Reinders 17th Turf and Irrigation Conference kicked off March 16 with John Stier leading a seminar on cleaning up turf with new selective herbicides.
Stier, associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s department of horticulture, focused on three products, one of which has yet to hit the market.
First up for Stier was Dow Agro’s Spotlight, with the active ingredient fluroxypyr. It’s labeled for warm- and cool-season grasses and controls white clover, ground ivy, chickweed, black medic, dandelion, buckhorn plantain and other weeds.
With little odor, Stier says Spotlight is most effective on bentgrass, Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescues. According to Stier, this postemergence broadleaf herbicide can be used alone or in mixtures.
Valent’s Velocity herbicide has been proven effective in eliminating Poa annua and Poa tivialis, according to Stier. It also controls many broadleaf weeds such as chickweed, dandelion, burweed, clover, henbit, swinecress and yellow nutsedge.
Because of its effectiveness on Poa, Stier suggests knowing exactly how much Poa is present in the turf. Successful elimination of Poa could leave a course brown if that’s the dominant turf.
Velocity, which isn’t labeled for putting greens, is best applied mid to late May when temperatures are between 65 and 80 degrees.
Mesotrione, which comes from the bottlebrush plant native to Australia, hasn’t been labeled yet. It is almost 100 percent effective in controlling creeping bentgrass, according to Stier. He says it could be on the market within a year – probably in the South first.
Reinders has been sponsoring a conference and show since 1973. With the latest research, education, equipment and products for green industry professionals available, it has grown to become one of the largest independent shows in the country.
