One Swing Should Wait til’ Spring Weather Both by meteorological and astronomical standards, fall is in force today with the arrival of the fall equinox. It sure doesn’t feel like it though, as temperatures have averaged 6-8 degrees above normal in in much of the region over the last 7 days, due to a stagnant jet stream over Canada. As obviously noticed, photoperiods will continue to get shorter until the winter solstice on December 22 nd , when the approximately 9.5 hour daylength will start to expand once again. With the current heat wave, the shorter daylength (currently just under 11 hours) has a profound effect on reducing stress on cool season turfgrasses and putting warm season species such as bermudagrass and zoysiagrass down for their winter’s nap. Some concerns have been raised over potential cool season seedling damage from the high heat and potential disease activity. At this point, we haven’t noticed any problems, and last week’s cool temperatures and rains should still be aiding quick establishment. If seed and fertilizer were applied previous to it, last week’s rains were ample enough to get seed off to a good start… that is if the seed didn’t float away as may have been the case in Columbia. Precipitation totals are above normal, but variable across the state (0.6, 1.18, 2.62, and 4.75 inches above normal in Springfield, KC, STL, and Columbia respectively). At the MU turf research farm, we have been itching to seed a few new areas, including a perennial ryegrass NTEP trial and Kentucky bluegrass plot, but the weather just hasn’t allowed us to get in the field. A 3-day rain event on Sept. 8-10 dropped 4.46 inches of rain, which was quickly followed by an additional 2 inches from events on Sept. 14 and Sept. 16. A soggy September is following the precedent set by July and August.
