Spring 2019
Spring is creeping upon us like a sloth and our soil temps are finally climbing enough that we see some "green up". With the spring green up, comes a few necessary tasks to help us stay ahead of future pest problems. Our spring applications of Pre-emergent and plant growth regulators were completed just ahead of the rain on Thursday. I often joke that we are "racing the rain", but often it is true. Many of our practices are heavily influenced by rain events (better to use natural rain than to use the irrigation, which overuses electricity and the water from the Mahomet Aquifer) . This week we used the rain to activate our Pre-emergent product. The product is carried on a fertilizer granular that either needs to be irrigated or have rainfall to make it active. Once active, it forms a barrier at the soil surface that inhibits summer annual seeds from germinating. Examples of the weeds we are inhibiting from germinating are crabgrass and goosegrass. These summer