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| #3 at the beginning of a stressful day |
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| Intermediate on the left side of #14 showing symptoms of fungal disease |
The forecast is for continuing hot weather with added humidity and a slight risk of thunderstorms. This type of weather puts turf managers on the defensive. The goal is for our turf to survive intact until the weather breaks which should happen over the weekend. This means a reduction in turf stress brought on by maintenance practices such as mowing, rolling, verticutting, brushing, etc. There will be plenty of environmental stress on our close cut turf and we don't need to add anymore of our own and tip the balance in favour of turf loss. The problem with the hot, humid weather is that photosynthesis stops around 30C meaning the plant starts to feed off of its carbohydrate reserves to survive. This is OK short term but just like us, eventually it needs a good meal to be strong and healthy. The humid air also limits the plants ability to cool itself through evapotranspiration (a plants version of sweating). This is why we will be out periodically cooling down the greens with a very light mist of water. In addition to all this, fungal disease pressure is very high at the moment as you can see from the picture above.
You can expect green speed to slow down until the weather breaks and early morning groups may see the sprayer out providing nutrition and plant protectants a little more often. You will also see us out hand watering to cool the greens down in the afternoons. Stay frosty!
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