Civitas Increases Clipping Yield on a Cool-Season Putting Green

Abstract

C IVITAS (Suncor Energy, Calgary, AB, Canada) is an isoparain horticultural oil marketed to enhance plant defense and is certiied by the Organic Materials Review Institute (www.omri.org). It triggers induced systemic resistance to diseases leading to reduced pesticide requirements for turfgrass (Cortes-Barco et al., 2010). To mask phytotoxicity, Civitas is mixed with a copper phlalocyanate-based pigment called Harmonizer (Suncor Energy, Calgary, AB, Canada). Civitas and Harmonizer can be mixed on site (called the Two-Pack) or premixed at the factory (called Civitas One). here are anecdotal reports of increased clipping yield and reduced ball roll distance following application of the Two-Pack to putting greens of cool-season grasses, but these claims have not been substantiated scientiically. Increased clipping yield or reduced ball roll distance may limit the use of Civitas. Our objective was to determine the efect of Civitas, Harmonizer, and their combination on the clipping yield of cool-season grasses maintained as a putting green. his study was conducted in 2011 and 2012 on a mature stand of 60% creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera Hud. ‘Penncross’) and 40% perennial biotype annual bluegrass (Poa annua var. reptans) putting green at the Cornell University Bluegrass Lane Turf and Landscape Research Center in Ithaca, NY. he green was constructed approximately 15 years ago from the on-site Arkport ine sandy loam soil with a 3-inch layer of sand from monthly topdressing applications. Plots were mowed daily at 0.12 inches with a Toro Greensmaster 1000 (Toro Co., Bloomington, MN), fertilized weekly from May until October with urea at 0.1 lbs N/1000 t, and irrigated to prevent drought stress. he experiment was a randomized complete block design with four replicates of 8 by 4 t plots. Treatments included an untreated control, the high labeled rate of Civitas oil applied alone (16 l oz/1000t), Harmonizer pigment alone (1 l oz/1000t), and Civitas and Harmonizer mixed on-site (TwoPack; 16 and 1 l oz/1000t, respectively) and Civitas One Published in Applied Turfgrass Science DOI 10.2134/ATS-2014-0012-BR © 2014 American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI 53711