Been few years since I published anything on my blog. Here is a article I submitted to my local Chapter. It is my journey battling Nematodes. I hope it might help others that are having the same trouble I was having.
Living with Nematodes
I have been a superintendent for 38 years, and in that time I have had my fair share of ups and downs, but nothing was quite like my battle with nematodes. What started as a minor annoyance ended up becoming a full-on tug of war spanning six years, and filled to the brim with peaks of hope and valleys of utter frustration. I went through many products, most of which had little to no effect, sat through many hours of seminars and webinars, and showed dying turf to anyone who wished to see it in hopes of collecting as much advice as I could both personally and professionally. After discovering nematodes were at the center of my problems, and not just any nematode but Lance, I searched out anyone who had any information about them and more importantly how to get rid of them, but as I would slowly begin to learn Lance is a tricky adversary, and if I was going to succeed in this journey I would need to be well prepared. I committed myself to endless amounts of research and trials until finally arriving at a solution that I have been implementing now for three years with tremendous success. It has been a long road through a grueling storm, but I can confidently say that I am on the other side of it, and that the grass is much greener over here.
In 2008 Nemacur was discontinued, and little did I know how much of an impact that would have on me moving forward. Back in the day if you had a nematode problem you could throw down some Nemacur and be good to go; so Nematodes as a pest never concerned me much. In 2005 I arrived at Franklin County Country Club excited and determined to make this the best course I possibly could. As the years went by I began to notice a pattern developing in a few of my greens; I was losing turf in the same small areas year after year. I thought it might be isolated dry spots so in 2012 I purchased a moisture meter and to my surprise the spots were not dry at all. I plugged the small affected areas and continued to monitor, and it wasn’t until 2015 when things took a turn. A couple more of my greens began showing these weakened patches of turf, this time much more severe. This had to be disease I thought, and sent some samples to Dr. Miller at the University of Missouri. They all came back negative for disease, but he did find a Root Knot nematode in the roots. He sent the sample to the nematode labs and those results came back with Root Knot and Lance right below threshold levels. Dr. Miller thought having two species of nematode near threshold levels was too much and advised I spray Avid. After the Avid application everything went back to normal. Success! No, the battle was just beginning.
In 2016 I went on the Syngenta Avid and Heritage program. I purchased enough products for three applications, May-July. At the end of my last application things were not going well. I was confident this had to be disease; after all, I was on a preventive nematode program. I sent some samples to Dr. Miller and once again, no disease. At this point I had large areas of turf dying, so on a whim Dr. Miller sent my samples to the nematode lab. My results came back with over 1200 Lance per 100cc of soil. That’s ten times over the threshold! The Avid wasn’t working, and I had to find a solution quickly. I began researching Nematicides that could control Lance nematodes, but there was only one other, Nemacur. I was able to find five bags locally and within two days of the application my infected greens were improving. I was hoping this would be the end of my troubles. I would plug the areas of dead turf and by next year it would all grow in leaving a nice playable surface with not one single nematode in sight. Wishful thinking I suppose, because by 2017 they all returned, and I was out of Nemacur. I needed an alternative.
While researching Lance nematode control I came across Nortica from Bayer. Dr. Crow from the University of Florida had done testing with Nortica and it showed outstanding results. I also reached out to other golf courses that were having nematode issues and through them I discovered Rev by Dakota Peat and Worm Power. Using a combination of these products I had good success, but unfortunately it was short lived. In 2017 Bayer sold Nortica, and Worm Power became too expensive. I was back to square one.
Syngenta came out with Divanem in 2018. This was a more concentrated form of Avid, and after using up my supply of Nortica, I needed something to fill those shoes. In 2020 I sat down with Syngenta at the golf show in Orlando and they confirmed that Divanem would kill Lance nematodes. I took their advice and went on the Divanem and Heritage program, but this time with a twist. What if I needle tine greens before putting the product down? That way I could get the Divanem down closer to the Lance, take the fight right to their doorstep. I filled up my sprayer with confidence. This was going to be it, this was going to work, I thought. The battle commenced, and once again Lance proved to be more resilient than I originally anticipated. I was left with eight greens in bad shape, as I limped through the remainder of the summer plugging, seeding, and topdressing, tail tucked firmly between my legs. Not only were they infested with Lance, but I also had Pythium Root Rot which is common in nematode infested root systems. I was losing, and it was happening fast.
