With this year's Golf Industry Show almost here, attendees once again will have many opportunities to learn about one of the most increasingly popular, yet least understood terms in the turf maintenance industry: plant health.Plant health isn't just about new fungicide products. Plant health is a complex equation that includes new chemistries as well as tried and true agronomic and cultural practices.
Acibenzolar S methyl, the active ingredient in Syngenta's Daconil Action, triggers a plant's natural defense mechanisms to help the plant defend itself against disease pressure.
At BASF, researchers define plant health as the ability of the company's Intrinsic line of products to produce turf that has enhanced root development and is tolerant to disease stress.
Bayer says fungicides formulated with its StressGard are better able to control disease and alleviate stress.
Civitas is a petroleum-based fungicide that like Syngenta's Daconil Action, triggers the turf plant's natural defense mechanisms.
Whatever the definition, most agree that in essence that plant health is the turf's ability to tolerate stress longer before going into decline as well as its capacity to recover from stress.
Promoting year-round plant health also can result in a more consistently healthy plant. That is more important than ever before because of seasonal weather extremes that include heat, cold and drought.
"It results in a more balanced approach to seasonal turf management that is more steady," said James Rutledge, Ph.D., product development manager for Bayer Crop Science during last year's Green Start Academy by Bayer and John Deere Golf. "What we want to do is moderate that undulation throughout the season. And one way to do that is to manage the health of the plant."
Not everything in plant health is about new fungicides. In fact, some factors that influence plant health are more readily controlled by superintendents, Rutledge said.
Not everything in plant health is about new fungicides. In fact, some factors that influence plant health are more readily controlled by superintendents..."
That includes selecting turf plants that are adapted to the geographic area in which they will be grown and managed and altering cultural practices such as mowing height and frequency, aerification timing and depth, and managing air movement and shade.
"You probably inherit what you have. That is more typical. You manage it the best you can," Rutledge said. "Then, the turf is more reliant on cultural management."
Cultural practices aren't always enough when producing a healthy plant. Often, because of limitations associated with such factors as weather, wind, shade and more, it is necessary to use a fungicide with plant health qualities.
"That's the final piece," Rutledge said. "That is where we fit in and tie into the other pieces."