Responses of dwarf bermudagrass cultivars to cultural practices
Abstract
Several new dwarf, golf-green-type bermudagrass have recently been or will be released for use across the southern United States. Claims have been made about the superiority of the new cultivate in comparison to 'Tifdwarf', but performance of these new cultivate has not been fully evaluated based on replicated trials and even less information exists on their management requirements. Questions exist about thatch and nutrient management, and response to fall overfeeding in the new cultivate. Despite this lack of knowledge on performance, many golf greens have been established with these new cultivate. Four new dwarf bermudagrass cultivate and Tifdwarf were established on a USGA specification golf green in College Station, Texas. Four rates of applied nitrogen (292, 488, 683, and 878kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) two vertical mowing (light biweekly and severe twice annually), and two sand Compressing (light biweekly and heavy twice annually) treatments were used to examine the effects of common cultural practices on the new cultivate. The objectives of the study were to determine adequate combinations of management practices in each of the five bermudagrass cultivate in order to achieve and maintain acceptable turfless quality, rate of thatch accumulation, ball-roll distance, and overfeeding establishment. Information from telephone interviews with Texas golf course superintendents, as well as previous literature, was considered when developing N application rates for this experiment. Results suggested that N application rates for the new cultivate needed to be lower than those commonly used on Tifdwarf. High rates of N produced excessive thatch in three of the new cultivate ('Champion', 'TifEagle', and 'MiniVerde') and caused scalping damage in Champion from the summer of 1998 and spring and summer 1999. Vertical mowing had a pronounced affect on turfless quality in all five cultivate as severe vertical mowing at overfeeding reduced turfless quality. There was also an increase in overfeeding shoot density in Tifdwarf, MiniVerde and Floradwarf, but Poa trivialis was confined to vertical mower grooves in the severe treatment, producing a "corn-row" appearance. Severe vertical mowing reduced organic matter production in MiniVerde, Tif-Eagle and Tifdwarf. In Champion, frequent light vertical mowing increased scalping damage with increasing N during summer.
Description
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Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-53).
Issued also on microfiche from Lange Micrographics.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-53).
Issued also on microfiche from Lange Micrographics.
Keywords
agronomy., Major agronomy.