it is surprising how well these new zoysiagrasses have performed thus far under putting green management. Bermudagrass is still the preferred putting
green surface in warm climates. Bermuda entries that have performed well at two or more locations include OKC0920, MSB-1050, OKC0805, and Tahoma 31, a commercially available cultivar that has been a top entry under fairway or athletic field type management. Ball roll distance is an important evaluation factor
for these grasses. Establishment delayed collection of this data but in 2021, two locations collected ball roll data. Two grasses that have had the highest ball roll distance thus far in this trial include the bermudagrasses Mini-Verde and FB 1901.
St. Augustinegrass and seashore paspalum cultivar
development has been fairly limited in the U.S. for a long while. Te situation changed in the early to mid- 2000s when new plant breeders were hired at southern universities like Texas A&M, the University of Florida, and North Carolina State University. With those folks in place, along with established programs at the University of Georgia and Mississippi State University, and with a major federal (USDA) grant from the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI), an increase in breeding of warm-season species is occurring across the southern U.S. Growers and consumers are now seeing new cultivars of St. Augustinegrass and seashore paspalum in the marketplace. Tese new cultivars will have improved drought and salt tolerance, as well as other improvements. To evaluate some of those new experimental grasses, NTEP initiated new trials of St. Augustinegrass and seashore paspalum in summer 2016. Te final year data from those trials (2021) is now available and is discussed below.
St. Augustinegrass St. Augustinegrass is a species where several older
cultivars are still competitive in the marketplace. Floratam, developed by the University of Florida and Texas A&M and released in 1973, Raleigh, a cold tolerant cultivar, and newer releases Mercedes and Palmetto still compete in the U.S. market. In some areas, sod producers grow and market their own local selections while there are still common-type cultivars, like Texas Common sold extensively in some markets. New releases such as TamStar and CitraBlue are making their way into the marketplace, which means more, and better cultivar choices will soon be available for sod growers and homeowners alike. Our newest St. Augustinegrass trial includes three
standard entries (Floratam, Raleigh, and Palmetto) and twenty-four experimental entries, planted at ten locations. Five trial years provide data on performance of these new entries, with a final summary now available. Turfgrass quality data from each year varied based on the region and LPI Group. Year one data (2017) showed several entries with southeast U.S. breeding origin (FSA 1601, FSA 1608,
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XSA10403, and FSA 1604) as the best performers in that region (LPI Group 1), with Dallas-based bred entries (DALSA 1502, DALSA 1618, DALSA 1501, and DALSA 1401) as the top performers in LPI Group 2 (south-central U.S. locations). 2018 showed a similar trend, but CitraBlue, a newly released Florida cultivar moved up and joined FSA 1601 as a top performer in the southeast U.S. In 2019, our statistical analysis led to LPI Groups
with a mixing of southeast and south-central U.S. locations, which meant that the Florida and Dallas bred entries shifted positions somewhat. Finally, in 2020, with our statistical analysis resulting in regionalized groups, entries shifted again as FSA 1613 joined DALSA 1618, DALSA 1502, and DALSA 1501 with excellent turf quality in the south-central U.S. Also, DALSA 1501 moved up in the southeast U.S. with top performance, along with CitraBlue, FSA 1610, DALSA 1613, and FSA 1606. Various ancillary trials demonstrated the
improvements made in breeding. Four years of data from our drought tolerance ancillary trial in College Station, TX, showed DALSA 1618, DALSA 1501, DALSA 1502, DALSA 1623, and FSA 1613 with the highest overall turf quality. Other entries, including Palmetto, DALSA 1404, and UGA TX SA26 also performed well under the induced drought conditions. At Ft. Lauderdale, FL, we maintained our
trial using both reduced nitrogen (about one-half of standard recommendations), as well as standard nitrogen recommendations. Surprisingly, several entries, including CitraBlue, FSA 1606, and FSA 1610 performed equally well under the reduced and standard fertilizer rates. CitraBlue was the top statistical entry over the trial period under the reduced fertilizer scenario at Ft. Lauderdale. Chinch bug, a common pest on St. Augustinegrass
was evaluated at Gainesville, FL, in both the lab and in the field. Laboratory feeding and mortality studies indicated differences among some entries for chinch bug tolerance, but unfortunately, these results did not correlate to field performance, as few statistical differences were noted among entries. Disease resistance is a very important trait for an
improved St. Augustinegrass cultivar and these trials did yield some results. Brown patch is commonly seen on St. Augustinegrass, as it was with this trial, however statistical significance was negligible. Grey leaf spot (Pyricularia grisea), another important disease, was noted and rated at several locations during the trial period as CitraBlue, FSA 1610, XSA 11168, and DALSA 1404 demonstrated consistency in resistance. Other notable traits evaluated include winter kill
and fall color retention. Winter survival is important as St. Augustinegrass is utilized in Latitudes 32 degrees and above. A cold snap or prolonged lower than normal winter temperatures can either kill St. Augustinegrass stolons, or damage them and delay spring green-up. In any case, cold temperature tolerance is an important trait for the utility
TPI Turf News July/August 2022
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