It might sometimes be attractive to superintendents to want to just put down fungicide and move on to the next task. But Dr. Rick Latin, professor of turfgrass pathology at Purdue University, wants superintendents to be able to take the time to think about what’s killing that disease.
His course Monday on “Understanding Turfgrass Fungicides” focused on how fungicides worked – and sometimes how they don’t.
“The idea is to help superintendents have a deeper understanding of how these work so they can utilize their fungicides and make decisions from a more informed perspective,” says Latin.
Latin started with a look at the interaction between the fungicide and the plant: Whether a fungicide stayed on the outside of the plant or not, how it travels in the plant. A superintendent can get a better handle on his inputs even just by starting with an understanding of where the action takes place in taking out fungi, says Latin.
“It gives superintendents an appreciation and an awareness of how the fungicide moves in plants,” he says.
One thing he didn’t focus on is a simple rote of which fungicide to use at which rates to clear out particular types of turf disease.
“There are plenty of other resources that do that,” says Latin. “My objective is to get superintendents to understand how this works and be able to actually look things up. If we understand how they grow, maybe we’ll have a better chance to stop that growth and stop the infection process.”
Latin showed how different modes of action worked with various turf disease, and included information on new fungicide mixes in the fight. He also covered some resistances, including chlorothalonil.
Latin used an audience polling response software to get feedback from superintendents about how they’d used fungicides, and what pressure they’d seen – as well as their response to the disease. While building off of examples from courses he’s worked with, he discussed four of his major factors that influence fungicide performance: resistance, deposition factors, depletion factors and disease pressure.
While some of it might seem complicated at first, Latin wants to break down fungicides to give superintendents the tools to go beyond just knowing what they’ve been told.
“I really want superintendents to have a better understanding of how they work,” says Latin. “I don’t want it to be just, ‘Apply this at this rate.’ I don’t like that. I want them to understand.”