My Recent PRG Seed Trial

[EastCoast]

Any online retailers that you can recommend where to purchase the Champion PRG mix?

[foreplease]

East Coast, mine came from Seed Solutions. I got it from someone else who ordered it from them so I have no idea how convenient it is or what the price is. Sorry, but I am sure this is where it came from.

If anyone else is interested, the Accent PRG came from Tri-Turf, in Michigan, and the Double Eagle came from LESCO.

[foreplease]

Last Monday, Oct. 19, I took some samples to try to show root development. The pictures might be a little confusing in that I show plugs I pulled but there are not any holes in the blue cans. The plugs were taken with a cup cutting tool from the in-ground plot, planted a few days after the blue cans.

In Ground Plot
Bottom to top: Double Eagle, Accent, LESCO premium athletic mix, Champion mix





I’m not sure the photos will tell you much. In person, I was able to see the LESCO premium athletic mix roots are the least developed, at this point – of course the bluegrass has barely germinated yet. Double Eagle’s roots are the most well developed. Accent is a close second (very close). The Champion mix roots are surprisingly sparse.

What I can say is more subjective than scientific. I did what I could to examine/compare the roots with the tools that I have. Who knows how much of the root system I washed off with the soil when I was trying to expose them on the plugs I pulled.

The layering in the soil comes from this: originally I used a sod cutter to remove sod from where this “plot” now is. I used it to patch a soccer field because it more closely matched the existing field than sod I could have purchased would have done. I had to fill the resulting hole and plant something, so I used the sand-compost mix I topdress the soccer field with. This mix, incidentally, is lighter than what I used in the blue cans.

L-Accent, R-Double Eagle


L-Champion Blend, R-LESCO premium athletic mix. Oct. 19 (35 days)


All four with much of the soil washed off
insert photo: 3491 low res


continued on next post

[foreplease]

Soil Removed - Showing Roots

Double Eagle


Accent


LESCO Premium Athletic Mix


Champion Mix

[nc-jrock]

Thanks for the research.

[RigglePLC]

Wonderful project. This shows that it pays to plant good seed. And it sure helps to know which seed is best beyond what the salesman says. Bravo! The seed data indicate reistance to dollarspot and very good resistance to red thread. Does not mention Grey leaf spot resistance. It does mention very high seedling vigor--which is obvious in this test.

Accent: http://www.grahamturf.com/main/produ...ent/accent.htm

[foreplease]

Thank you, Riggle, and thanks for the link. You post many good references.

I had looked at NTEP for the varieties in my test that I could find listed. Lots of information there. It would be nice if they offered a 'sort by' feature to help produce a list fitting a specific set of user entered criteria. Might be a good turnaround project for a university.

It's nice that the Accent turns out to have good Pythium resistance too. We don't have too much trouble with that on rye this close to the lake but I understand they do on the east side of the state. We see it on bent a few days a year. Only takes once...

I will definitely work Accent in on an athletic field somewhere next year. Three weeks ago I overseeded a friend's yard with it both because they needed help and because I want to watch how it performs.

Last September I planted a baseball field in approximately 50% Double Eagle. I had to goose it in early October to get it to fill in but it came in nicely and held up well this year, its first season. Rest of the seed was a KBG blend. Last September-October was a much better growing season here than 2009, IMO. I am surprised at how well the blue containers have grown with the weather we have had.

[foreplease]

Funny, it is getting harder to distinguish between them. The weather sure turned bad fast.



Somewhere I have an end-of-season type set of pictures taken after the October 19th ones above. If I find them I will put them up.