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July 6, 2012 Scouting Report
Record
Heat: Chicago Counts Days of 100s for Highs, All 3!, Dollar Spot, Brown
Patch, Pythium Blight, Both Peter and Tim Say Dollar Spot as it
Explodes
Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle
When
Chicago's cool, humid environment is no longer either we know it, and
so does our landscape. A very difficult week for plant health was just
experienced. As is always true, it's all about the weather. It was just
last summer when a single daytime high crossed the century mark. That
raised eyebrows in Chicago because our last 100 degree high had been in
2005. Chicago is now having one of its hottest summers on record. The
last most similar summer dates to 1995. A golf course superintendent
never forgets a bad summer and both 1995 and 1988 are at the top of that
list. This week brought consecutive 100+ highs which began on July 4th
and by day three, Friday, our official temps at airports O'Hare and
Midway saw 103 and 105 respectively. On top of that we continue to
remain as dry as we've been in a long time. As we look down, we find
unirrigated lawns are now straw colored and some have even begun looking
somewhat white?!?
Golf courses in the upper Midwest deal
exclusively with cool-season turf. Although we can have good control of
irrigation inputs when it's dry, we have little to no control of
temperature. The most troubling aspect is that peak summertime soil
temperatures build on themselves during July and August and at the
moment our current readings at a two inch depth have crossed into the
80s. In a majority of cases our current troubles are not disease, but
instead midsummer physiological decline. Adjustment of cultural
practices as needed can only maintain turf health. The heat is on.
Click here to view the July 6, 2012 Scouting Report.
Derek Settle, PhD
Director of Turfgrass Program |
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