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Syngenta Offers Solutions for Snow Mold and Early Season Clean-Up on Golf Courses

4/9/2010

 
Syngenta Offers Solutions for Snow Mold and Early Season Clean-Up on Golf Courses
 
 
Greensboro, NC, USA, April 2010 – After the unusual Winter that brought atypical snowfall and lower than average temperatures, many superintendents across the U.S. are nowdealing with delayed starts to their maintenance programs. Most troublesome of all are higher incidences of gray and pink snow mold.
 
Considering that snow was reported at one point early in 2010 in 49 of the 50 states, it’s not surprising many superintendents weren’t prepared for the extensive snow mold damage they are now facing on their courses. If winter preparation treatments last fall weren’t sufficient to prevent this spring’s turf disease issues, Syngenta offers the following tips:
 
  • Do a light raking to break up matted turf, and feed the roots to promote new growth.
  • Make a fungicide application of Instrata® or Concert® to rid the course of snow mold, as well as a precondition to reduce the severity of anthracnose, dollar spot and other diseases.
  • Overseed severely damaged areas to fill in thin turf areas.


Instrata combines the active ingredients chlorothalonil, fludioxonil, and propiconazole in a proprietary formulation created by Syngenta. The combination of active ingredients, and their multiple modes of action, enables Instrata to control the numerous pathogens that cause snow mold throughout the often extended period of winter snow-cover.
 
Additionally, Instrata controls a broad spectrum of other turf diseases, including anthracnose, dollar spot, brown patch and summer patch.
 
Concert uses a proprietary blend of the active ingredients from Banner MAXX® and Daconil® fungicides and can be an important component of spray programs for cool-season grasses to protect the entire course from a broad spectrum of 13 diseases, including anthracnose, dollar spot and brown patch.
 
Even without the heavy snowfall, most regions have experienced heavy rainfall resulting in extremely saturated soils — which allows disease to develop and survive in thatch area. An early season fungicide application is recommended.
 
“In thatch you won’t see the symptoms of disease, but the key is to control the disease before the symptoms occur,” said Scott Cole, golf marketing manager for Syngenta. “This can help prevent dollar spot and anthracnose from appearing.” 
 
Water-logged turf and saturated thatch layers represent fertile grounds for both disease and insects. Dr. Michael Agnew, regional technical manager and plant pathologist for Syngenta, said early fertility and preventive fungicide applications need to be the main focus for superintendents as they prepare their courses for play.
 
“Poke some holes in the matted areas to get some air in, feed the roots to get them established and apply fungicides to control diseases before they appear,” Agnew said. “This is not a normal year for superintendents, but we have to deal with it, get the turf growing and get out of it.”
 
To learn more about Syngenta products and services for the golf, lawn and landscape, ornamental and vegetation management businesses, visit www.greencastonline.com or call 1-866-SYNGENTA (796-4368).

Syngenta is one of the world's leading companies with more than 24,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life. Through world-class science, global reach and commitment to our customers we help to increase crop productivity, protect the environment and improve health and quality of life. For more information about us please go to www.syngenta.com.
 
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Media contacts:
 
Tom Mentzer
 
Margaret Bell
Syngenta
 
 
©2010 Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., P.O. Box 18300, Greensboro, NC 27419. Banner MAXX®, Concert®, Daconil®, Instrata® and the Syngenta logo are registered trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company.
 
 
 
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