approximately 5 ml of water each day to annuals in 2-cm pots unless they were in a location where they were receiving at least that much rain water. This frequency of watering may be higher than most consumers utilize, but will result in the best quality plants. Planter pots in full sun, such as those utilized in this research, should be wa tered no less frequently than every other day, except in times of heavy and frequent rainfall, to maintain plant quality and blooming. Producers could irrigate pansies in 2-cm pots on an alter nate-day schedule, except in cases of extremely dry weather, with no adverse effects on salability or quality during postpro duction. On the other hand, this research indicates that petu nias need to be irrigated daily during production to obtain the highest quality plants for marketing purposes, although watering every other day has no adverse effect on postproduc tion quality and the consumer should perceive less product decline if production watering has been less frequent than daily. However, this research also indicates that petunias will probably yield more flowers for the home owner when pro duced on a daily irrigation schedule, while consumers may ex perience fewer flowers on pansies watered daily during production than if they had been watered less frequently. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 17: OVERSEED TRIALS ON FAIRWAY AND PUTTING GREEN BERMUDAGRASSES S. F. Anderson and A. E. Dudeck University of Florida, IFAS Environmental Horticulture Department Gainesville, FL Index Words. Agrostis palustris, Agrostis tenuis, bermudagrass, colonial bentgrass, creeping bentgrass, Cynodon, Lolium perenne, overseed, perennial ryegrass, Poa trivialis, rough bluegrass, turf, turfgrass. Abstract. Differences between 29 cool-season turfgrasses overseeded on Tifway II' and Tifdwarf bermudagrasses, Cynodon spp., were noted under fairway and putting green conditions, respectively, throughout the winter growing season at Gainesville, FL. Overseeded putting green grasses with best seasonal turf quality were cultivars of rough bluegrass, Poa trivialis L. Cultivars included in this group were '', 'Cy press', '', '', '', 'Mix 1', '', '', 'PT-GH-89 Cll', '', '', and ''. Perennial ryegrasses, Lolium perenne L, and bentgrasses, Agrostis spp., had significantly poorer seasonal turf quality scores. Overseeded fairway grasses with best seasonal turf quality scores were '', '', '', 'Danish Common', '', '', '', 'Mix 1', '', 'Mix 3', 'PT-GH-89 CM', '', '', and ''. Most were predominately rough bluegrasses. Seed number per unit weight varied widely between cultivars. All seed pur chases and seeding rates should be based on their pure live seed content. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series No. N-981. Throughout the southern United States, fairways and put ting greens are overseeded annually with cool-season turf grasses during winter months. This practice is to provide live, green turf covers and improved playing surfaces when ber mudagrass goes dormant (Turgeon, 1991). Many cool-season turfgrass species and cultivars along with numerous mixtures and blends are commercially available on the seed market. This is because turfgrass breeders and seed producers contin ue to develop and release new grasses, mixtures, and blends. Thus, timely trials for proper evaluation are required (Du deck and Anderson, 1991; Dudeck and Anderson, 1992; Du deck and McCarty, 1988; Dudeck and McCarty,1989; Peacock et al., 1985; Ward et al., 1974). The purpose of these studies was to evaluate suitability of selected cool-season turfgrass spe cies, cultivars, mixtures, or blends for overseeding purposes in north Florida. Materials and Methods Two concurrent studies were conducted during the winter period, one under fairway conditions and the other under putting green conditions. Twenty-nine entries of cool-season grasses listed in Table 1 were overseeded on a Tifway IF bermudagrass, Cynodon spp., fairway on -27 Oct The same grasses were overseeded on a Tifdwarf ber mudagrass, Cynodon spp., putting green on Nov Both studies were conducted at the University of Florida, In stitute of Food and Agricultural Science, Field Lab oratory, Gainesville, FL. The putting green site was verticut in several directions and then topdressed at a rate of ft3 per 1, ft2 (approxi- 416 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 17: 1994.

