TENNIS
Centre Court set up for play during the playing season
and so it would be wrong for us not to apply some caution to our words.
Also, while we’ve made quite a bold claim to the potential signifi cance of Prohexadione, it isn’t a silver bullet that is going to rid fi ne turf of the Poa species. No chemical replaces good, basic turf management, and there is no point applying the marginal gains that a chemical like Prohexadione off ers if there are signifi cant defi ciencies in basic maintenance that will otherwise greatly undermine the chemical benefi ts.
That being said, we fully intend to continue experimenting with Prohexadione when spring arrives. It may well be the thing we need to keep the Poa at bay, and if it can do this while off ering the same benefi ts to plant physiology that Trinexapac-ethyl has then we’ll be on to a winner! However, we wouldn’t suggest that Prohexadione and products like Attraxor are going to be fully replacing Trinexapac-ethyl anytime soon. The ability of Prohexadione to knock back Poa Annua means that on swards which contain Poa, it is going to be a risky application, and while Attraxor
off ers label rates that appear ‘safer’ for Poa, applicators may be more comfortable using a product which has proven not to signifi cantly impact Poa Annua. For example, on our site, many of our ornamental lawn areas and surrounds contain signifi cant amounts of Poa, where it is perfectly acceptable as a species, as these areas aren’t experiencing high levels of wear. While it would be advantageous to remove Poa from the site to prevent seed migration, the simple fact is our local geography would make this pointless - we’re in a very green area where Poa would continue to come in from areas out of our control. For these areas, we’ll continue, happily to use Primo Maxx as our chosen growth regulator, at least in the short to medium term. Additionally, Attraxor may in some ways be too good at knocking back Poa. Imagine, for example, that hypothetically we had a court with a signifi cant amount of Poa present during the week of our major televised event. Applying Attraxor may not be the best idea as it would likely highlight the Poa in the sward, by knocking it back and causing discolouring! Hopefully this
won’t be a problem for us, but it’s defi nitely something to consider. In that scenario, it could be that Attraxor would be the right choice, up until a few weeks out from an event, at which point a switch across to Primo Maxx may be a good idea. As we’ve said previously in this piece, and indeed as we’ve said previously about other products, Prohexadione, or Attraxor, isn’t going to be a silver bullet that just eradicates a problem, never to be seen again. At the same time, we don’t think Trinexapac-ethyl will be disappearing from our arsenal; there are far too many situations where it has proven to be invaluable to our industry. But, we really do believe it has the potential to revolutionise the way we maintain turf surfaces in this country. With the number of sports now that aim to play on 100% rye surfaces, or perhaps more importantly 0% Annual Meadow Grass, whilst also utilising a Growth Regulator Programme as part of a turf management strategy, it only seems natural that the two should converge. In that sense, don’t be surprised if, in a few years time, Attraxor becomes a go to tool for turf managers in the UK.
The body of research was substantial enough to
convince us that bringing Attraxor straight into use
across all our courts was the right thing to do
Clubhouse lawn set up for outdoor catering - adapted with social distancing grids (and stripe pattern in grass) to refl ect Covid-19 pandemic
96 PC February/March 2021
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