As
we are in to the peak months for disease pressure, how do we keep our
surfaces clean of those dreaded parasites? We all hear about using the
right cultural practises such as aeration, dew removal and fertility
reduction; Basically anything that will dry out the surface and keep it
lean. But what about cutting heights? We are always told to increase
them at this time of year, but could keeping them tight help in our IPM
programme against disease pressure?
Over the last
few years I have caused quite a stir with my revolutionary cutting
height recommendations. Without giving numbers my theory is to keep them
tight 12 months of the year. This will not only help with the
playability of putting surfaces through better ball roll and increased
speeds but also may help from an agronomic view point as well.
When
I was a young assistant I enrolled at my local college. One of the most
important things taught was cutting height. Suggested heights ranged
from 4mm in the summer months up to 5 or 6mm in the winter months. This
was very conservative and on entering the real world I soon found out
that it was nonsense. Visiting top courses and viewing great putting
surfaces I soon gathered that their cutting heights were far lower. 3mm
or less seemed to be the norm so I started to experiment with these
sorts of cutting heights in the summer months. What about the autumn and
winter months? What should we do here? ‘Get those heights up’ I hear
the agronomists cry!
In my opinion too many turf
managers are setting cutting heights by the calendar. As soon as the
clocks go back, the heights go up. But sitting in my office this morning
at 7am looking at my weather station it is telling me 12 degrees in
London. So why increase them? ‘Because we always do it at this time of
year’ would be the answer. But is this right? Could keeping those
heights tight during the autumn months actually help against disease
pressure?
As well as improving the playability of
greens, keeping those heights tight can help with your agronomics as
well. Organic matter build up is less as there is less leaf mass to
break down and more importantly for this time of year, the sward will be
drier as less moisture is able to build up in the sward. So often I see
greens where the heights have been increased and spores are just
sitting there in the turf canopy ready to attack. By decreasing the
sward length you might find that you are able to keep disease at bay for
longer periods.
Keep those greens tight during the autumn months
So
when you are planning your autumn maintenance programmes, think about
your cutting heights. Keeping them at your summer heights might not only
improve your putting surfaces but improve your IPM as well.
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