Tag Archive for: Poa

Using Attraxor for Poa reduction & speed of growth regulation

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Using Attraxor for Poa reduction & speed of growth regulation: Founded in 1896, the course at Shipley Golf Club is neatly tucked away in the beautiful wooded valley of Beckfoot, just outside of Bingley in West Yorkshire. The grounds were designed by renowned architect Dr Alistair Mackenzie and present a testing but scenic 18-hole game. 

Chris Wood, Course Manager for Shipley Golf Club, heard about Attraxor’s ability to reduce Poa seedheads through fellow course managers and decided to try it on his greens on a trial basis. Having just completed his first full year of treatment with the plant growth regulator (PGR), he believes it has had a high-quality impact on the greens at Shipley.

Using Attraxor for Poa reduction & speed of growth regulation

Using Attraxor for Poa reduction & speed of growth regulation

Chris said: “I mix 375 grams of Attraxor® with 2 kilograms of nitrogen on the greens every 21 days, a routine which has resulted in reduced Poa seedheads and increased growth regulation. I was very impressed with the speed in which it gets working!”

Attraxor® is formulated for rapid foliar uptake, as the active PGR ingredient, prohexadione, can get to work in as quickly as four hours post-application. The active substance inhibits the gibberellic acid pathway, resulting in a reduction of turf height and turf biomass. Although it can still be applied in cooler soil conditions of around seven degrees centigrade, the key time to treat turf is March through to September for best results.  Chris has been using Attraxor during this main season to support turf growth.

Chris said: “Alongside the decreased Poa, I have also noticed that the grass sward is smoother, resulting in a truer ball roll and increased playability – which is a bonus!”
Attraxor® can also decrease time and money spent on turf maintenance due to its ability to regulate longitudinal turf growth, lessening the frequency of mowing and clipping volumes.

Chris said that he had noticed the need to mow less: “We have been able to skip cutting days due to Attraxor’s growth regulating abilities, which has meant my time can be spent doing other key maintenance jobs around the grounds.

“Overall, I believe that Attraxor® has increased the quality, regulation and playability of the greens at Shipley, although after some applications the turf did lighten slightly – but this doesn’t last and soon wears off.”

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Attraxor® keeps Poa at bay at Kirkhill

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Attraxor® keeps Poa at bay at Kirkhill: Scott McKittrick, Course Manager at Kirkhill Golf Club, has revealed how Attraxor® has helped him to suppress Poa annua and has resulted in the greens playing firm, true and fast.

Kirkhill Golf Club is a parkland course, founded in 1910 and designed by the renowned course architect and five times Open winner James Braid. The course is located on the outskirts of the city of Glasgow in the South Lanarkshire area.

Attraxor® keeps Poa at bay at Kirkhill

Attraxor® keeps Poa at bay at Kirkhill

Scott originally joined Kirkhill Golf Club as an apprentice back in 1995 and was rewarded with the Course Manager position just seven years later. He now oversees a team of six members of staff and explained the importance of keeping standards consistently high.

“We are in a very competitive area and are surrounded by many golf clubs,” he said. “I’m pleased to say that we always get great feedback, and we hold our own. We must be different and entice people to join and that involves always being at the top of our game.”

Therefore, when he was recommended a potential solution to tackling a large percentage of Poa annua on the greens, he was keen to trial it.

“Our greens consist of approximately 60%-70% annual meadow-grass and because of this we would have to be aggressive with the turf. We would double cut and roll, and it took a lot of time and labour.

“I spoke to Ramsay MacGregor (Amenity Specialist for Agrovista Amenity) and he told me a lot about a product which he believed to be brilliant at supressing annual meadow-grass seed heads. After talking at length, I thought it would be great for us if it did exactly what it said on the tin.”

The product Ramsay introduced to Scott was Attraxor® – a BASF product which has been shown to effectively regulate growth of managed amenity turf. The active substance, Prohexadione, inhibits the gibberellic acid pathway, which results in a reduction of turf height and turf biomass. Furthermore, as well reducing clippings it also suppresses the seed heads of Poa annua.

Key advantages include:

  • Attraxor® is formulated for rapid foliar uptake – as quick as 4 hours from application.
  • Superior performance against Poa annua pioneering.
  • Attraxor® can be used earlier or later in the season at cooler temperatures compared to other growth regulators.
  • Consistent growth regulation of turf grass species.
  • Root formation is also promoted through the use of Attraxor® whilst turf colour and quality are enhanced.

