Out in the cold

Much to everyone’s surprise, weather did not end up preventing attendees from making it to the New England Regional Turf Show and Convention this past week in Providence, R.I. Despite the break in snowfall, the weather seemed to be a continuing discussion as lawn care professionals begin to think about the upcoming year.
During the two days of educational sessions, most topics covered pest and disease control, with many people wondering what role the harsh winter will play in the upcoming months.

Here are a few points to take away if you couldn’t make it to the show.

- Because of evolution, if you are spraying an insecticide to control the annual bluegrass weevil and some weevils survive, they may have genetic traits that they pass onto their offspring. So after a few generations they are no longer susceptible to the insecticide you are spraying. However, when metabolic detoxification is involved, rotating to an insecticide with a different mode of action is no guarantee for avoiding the resistance. So how can you manage pyrethroid resistance annual bluegrass weevils? Don’t target them in the adult stage. Use only selective insecticides so you can preserve predators.

- As more pesticide restrictions are being enforced, lawn care professionals are finding it harder to use products properly, mostly because the way they were taught is not the way things are being done now. They weren’t trained to manage grass this way, so it’s making things more difficult. In fact, most current recommendations aren’t based on research.

- Weather conditions in New England throughout 2013 resulted in unexpected insect and disease outbreaks. Because the spring was wet, the summer was hot, and the fall was mild, infestations were unusual and insecticides didn’t work as effectively as normal. Some places even saw new species, as the insects migrated to locations with more favorable conditions.