Gilba Solutions Pty Ltd

  Bio-stimulant use in turf. Increasingly bio-stimulant use in turf is becoming common as turf managers become aware of the impact of many synthetic fertilizers and pesticides on the environment. However, there is a constant stream of new products coming onto the market all making claims which are often unfounded and with no supporting data. This is an article outlining some of the options available and what they can potentially do for you. What options are there for bio-stimulant use in turf? Despite only being used in minute quantities bio-stimulants give a favourable response with common commercial bio-stimulants being combinations of: Humic substances; Plant hormones; Seaweed extracts; Amino acids and lastly True biological stimulants. Click on the link above for more info

Turf managers commonly use turf pigment and colorants for improving the appearance of sports turf areas. These are cheaper than oversowing, without the issues of removing an overseeded grass from warm-season turf. The use of pigments also occurs in fungicides for promoting plant health benefits e.g Bayer with their   Stressgard® technology . Available pigments include  Vertmax® ,  Vertmax Duo® , Green Pig®, Sensi-Pro®, and BASF ‘s Vision Pro®. These are based on copper phthalocyanine with variations in active concentration affecting their rates of application. To better understand how these products perform, numerous studies have been carried out at  North Carolina State University  and more recently in Sydney, Australia by Gilba Solutions. Why use turf pigment? These offer a viable low-cost alternative to overseeding warm-season grasses. Drought-resistant cool-season grass varieties used for overseeding have made spring transition more difficult. Pigments also aid plant growth by incr