Wednesday, November 7, 2007
268-22
Dormant Bermudagrass Sod Establishment and Spring Green-up Influenced by Shade.
Christian Baldwin, Horticulture, Clemson University, 143 P & A Building, Clemson, SC 29634
The potential of newer commercially available bermudagrass cultivars to break dormancy earlier in the spring would greatly benefit many turfgrass managers by providing use of sports fields and/or golf courses earlier in the year for competition and earlier harvest times for sod producers. Therefore, objectives of this study were to evaluate bermudagrass cultivars spring green-up (SGU) potential when shade is a growth limiting factor. This study will aid turfgrass managers in cultivar selection when establishing/renovating a tee box or fairway when shading is prevalent. Bermudagrass cultivars, ‘Tifway’, ‘Tift No.4’, ‘Celebration’, ‘Princess 77’, ‘Riviera ’, and ‘Yukon ’, were selected from the 2002 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) and subjected to 55% shade. Data collection included percent green shoot tissue, visual turfgrass quality ratings, total shoot chlorophyll, and root total non-structural carbohydrates. In the absence of shade, many cultivar differences were noted in their SGU performance. On 29 March 2007 and 2 April 2007, Princess 77 showed 127% and 64% delayed SGU than Yukon and TiftNo.4. On 5 April 2007, sun-grown Yukon had ~68% green leaf tissue present compared to sun-grown Tifway, Riviera , and Princess 77. On 24 April 2007, TiftNo.4 showed 62% greater SGU than Celebration and Princess 77 when grown in full-sun. Shade had minimal impacts on SGU ratings in year I, however, shade significantly impacted SGU ratings for the majority of bermudagrass cultivars in year II. Cultivars least affected by shade were Celebration and TiftNo.4, while cultivars most impacted by shade were Riviera and Tifway.