Organic chemical program Cancel The title field is required!

1. Tim Campbell

   

   0 posts
   
   2/5/2019 11:02 AM

   The town I am working for is making a push to be as organic as possible when it comes to chemical use. They want to ban roundup and are experimenting now with trying to manage some parks with out chemicals and using only organic fertilizers. We are rebuilding a soccer field I take care of and there is a push to use no chemicals there. I expect a similar push at the golf course. I am trying to push them to IPM like we practice at the
   golf course, as I feel we need a combination of organic and synthetic.
   
   While we have an adequate budget we don't have the money to experiment with things that don't work. I am curious as to what organic/natural products you have used that will kill or reduce to an acceptable thresh hold any of the following pests. Our turf type is wall to wall sea dwarf paspalum and water source is brackish.
   
   sedges
   torpedo grass
   Goose grass
   broad leaf weeds
   sod web worms
   mole crickets
   fire ants
   brown patch
   dollar spot
   fairy ring
   Nematodes

   
   
   
   
2. Stephen Okula

   

   3 posts
   
   2/10/2019 6:02 AM

   Won't salty water control a lot of the weeds with the paspalum being tolerant?

   
   
   
   
3. Andrew Cross

   

   5 posts
   
   2/11/2019 8:02 AM

   I've heard stories of places using Organic weed control, they put the bottle of organic stuff in the back of the cart and fill the spray tank with traditional synthetic herbicides.
   The way around roundup ban would be something like Finale
   
   Agree with Mr. Okula, salt water should kill weeds and not harm the paspalum (no clue on rates as I am a cool season guy)

   
   
   
   
4. Clay Putnam

   

   33 posts
   
   2/11/2019 9:02 AM

   Several years ago we looked into potential options for a 100% organic pesticide program (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, fertility, etc). My search netted nothing viable for disease and insect control. Herbicides were available but were not promising. I do not have the spreadsheet in front of me to reference exact numbers, however, the labor and material costs would have substantially increased. The herbicide material, available at the time, was limited and quite more expensive than customary herbicides. Additionally, the number of applications would have more than doubled - might have even tripled. By far, the most available item was fertilizer, which of course, is more expensive and requires more product compared to synthetics.

   
   
   
   
5. Steven Craig

   

   0 posts
   
   2/13/2019 1:02 PM

   Last year I attended a 4-day class at a Rutgers Extension office for a certificate in Organic Land Care. The class was full of information and taught by professionals using this practice in their businesses. There is a company they referenced called Green Earth Ag & Turf out of Connecticut. They have a plethora of organic products and seem to be very educated in organic pesticides. https://greenearthagandturf.com/ I hope this helps.

   
   
   
   
6. Frank Siple

   

   0 posts
   
   2/20/2019 3:02 PM

   Try Mark Hoban at Rivermont CC in Alpharetta, Ga
   He has done as much work in this area as anyone.

   
   
   
   
7. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   2/27/2019 1:02 PM

   Frank Siple, CGCS said: Try Mark Hoban at Rivermont CC in Alpharetta, Ga
   He has done as much work in this area as anyone.

   
   
   I agree. mark can help you with most of the issues. He has been all organic for a while now. He may be able to provide a bunch of info.

   
   
   
   
8. kevin inglehart

   

   3 posts
   
   8/10/2019 11:08 AM

   As far as diseases go, I have had good success using benefical fungi to beat down the pathogenic fungi. Specifically mycorrhiza and trichoderma. At this point in the season i have had to make only one carpet spray for dollar spot on the greens and two on the tees. Traditional fertilizers have very high salt content so they are out of the program too because too much salt plays havoc with water movement in the soil and plant. I know people will groan when i say compost tea, but as far as building a vibrant soil with life, there is no comparison. The battle to be won is underground.
     For ants I have been using diatomaceous earth with success at certain times of year.