Attendees at the UC Riverside Annual Turfgrass and Landscape Research Field Day looked at Tifway II bermudagrass plots to evaluate the efficacy of products on turf to reduce stress caused by irrigation with saline water.
Photo: Courtesy of Larry Shield

Dealing with salt and drought stress can always be an issue, especially for turf care professionals in warmer climates. At the UC Riverside Annual Turfgrass and Landscape Research Field Day staff members discussed their research to help attendees.

The seminar, "Evaluation of Products to Alleviate Salinity Stress" was led by Marco Schiavon, Toan Khuong, Andrea Feo and Jim Baird. The plot was sodded with Tifway II bermudagrass on Aug. 6, 2012 on Hanford fine sandy loam with no pre-existing salinity issues.

All treatments were applied initially on April 3, 2014. The turf was mowed three times per week at 0.75 inches. Standard bermudagrass cultural practices were maintained throughout the study, including 3 to 6 lbs. nitrogen
per acre per year. Plots were irrigated at 75 percent ET with water that matched the same ion composition of the Colorado River.

"The salinity alleviation for the turfgrass was similar to the salt composition of the Colorado River," said Schiavon. "Bermuda grass struggled with a salinity of 4.2. Wetting agents and fertilizers didn't have much affect on the
product usage."

Treatments were applied by hand or using a calibrated CO2 boom sprayer. Treatments were watered in with over 2 cm of water immediately following application.

Desalination improved bermudagrass quality consistently through the study. CalPlus (both rates) ACA 3217, MST-1410 and Turfcare NCN improved quality in comparison to control in at least one rating date. ACA 2994 had a phytotoxic effect on bermudagrass, and was detrimental to turf quality, but was also the only treatment to constantly decrease EC in the leachate. Cal Plus also decreased EC of the leachate at two collection dates.

"We had a drier and cooler year and that also affected product usage," said Schiavon. "One product, ACA 2994, was able to actually decrease leaching, but the turf quality dropped with less color."

You can read or print full research reports in their entirety from the Field Day website, ucanr.org/sites/turfgrassfieldday.