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Thermal convection dormancy on zoysia

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Jim Cato posted this image of a zoysia lawn in Gainesville in December, 2020. The pattern of zoysia dormancy is caused by porous convection. In short, warm air from the soil moves up the plants like a chimney and cold air flows down nearby inducing dormancy next to green grass. Mowing height controls the spacing between the green mottled areas. Lower mowed grass is unable to develop a significant amount of thermal convection and therefore remains uniform in entering dormancy. The appearance is similar to that observed in kikuyugrass and bermudagrass.




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