There is some crabgrass growing
on the field and you may have noticed that it is turning white. This is a
bleaching effect that comes from a chemical called Tenacity. The active
ingredient, mesotrione, is based on a naturally occurring compound produced by
the bottlebrush plant (Callistemon citrinus) that inhibits photosynthesis in
the crabgrass plant. As you see the plant begin to turn white this shows
that photosynthesis has been inhibited and the plant begins to die. We
have some Poa Anuua grass growing on our field as well among the perennial
ryegrass. The Poa tends to thrive in the shady and damp spots on the
field while the perennial rye favors full sun. With all of the extreme
temperatures we experienced so far this summer, the grass plants have been
under tremendous environmental stress and disease pressure. Poa is
susceptible to damage from Tenacity if it is stressed out already.
Therefore I did not spray for crabgrass for two weeks when stress levels were
high (and we were losing some of the poa to disease already). This
allowed a window of opportunity for crabgrass to grow in certain areas on the
field. When stress conditions alleviated, I sprayed the crabgrasss
immediately and what you are seeing now is the crabgrass plant dying. The
crabgrass will continue to die back and will be gone shortly.
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