Hey, what’s that stuff? Slime molds! They can look pretty alarming, and they can pop up seemingly overnight. They are pretty harmless, and you can read more HERE and if you would like a fascinating glimpse into how these organisms work there is a short video clip HERE called “Are you smarter than a slime mold?”
Some other shapes and colors of slime mold:
The Kansas Department of Agriculture, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has confirmed the presence of emerald ash borer (EAB) in Shawnee County, Kansas.
Read on for more details:
http://agriculture.ks.gov/AllNewsItems/2017/06/09/emerald-ash-borer-confirmed-in-shawnee-county
(Photo credit:
)
Last week we built the bones of our second stationary drought structure at Rocky Ford. This morning we raised the plastic on the top of both. Both are now ready-to-roll for summer 2017 drought research.
A giant roll of plastic is heavier than you think
We connect the ropes to the plastic by tying them up like this. “It’s like making ghosts out of Kleenex balls” according to Jack Fry.
Next step – chucking the ropes up and over, using water bottles as weights.
Heaving the plastic up-and-over the first shelter
The plastic is about halfway up
Fun panorama-camera effect from the inside as the team installs the wiggle wire to hold the plastic in place.
Some last touches on shelter #1
PhD candidate Ross Braun was our fearless leader today, guiding us through the process. We are sure going to miss this guy after he graduates this year!
Shelter 1:
On the second shelter, we chucked ropes up and over using wrenches. It’s not every day a person literally gets to throw wrenches for work. That was my favorite part.
Good teamwork!
Securing the plastic up high
Fastening the plastic down with wiggle wire
Keeping the plastic from sailing away to Nebraska was part of the job.
Ready for action!
Got layers of organic matter in your putting greens? That stuff holds water, which holds heat, and serves as a “risk factor” for root health.
It’s another week with rain in the forecast in many parts of Kansas. We’ve talked about this before on the blog many times – root health is key to getting through our tough summer months.
Do you have drainage problems? Do you have a buildup of organic matter? How do your roots look now? Sites with “pre-existing conditions” are the first ones to crash when the weather gets nasty.
Moisture management can be tricky, but there are tips and tools to help you. Here are links to two articles from last year:
By Jack Fry: – general tips for water management:
https://blogs.k-state.edu/turf/good-water-management-will-help-get-greens-through-midsummer-stress/
By Dale Bremer – using moisture sensors:
https://blogs.k-state.edu/turf/water-management-on-greens-with-soil-moisture-sensors/
Reducing summer stress on putting greens:
I’ve mentioned this fungicide guide (below) many times over the years. One of my favorite parts is the section starting on page 6 about reducing summer stress. Quick, off the top of your head, how many practices can YOU think of to reduce summer stress? The guide lists SIXTEEN steps to consider. Maybe you can’t do them all, but I bet you can try at least one new thing you have not tried before.
Here is the link (scroll to p. 6 for the summer stress)
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/ppa/ppa1/ppa1.pdf
Pythium root rot:
My excellent colleague at U of Missouri, Dr. Lee Miller, has recently posted some very helpful info about Pythium root rot. You can find those articles here:
http://turfpath.missouri.edu/reports/2017/update05_26_17.cfm
http://turfpath.missouri.edu/reports/2017/update05_11_17.cfm
There have been numerous inquiries regarding insects feeding, and completely devouring rose plants. These are sawflies, and there are at least two species that attack roses this time of year: the rose slug (Endelomyia aethiops) and bristly rose slug (Cladius difformis). Rose slugs are the immature or larval stage of sawflies, which are black to yellow-colored wasps.
Get the whole story on the Entomology Blog
(Photo by Raymond Cloyd)
Here in the K-State Diagnostic lab we deal with trees that are planted WRONG all the time! When trees are planted wrong, they start out extra stressed from day one. Trees are stressed enough just trying to live in our crazy Kansas weather, so, how do you plant them RIGHT?
Check out this easy-to-use guide from Dr. Cathie Lavis:
https://www.bookstore.ksre.k-state.edu/pubs/MF3313.pdf
There is a one-page guide to ball-in-burlap and a one page guide to container-grown trees.
Here’s one thing we don’t want, a big ol’ girdling root! And below that I put some photos I took of a display about planting trees wrong – you can click to zoom in a bit and check it out.
The turf team collaborated on a special project this week, the construction of a new rain-out shelter for drought studies.
The photos illustrate the variable weather we experienced during the 1.5 days of construction!
Turf powdery mildew thrives in shady sites during cool, humid weather. We have had a lot of cool, moist days with temps in the 50s and 60s which is perfect for powdery mildew. The disease is often temporary, disappearing when hotter, drier weather kicks in.
The following photos are courtesy of my excellent colleague Chuck Otte, County Extension Agent, Ag & Natural Resources, Geary County. He confirmed that the site is shady.
It’s a fescue/bluegrass blend. To my eye, it looks like the Kentucky bluegrass is affected more than the fescue.
This next photo is a super-zoom of powdery mildew through the microscope. The photo is from squash powdery mildew, not turf powdery mildew, but turf powdery produces similar structures – long chains of spores. The spores are blown by wind. When they land on a new, susceptible plant and IF conditions are right, they germinate and infect.
We see turf powdery mildew in spring and fall. A change to less humid, hotter weather will slow the disease.
Turf powdery mildew is one of the many diseases covered in the 2017 Turfgrass Fungicide Guide.
There are fungicides labeled, but for most of them little is known about the efficacy. The DMI fungicides have efficacy, but it can be hard to reduce disease once it is underway. Also, as I just mentioned, a shift in the weather will slow the disease. If a site has a chronic, ongoing powdery mildew options include improving airflow and sun exposure or renovating to a less susceptible type of turf or groundcover. Those cultural practices and site management tweaks are your best bet.
Do you have a plan in place in case of a pesticide spill? You don’t want to be inventing your plan on the fly, in the moment.
Here at KSU in our research labs we go through “spill drills” each year to make sure we are ready, just in case. It’s not our favorite thing to do, but it means everyone knows what to do, just like a fire drill.
Here are some tips on pesticide spill procedures from U of Kentucky:
The Kansas Forest Service is sponsoring a workshop about EAB on June 7, 12:30-4:30 in Troy (Doniphan County). Topics include identification and biology, EAB quarantine rules, tree injection information, and more. Certified pesticide applicator and arborist credits are available.
Here is the link to the brochure:
http://www.kansasforests.org/events/news_docs/calendar/DPCO%20EAB%20Workshop%206-7-17.pdf
There is a shorter, more general session in the evening:
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