By Dr. Jack Fry
Below-average spring temperatures and a lot of cloud cover haven’t been beneficial for growth of warm-season grasses. Nevertheless, days are getting longer, and Meyer zoysia began to produce seedheads in northeast Kansas last week. Significant work was done at K-State on zoysia seedhead suppression by Dr. Jared Hoyle, along with Dr. Aaron Patton at Purdue University. Seedheads on Meyer have a purple tone to them, but after mowing, the seed stalks leave an undesirable white cast on golf course fairways and tees. The plant growth regulator ethephon (trade name Proxy) is effective at suppressing zoysia seedheads if it is applied at the proper time the previous autumn. Manoj Chhetri, a current Ph.D. student, is working on better refining application time for Proxy to suppress zoysia seedheads. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, along with the Heart of America Golf Course Superintendents Association and Kansas Turfgrass Foundation, are sponsoring this zoysia seedhead suppression research that is summarized in Golf Course Management magazine (link below).
https://www.gcmonline.com/course/environment/news/zoysiagrass-seedheads
