Updated soil guidelines

We have recently (June, 2008) updated the PACE Soil Nutritional Guidelines. Based on our soils database of over 13,000 samples, these guidelines can be used as a framework for interpreting your soil test data.

For information on a variety of other turf management guidelines, click here.


2008 PACE Turf Research Seminar: thanks to all involved

The 11th PACE Turf Research Seminar, which took place on June 20, was a great success, thanks to the 160 attendees, the informative speakers, and the sponsorship of the companies below:

Company Representative
Aquatrols Ken Mauser
BASF Fred Eckert
Bayer Stephen Kimball
Cleary Chemical Robert Hunter
John Deere Landscapes Bill Blackman
Milliken Cordie Morgan
Syngenta Kimberly Gard
Target Specialty Products Tim Roth
West Coast Turf John Marman
Western Farm Service Geff Ward

How you can play a role in fairy ring research

Researchers at North Carolina State University have begun tackling one of turf management's more perplexing questions: which fungi cause fairy ring, and what are the best management practices for dealing with each of them?

If you have been plagued with fairy ring, you already know that textbooks identify over 60 different fungi that are known to cause fairy ring. But what the textbooks don't say is that most of these fungi are uncharacterized. What's more, it isn't clear whether management methods that work for one fairy ring fungus will work for others.

Luckily, plant pathologist Lee Miller, who is a graduate student in Dr. Lane Tredway's lab, will be taking a closer look. But he needs your help in the form of samples of fairy ring-affected turf. To submit a sample to Miller for analysis, please follow the instructions below:

Fairy ring sample submission:

  • Send 1-2 cup cutter plugs from the leading (outside) edge of the ring.
  • Wrap bottom and sides of sample in aluminum foil to keep stable
  • If mushrooms or puffballs are present, place as many as possible in soil sample box or paper bag (no plastic!!).
  • Put samples in shipping box and stuff with newspaper to keep plugs in place during shipping. Send to:
Plant Disease and Insect Clinic
North Carolina State University
Attention: Lee Miller
Campus Box 7211
1227 Gardner Hall
100 Derieux Place
Raleigh, NC 27695
919-515-3619

Getting a diagnosis for brown ring patch (Waitea circinata)

Is it difficult-to-control brown patch, or is it the new disease known as brown ring patch (caused by Waitea circinata)?

Knowing the answer can save you time, fungicide costs and turf damage, but it isn't always easy to distinguish the two closely related diseases

If you would like to have a definitive diagnosis made, Dr. Frank Wong of the University of California, can help out. To send him a sample, follow the instructions on his Turfgrass Pathology Diagnostic Lab website. Dr. Wong requests that you include a completed sample submission form with your shipment, and that you call (951-827-2936) or email (turfpathology@ucr.edu) the lab before you ship. Diagnostic fees are $98 per sample (up to 2 plugs) which includes a report detailing the disease diagnosis, basic salinity, pH and nitrate testing, and control recommendations. An invoice for payment will be sent along with the diagnostic report.