PACE Turf - Turfgrass Information Center

Primo-treated Sod: Harvest, Establishment, and Transplant

Summary: Primo applied in combination with Sprint 330 to sod 48 hours prior to harvest provided consistently high quality turf and reduced clipping yields for two weeks following planting. The reduction in foliar growth prevented scalping of the newly planted turf during the first mowing when non-treated areas scalped. The benefit of reduced foliar growth is realized during establishment of newly sodded areas by prevention of damage caused by scalping and the ability to delay the first mowing. In addition to improved turfgrass quality by prevention of scalping, root length and root mass were equivalent in the Primo treated and non-treated areas.
In order to extend the reduced foliar growth advantage provided by pre-harvest Primo treatment beyond two weeks, the sodded areas need to be re-treated with Primo. Sod that was not treated prior to harvest but was later treated with Primo demonstrated reduced clipping yields but quality was slightly reduced compared to the non-treated and pre-harvest Primo treated areas. The optimum performance of sodded areas were the pre-harvest treated followed by a post-plant treatment four weeks after initial pre-harvest treatment. Primo improves early sod establishment by reducing the need to mow thereby preventing scalping problems that frequently occur during establishment of sod on new golf course greens. Moreover, turf quality and rooting are not reduced by the Primo treatments.

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Principal investigator: Larry Stowell, Ph.D.

Cooperators: Jeffery Beardsley, Big Canyon Country Club, Joe Foster, West Coast Turf, Nick Angelucci, Ciba-Geigy

Sponsor: Nick Angelucci, Ciba-Geigy

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