Harvest aids for improved bermudagrass sod shelf‐life and transplant success

Abstract

Abstract Shelf‐life and transplant success of sodded and sprigged turfgrasses are negatively affected by harvest and post‐harvest handling/storage conditions. Research was conducted to evaluate effects of several commercially available fungicides, a bio‐nutritional plant extract, and a commonly used plant growth regulator on sod shelf‐life and transplant success. Field studies were conducted in 2018 and 2019 on ‘Latitude 36’ hybrid bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt Davy]. Treatments included: the experimental bio‐nutritional plant extract ACA‐3434; the fungicides fluxapyroxad + pyraclostrobin, fluopyram + trifloxystrobin, and azoxystrobin; and the plant growth regulator trinexapac‐ethyl. Sod was harvested, stacked to a height of 12 layers, and stored for 72 h; treated and untreated sod were stored at ambient field temperature (28 °C average). To evaluate storage refrigeration on sod establishment, an additional untreated check was stored at 4 °C refrigeration. Sod was installed on an adjacent prepared native soil, and the treatment effects on bermudagrass transplanting were measured visually, by spectral reflectance, and by root analysis. Research failed to simulate heating inside stored sod masses, and treatments failed to affect internal storage temperatures. Nevertheless, refrigeration and, in some cases, fluxapyroxad + pyraclostrobin application, increased plant health characteristics of transplanted sod. None of the treatments affected recovery of areas from which sod was harvested. Albeit often unrealistic, refrigeration of harvested sod may be the best practice to extend sod shelf‐life. When applied prior to harvest, fluxapyroxad + pyraclostrobin fungicides provided slight improvements in post‐installation sod health; however, little is known about the mechanism by which this occurs.