GROUNDSKEEPING
PROVEN BROWN PATCH TOLERANCE OF DLF ’ S
4TURF ® FORMS BASIS OF BRAND NEW MIXTURE FOR 2022
In response to the increase in reported instances of Brown Patch in the UK football industry , DLF have undertaken a screening programme for the last two years to analyse the tolerance of different varieties . The results of the trial highlighted the strong tolerance of certain DLF diploid varieties together with 4turf ®, which now forms the basis of a J Premier 4Turf – a brand-new Johnsons Sports Seed mixture launching in 2022 .
Brown patch is a turfgrass foliar disease caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia spp . All cool-season turf grasses are susceptible to potential attack by the fungus , however it has been found to be most detrimental to bent grass , ryegrasses , annual meadow grass and some fescue species . Attacks are often triggered by hot , humid conditions with an increase in cases identified on plants that are moist and / or have been over-stimulated with nitrogen-based fertilisers .
Samples of a particularly violent European strain of Brown Patch were harvested from a football environment and were studied at the MariboHilleshög Research AB laboratory in Landskrona , Sweden – specialists in Rhizoctonia fungi . More than 30 perennial ryegrass varieties – including nine 4turf ® tetraploid perennial ryegrasses – were inoculated , with each variety then scored weekly for plant health . DLF were able to determine with
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