In August of 2020 I sat in on a webinar with Dr. Crow. I needed to learn everything I could about Lance and why it was so hard to get rid of. I asked Dr. Crow about applying Divanem after a needle tine and he informed me that the control of Lance cannot be achieved with Divanem because Divanem binds to organic matter. So while you may kill the nematode close to the tine hole, the nematodes between the holes can still party on. On top of that bombshell he also said that regular use of Divanem will give you higher levels of Lance, because while the other species of nematodes are affected by the product, the Lance is not, resulting in an environment with very little competition, which is an open invitation for infestation. I was shocked. This whole time, I was making my problems worse.
With the news from Dr. Crow I had to rethink my approach to nematode control. I started looking for natural products that could manage nematodes while also building a healthy root system. My thinking was if I could build the best roots possible maybe that would help curb some of the nematode damage, because as far as I was concerned I was going to have to learn to live with these worms. During my research I came across a promising option; chitin. Chitin is found in the shells of crustaceans and insects, and it is shown to have outstanding soil building properties. Digging a little deeper I found other chemicals that toot the same horn. Chitosan, Quillaja, Yucca, and Harpin Protein. Chitosan is a liquid version of Chitin and encourages various bacteria and fungi, some of which feed off of nematodes and their eggs. Quillaja acts as a wetting agent, but it is also antagonistic towards nematodes affecting their nervous system. Yucca is a wetting agent and feeds soil microbes, while Harpin protein acts as an elicitor, sharpening the natural defenses of the plant. Harpin Proteins have also been shown to suppress nematode egg production. Using all of these ingredients together creates an environment that is not only hostile to nematodes, but also promotes and encourages a healthy soil biology.
As for the products, there are many out there that contain these natural ingredients. Early in my search I came across a green grade fertilizer by Ocean Organics called Sea Blend that contains kelp, fish, and crab, but that was the only product at the time that was available for the turf market. I had to shift my focus to the agriculture and landscaping markets to fill out the rest of my arsenal. Terra Biotics was one of the first companies I found that makes micronized sprayable products that contain fish, crab shell, and other natural and biological ingredients. This provides beneficial microorganisms and the necessary carbon and nutrients to allow this biology to thrive. A company out of Georgia, Organisan Corporation, makes a natural nematicide called Nemasan. It contains Chitosan and Quillaja. They also make a natural wetting agent, OIIYS; a combination of Chitosan and Yucca. These products were marketed towards the agriculture market, but for the past two years Organisan has had a booth at the annual Golf show. For my Harpin Protein I found the company Plant Healthcare who distribute ProAct. I went this route because they offer a larger twenty ounce package. After receiving all of my products, and building a game plan, I looked towards the 2021 season with a slight hesitation. This had to work, I was running out of options and if I had a repeat of the 2020 season, I would more than likely be looking at early retirement. My back was against the wall, and I was down to my last strike.
2021 was the first year I put my new program to work. My goal was to control 25-40% of the nematode population while also focusing on establishing the best root system possible. No conventional Nematicides were going to be used. To say I hit a home run might be a little dramatic, but I definitely didn’t strike out. I cruised through the 2021 season with zero nematode damage and greens that were improving by the day. I continued taking nematode assays the entirety of the year and to my surprise I still had some greens with nematode counts above threshold levels, but no symptoms were present. Dr. Crow informed me that when they do a nematode assay they not only count living nematodes, but also dead ones. Regardless if what I was doing was killing them outright, or simply making their lives a living nightmare, it was working, and after three years on this program my greens have never been better. They are firmer, denser, and more drought tolerant, but above all else, I have had zero nematode damage. I spent a lot of time battling these nematodes, devising many different plans of attack and using many different chemical products that had no affect on the nematodes themselves, and later I discovered actually did more harm to my soil biology than good. It wasn’t until I shifted my focus away from the nematodes and more towards my soil as a whole that I started to see results. Instead of trying to bomb these pests out of existence and while doing so disrupting the natural micro organisms in my soil, I began to promote and stimulate these organisms. Some of them are good at harassing nematodes, while others simply take up space not giving the nematodes enough room to infest and take over. A balanced ecosystem thrives, naturally setting its own checks and balances. Without this balance in the soil things can become chaotic very quickly, which is not a pretty sight on greens, trust me. I had to learn how to live with nematodes, because they too have their place. A diverse soil biology that is encouraged and maintained may be the biggest advantage over the control of nematodes.