2 Table 1. Cool-season turfgrasses overseeded at Gainesville, FL, during the winter growing period along with their composition and seed source. Table 2. Cool-season turfgrass seed quality, bulk and pure live seed (PLS) number per pound, and seeding rate for overseeding trials at Gainesville, FL. Components Mix/Blend Cultivar Species1 Source Marvelgreen Supreme TMI-CB Bright star Quicks tart Saturn Sunrye Palmer II Prelude II Alliance Laser Southshore Palmer Prelude Laser Penneagle Navajo Allaire II Evening Shade TMI-CB-1 Tourstar Quickstart Quickstart IR CB CB IR CLB CLB Jacklin Seed Co. O. M. Scotts Turf Merchants Inc. O. M. Scotts 8c Sons Pratum Co-op Warehouse Olsen-Fennell Seeds, Inc. +CB = Creeping bentgrass, CLB = Colonial bentgrass, IR = Intermediate ryegrass, = Perennial Ryegrass, = rough bluegrass mately one-eight inch of soil) one day before overseeding. A fumigated Arredondo fine sand (loamy, silicious, hyperthermic Grossarenic Paleudult) identical to underlying soil was used for topdressing. Seedbed preparation on the fairway site involved only scalping to.5 inches prior to overseeding. A shaker bottle was used to hand seed all plots accurately and uniformly through a seeder box, 4 by 6 feet in size. Small seeded grasses such as bentgrass, Agrostis spp., and bluegrass, Poaspp., were diluted with a handful of soil before hand seed ing. Perennial ryegrass entries were seeded at a rate of 15 PLS Seed, #/lb Seeding Rate, lbs/ ft2 Purity Germ Bulk PLS Green Fairway ,8 27, , 4, , 23, , , ,63 248, ,273,41 1,962, ,2, 1,92, ,853,61 1,782, , 229, ,877,5 1,57, ,37,82 1,67, ,62 222, , 265, ,638,138 1,569, , , ,46,56 4,235, ,8,689 2,858, , , , 241, ,739,464 1,153, ,446,121 1,81, , , , , TMI-CB ,956, 6,622, ,956, 6,622, ,64,647 1,568, ,26,667 2,899, (pure live seed) per square inch on the fairway and 5 PLS per square inch on the putting green (Table 2). Rough bluegrasses were seeded at a rate of 3 PLS per square inch on the fairway and PLS per square inch on the putting Colonial and creeping bentgrasses were seeded at a rate of 45 PLS per square inch on the fairway and 15 PLS per square inch on the putting After seeding, both sites were topdressed at the previous rate to cover seed. Preventative fungi cides and insecticides were applied throughout the study to minimize disease and insect problems, respectively. Light, ir rigation was applied twice a day for the first two weeks after seeding. Irrigation was then reduced to a frequency of once per day to meet daily evapotranspiration loss. Putting green and fairway sites were mowed 3 times per week throughout the growing season. Mowing height on the putting green and fairway was.19 and.75 inches, respec tively. Clippings were removed only from the putting Both sites were fertilized biweekly with a complete fertilizer at a rate of.5 pounds N per 1, ft2. A total of 5.5 pounds of N per 1, ft2 was applied from Nov through Apr Data were gathered on rate of establishment based on vi sual estimates of percent overseeded cover every 3 to 4 days during the first 3 weeks after seeding. Rate of ground cover was calculated after Maguire (1962) as the sum of average dai ly ground cover estimates for the first 22 days after seeding on the fairway and 21 days after seeding on the putting Cover5 values which indicate days to 5% overseeded ground cover were calculated with a 95% probability. From Dec. through May, turf quality estimates were recorded biweekly, but they were summarized and presented in tabular form as average monthly estimates. A rating scale of 1 to 9 was used where 1 = poor and 9 = best turf quality. A rating scale of 1 to Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 17:

3 Table 3. Average, minimum, maximum air temperatures ( F) and departure from normal air temperatures during the growing season at Gainesville, FL.+ Table 5. Monthly and seasonal mean values for turf quality on cool-season grasses overseeded on a Tifdwarf' bermudagrass putting green from Dec to 1994 at Gainesville, FL Year Average Departure from 29 year Average Month Max Min Max Min Max Min Nov. Dec. Apr Recorded on Agronomy Farm, University of Florida campus was used to score color where 1 = light green and 4 = dark Both studies were arranged as randomized complete block designs each with 4 replications. All data were subjected to analysis of variance. s were separated with the Waller- Duncan procedure at 5% level of probability. Results and Discussion Seed number per pound varied widely between cultivars within species (Table 2). Seed number per bulk pound varied Table 4. Days to 5% ground