Traffic Tolerance of Bermudagrass as Affected by Cultivars and Trinexapac-Ethyl.

In recent years, the practice of seeding bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L.) has become a popular alternative to vegetative propagation on many athletic fields.   New cultivars express significant differences in turf quality characteristics such as density and color as well as the ability to tolerate traffic that occurs during play.  The plant growth regulator trinexapac-ethyl (TE) is also often used by managers to enhance turf color and density.  This study was conducted to determine the traffic tolerance of six seeded bermudagrass cultivars with varying degrees of genetic turfgrass quality with and without applications of TE.  The cultivars used were ‘Princess 77’, ‘Riviera’, ‘Savannah’, ‘Yukon’, ‘Transcontinental’, and an experimental, SWI 1012.  Tests were conducted in 2004 and 2005 on Maury silt loam (fine, mixed, mesic type Paleudalf, pH 6.4) with a Brinkman traffic simulator being used three d wk^-1 in the fall to simulate athletic play.  TE was applied every three weeks beginning at first mowing throughout the growing season.  In both years there were significant differences with TE treated plots tolerating traffic better and expressing higher turfgrass quality.  Significant differences among cultivars were also found in both years in terms of traffic tolerance.  Traffic tolerance rankings were Princess 77=Riviera >/= SWI 1012 > Savannah=Transcontinental =Yukon.  No significant TE x cultivar interactions were found for traffic tolerance or turfgrass quality in either year.