Scott initially applied Attraxor® at the recommended minimum rate of 375 g/ha and was instantly impressed.

“The first time we tried it last year, the Poa was going crazy. We applied Attraxor®, came in the next day and we couldn’t believe it. It looked as though it had literally wiped the whole Poa out. When you got close you could see that it was still there, but it was severely dishevelled. From that moment, we knew it was a game-changer.

“In that first year we mainly used the product to firefight the Poa seedheads, so as soon as we saw it was coming back, we hit it with Attraxor® again. However, this year we have taken a more regimented approach; applying it at a higher rate of 500 g/ha. This has reduced the seed head production and has worked really well. The ball roll is no longer affected by the Poa, and the greens play brilliantly – they are exactly where we want them to be.”

By attending an Agrovista Amenity education day, Scott found that he wasn’t the only one reporting good results from Attraxor®.

“The education days from Agrovista Amenity are important because they provide an opportunity to see how products and technology are developing,” he said. “There have been a couple of seminars that have focussed on Attraxor® and it brought together lots of greenkeepers who have all been using the product. It was great speaking to them and finding out what rates they use, what they might be mixing it with and what results they are seeing.

“The general consensus was that it is a brilliant product and is great for supressing Poa annua seed head production.”

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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Attraxor® helps control Poa annua

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Attraxor® helps control Poa annua: Attraxor® plant growth regulator (PGR) has helped Warren Moss – Head Greenkeeper at Dudsbury Golf Club, to suppress Poa annua and increase the quantity of Bent grass on the greens.

Attraxor®, a new BASF product, was recommended to Warren by David Chammings from Agrovista Amenity, and he was pleased to see an immediate response.

Attraxor® helps control Poa annua

Attraxor® helps control Poa annua

“The Poa had crept in and we estimated it to be at 70 percent in 2019,” said Warren. “Since starting with Attraxor® in May I have been able to suppress the Poa and through a reseeding program the greens are now 70 percent Bent, which is a great turnaround in such a short time period.”

Attraxor® has been shown to effectively regulate growth of managed amenity turf. The active substance, Prohexadione, inhibits the giberrelic acid pathway, which results in a reduction of turf height and turf biomass. Root growth is also promoted through the use of Attraxor® whilst turf colour and quality are maintained.

“This product is unique because it reduces clippings like other PGRs, but it also suppresses the seed heads of Poa annua,” explained Agrovista Amenity’s David Chammings. “It fitted well with what Warren needed to bring back the Bent in the greens at Dudsbury and we are both really pleased with the results.”

With the course south facing Warren said that extremely high temperatures over the past couple of years made maintenance very difficult. Poa started to creep in and the greens were left with very little Bent grass which was causing uneven surfaces and affecting playability.

On David’s advice, Warren applied Attraxor® at a low dosage of 0.375 kg/ha. The recommended application for Poa annua management is from 0.5 kg/ha to 0.65 kg/ha.

However, Warren needed to be cautious because of the high percentage of Poa on the greens. He started the Attraxor® treatment on 11th May and continued to apply it in 21-day intervals at the same dosage.

Warren chose overcast mornings to apply the product using Greenmaster Vitalnova Stressbuster and 2.5 kg/ha of N to prevent any yellowing.

Attraxor® helps control Poa annua

Attraxor® helps control Poa annua

“Using Attraxor® at 0.375 kg/ha was the right decision for this course and I have supressed the seed head production without yellowing the greens,” he said. “Unlike other PGRs I also noticed that it regulates the growth of the other grass varieties more consistently. I was especially impressed that it lasted the full 21 days.”

By suppressing the Poa, Warren has been able to reduce the amount of fertiliser and water needed on the course. “We were spending too much on fertiliser and using too much water to keep the Poa happy,” continued Warren. “However, this is water that we need elsewhere and so by using Attraxor® we have been able to improve the balance throughout the course.

“This year was the year to get aggressive with the Poa because there has been far less playing time for the members due to lockdown restrictions and I’m really pleased we took the plunge.”

The course was reseeded in August 2020 and Warren is hoping that this will increase the density of Bent to more than 80 percent by May 2021, when it has had chance to establish.

“I carried out the final application of Attraxor® on 12th August before our maintenance week and I plan to use it again from the end of April 2021 to tie in with competitions. It has really helped suppress the Poa and has given us the opportunity to return the greens to largely Bent in such a short time period that I want to keep it and make it part of the annual treatment program,” he concluded.

For more information about Agrovista Amenity, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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