A major component of my job is chemistry and having a good understanding of applied chemistry. Also, the biology of plants and fungus is another aspect. For example, pink snow mold above is currently evident on a few fairways. Knowing when to pull the trigger on a fungicide application is critical. Missed or poor timing can mean the difference of a few thousand dollars if additional applications are made. In the case of snow mold, I will preventatively treat greens and tees. However, I leave fairways alone because I know the turf will grow out of it before you even return to Highlands. Again, it all boils down to my understanding and experience with different fungal diseases of turfgrass. A good understanding of entomology (insects) is critical as well. For example,
I need to know and understand the life cycle of Annual Bluegrass Weevil. This means when the adults emerge, when egg lay takes places and when the larval stage feeds on roots. Failure to understand such details could result in a waste of resources.
I need to know and understand the life cycle of Annual Bluegrass Weevil. This means when the adults emerge, when egg lay takes places and when the larval stage feeds on roots. Failure to understand such details could result in a waste of resources.
You can see below the amount of pesticides kept on inventory. Another interesting fact: All chemicals, whether it be soap, bleach or pesticides are assigned an LD 50 number. This means the lethal dose (LD) required to kill 50% of a population of rats in a lab. The number translates into signal words on the packaging. For example, when you purchase Dawn dish detergent, the bottle will say, 'keep out of reach of Children.' Other chemicals may say, Danger. Others may have a skull and crossbones. This translates into that LD50 number. The higher the number, the less toxic the chemical because it would take more of the chemical to kill the same amount of mice. 99% of the pesticides we use have very high LD 50 numbers and contain the 'keep out of reach of children' signal words. This means the pesticides we apply typically are no more toxic than soap. That said, there are some insecticides on the market that can be very toxic. The reason is quite simple. In order to kill an insect, the central nervous system is impacted causing paralysis followed by death of the insect. In large quantities and high rates, this can also occur in humans. Fortunately, we do not have to apply such chemistries.
