Superintendents : Are You Making Wasteful Purchases ?

Direct toxic injury to turfgrasses by atmospheric pollutants is a new factor affecting the growth and look of turfgrasses. Although the complete loss of a turf from these toxic atmospheric gases or aerosols has rarely been observed to date, the injurious effects, however, a) reduce drastically the visual quality of turfgrass, b) lowers carbohydra te reserve because of injury to plant chlorophyll and c) weakens turfgrass plants , making them prone to damage from diseases, insects, nematodes and traffic. These atmospheric pollutant injury symptoms can easily be misinterpreted as resulting from disease, nematode or insect activity. It is important, therefore, to make the correct identificat ion of the cause. Otherwise an expensive program of fungicide, nematicide or insecticide applications may be initiated that will not be effective and will waste time and money. Thus, it is extremely impor tant to properly document and identify the specific cause. By Dr. James B. Beard