cover, rate of ground cover, and average weekly ground cover estimates of cool-season grasses during the first three weeks after overseeding a 'Tifdwarf bermudagrass putting green on Nov at Gainesville, FL. ) day Cover5z Cover Ratey ± ax ± a 91a ±.1 5a b 98 ab ±.1 5 a ± a-c 93 a CBS-II ± a-d 91a -c ±.2 a-d 92 a 98 ab a-e 91a 4.2± a-e 91a b -c 4.2± a-e 98 ab 4.1± a-e 91a b Tourstar 4.2± a-e 92 a 4.2± a-e 9 a TS-2.2± a-e 89 a b Mix-3 4.2± b-e 9 a b c-e 91a 93 b-f de 92 a b e 76 b 95 a-c f 18 c 84 d 95 a-e f 15 c 85 cd -c g 89 b-d -d gh 65 e 9 e-g h 68 e 93 c-f PT-GH-89CII hi 64 e 92 d-f hi 64 e 9 fg hi 5 f 85 g 11 1 ij 53 f 75 h j 4 g 63 i TMI-CB k 1 h 47 j 'Cover5 = Days to 5% overseeded cover. ycover Rate = Sum of average daily percent ground cover estimates for the first 21 days after overseeding. "s within columns with the same letter are not significantly different (P=.5) using Waller Duncan K-ratio Rest. Quality Rating7 Dec av 9 a a 8. 9 a 7. a PT-GH-89II a a a ab TS-2Mix a-c b-d b-d cd d de 6. d-f 5.7 d-f d-f d-f d-f Tourstar 4 d-f d-f ef f gl g TMI-CB g Check h 'Quality mean based on eight visual ratings on a scale of 1 to 9 where 9 = Best. ys with the same letter are not significantly different (7^=.5) using Waller-Duncan k-ratio Kest. "Minimum significant difference (7M).O5) using Waller-Duncan k-ratio /-test. from 21,263 to 3, for '' and '' perennial ryegrasses, respectively. Similarly, seed number varied from 1.7 to million for 'PT-GH-89 CIF and '' rough bluegrasses, respectively. Thus, the pure live seed (PLS) con cept was used to equate seeding rates within grass species. The winter averaged 1.2 F. below normal for the growing season (Table 3). December was a very cold month which averaged F. below normal. Below freezing temperatures which did not damage any overseeded grass numbered 4 in Nov., 7 in Dec, 8 in, 2 in, and 2 in Both bermudagrasses retained their green color, al though with limited growth, throughout the growing season. Putting green study. Rate of ground cover establishment on the putting green varied widely between overseeded grasses (Table 4). Overseeded grasses with best ground cover rate which averaged % included '', '', 'Alli ance Blend', 'CBS IF, '', '', 'Mix 1', '', 'Patriot IF, '', '', 'Tourstar', '', and ''. These grasses which were predominately perennial ryegrasses produced 5% ground cover in ±.2 days after seeding. Rough bluegrass es and bentgrasses had significantly slower establishment rates requiring 9.7 ± and days, respectively. Turf quality on the putting green differed between overseeded grasses throughout the winter growing period (Table 418 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 17: 1994.

4 Table 6. Monthly and seasonal mean values for turf color on cool-season grasses overseeded on a Tifdwarf bermudagrass putting green from to 1994 at Gainesville, FL. PT-GH-89 CI1 TMI-CB-1 ' Color Rating az 1 a 7 ab 7 ab 4 ab 6 a-c 3 a-d 3 a-d 9 a-d 9 a-d 2 b-e 2 b-e 5 c-f 5 c-f 1 c-f 1 c-f 1 c-f 8 d-f 8 d-f 8 d-f 1 ef 1 ef 4 f 4 f 2.57 g 2.46 g 6 g 1.89 h 1.4 i.26 "Color mean based on seven visual ratings on a scale of 1 to 4 where 4=dark ys with the same letter are not significant different (P=.5) using Waller-Duncan k-ratio /-test. "Minimum significant difference (P=.5) using Waller-Duncan k-ratio Hest. Table 7. Days to 5% ground cover, rate of ground cover, and average weekly ground cover estimates of cool-season grasses during the first three weeks after overseeding a Tifway IV bermudagrass fairway on -27 Oct at Gainesville, FL. LPT_CT Cover5* ±.9 8.4±.9 8.3±.8 8.4±.8 8.4±.9 8.6±.7 8.5±.7 8.6±.8 8.6±1. 8.8±.8 8.7±.8 8.7± ± ±.9 9.±.9 8.9± Cover Ratey 3.2 ax 29.3 ab 29.1 ab 29. ab 2 a-c 2 a-c 2 a-c 2 a-c 2 a-c 27.2 a-c 2 a-c 2 a-c 2 a-c 2 be 26. be.8 be.4 c 14.2 d 11.6 de 9.7 ef fg f-h 6.3 f-i 4.4 g-i 4.1 g-i hi i 8 59 a 53 ab 54 ab 52 a-c 51 a-c 5 a-c 51 a-c 48 a-c 49 a-c 47 a-c 44 be 43 be 4 c 13 d 8d 4d 5d % day ab 85 a 83 ab 76 b 81 ab 81 ab 31c 23 c 13 d 1 de 2e 3e 2e a 98 a 75 b 63 be 6 cd 39 ef 48 de 4 ef fg 27 f-h 24 gh 18 h zcover5 = Days to 5% overseeded cover. c finr thtf* first 22 days after overseeding. xs within columns with the same letter are not significantly different (P=.5) using Waller-Duncan k-ratio Rest. 5). Due to unseasonable warm weather in April, overseeded grasses on the putting green deteriorated. Turf quality scores for all grasses in April averaged 2.5 and were not different be tween grasses. Rough bluegrasses had best seasonal turf quality scores which averaged 7. and included '', '', 'Danish Common', '', 'LPT-HWV, 'Mix 1\ '', '', 'PT-GH-89 CIF, '', '', and ''. Pe rennial ryegrasses and bentgrasses had poorer seasonal qual ity ratings which averaged 6. and 4.8, respectively. All overseeded grasses produced superior turf quality through out the winter period compared to control plots which were not overseeded (Table 5). Turf color on the putting green differed between overseeded grasses throughout the study period (Table 6). Grass es with darkest green color which had an average score of out of included '', '', '', 'Alliance Blend', '', '', and "' perennial ryegrasses and '', '', and 'PT- GH-92', rough bluegrasses. Fairway study. Rate of ground cover establishment on the fairway varied widely between grasses (Table 7). Overseeded grasses with best ground cover rate which averaged 2% in cluded '', '', '', 'Marvelgreen Supreme', '', 'Mix 1','', '', 'Sonoran Blend', '', 'Tourstar', '', and 'TS- 2 Mix'. This group which consisted predominately of peren nial ryegrasses produced 5% ground cover in 8.6 ±.9 days after seeding. Although differences among cultivars were sig nificant, rough bluegrasses had an average cover rate of % and required 26. ± days to produced 5% overseed cover in the fairway test. Turf quality on the fairway differed between grasses throughout the study period (Table 8). Grasses with best sea sonal turf quality scores which averaged included 'Alli ance Blend', '', '', '', '', 'LPT-HWV, '', 'Mix 1', '', '', '', '', '', and ''. Most were predom inately rough bluegrasses. All overseeded fairway plots had su perior turf quality throughout the winter period compared to control plots (Table 8). Bermudagrass control plots which were not overseeded resumed growth during April and were equal to 82% of all overseeded entries in turf quality. In spite of bermudagrass competition, rough bluegrasses '', '', '', '', and '' had best turf quality in April. Turf color on the fairway differed between grasses throughout the study period (Table 9). Grasses with darkest green color which were all perennial ryegrasses and had an average score of out of included '', '', '', '', 'CBS IF, '', '', 'Patriot IF, '', '', 'Tourstar', and ''. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 17:

5 Table 8. Monthly and seasonal mean values for turf quality on cool-season grasses overseeded on a Tifway II' bermudagrass fairway from Dec to Apr at gainesville, FL. Table 9. Monthly and seasonal mean values for turf color on cool-season grasses overseeded on a 'Tifway IF bermudagrass fairway from to 1994 at Gainesville, FL. Quality Rating7 Color Rating' Dec. Apr ay a Mix 1 TS1-1 Blend Check a 7. a 7. a 8 a 6 ab 3 a-c 1 a-d 6.89 a-e 6.84 a-e 6.82 a-f 5 a-g a-h a-h 1 b-h 1 b-h 1 b-h 9 c-i 7 d-i 4 e-i 6.48 fj 6.46 g-j 6.39 h-j 6.36 h-j 6. ij 6.18jk 6 k TS1 Blend Danish common a a a a a a 3 a 3 a 3 a 2 a 9 a 6 b 7 c 4 cd cd cd cd 6 cd 9 c-e 9 c-e 6 c-e 2 de 8 e 9 f 1.71 g 1.29 h.23 ± v* inn i r\ 1»* «-» 4 'Quality based on eight visual ratings on a scale of 1 to 9 where 9=best. ys with the same letter are not significantly different (P=.5) using Waller-Duncan k-ratio Hest. "Minimum significant difference (.P=.5) using Waller-Duncan k-ratio Hest. ys with the same letter are not significantly different (P=.5) using Waller-Duncan k-ratio Hest. "Minimum significant difference (P=.5) using Waller-Duncan k-ratio Hest. Literature Cited Dudeck, A. E. and S. F. Anderson Winter overseeding trials on fairway and putting green bermudagrasses. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 14: Dudeck, A. E. and S. F. Anderson. 1992, Overseeding trials on fairway and putting green bermudagrasses. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 15: Dudeck, A. E. and L. B. McCarty Comparison of bentgrasses for overseeding. Proc. 36th FTGA Conf. 36: Dudeck, A. E. and L. B. McCarty Comparison of overseeded grasses for putting greens. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 12: Maguire, J. D Speed of germination - aid in selection and evaluation for seedling emergence and vigor. Crop Sci. 2: Peacock, C. H., A. E. Dudeck, and U. K. Yadav Comparison of cool-sea son turfgrasses for overseeding putting greens. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc.98: Turgeon, A.J management. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. pp Ward, C. Y., E. L. McWhirter, and W. R. Thompson, Jr Evaluation of cool-season turf species and planting techniques for overseeding ber mudagrass golf greens, p In E. C. Roberts (ed.) Proc. 2nd Int. Res. Conf., Blacksburg, VA June ASA and CSSA. Madison, WI. 42 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 17: 1994.