A touch of colorants

It seems colorants are having a real impact on the superintendents who are using them, and influence those who aren't to get with the program, according to recent research.

Golf Course Industry, in partnership with BASF, engaged in a three-year research project that identified superintendent trends with regard to colorant use as a turf management tool and how those attitudes changed during that time.

The research identified that the majority of superintendents (70 percent) are using colorants at their course, primarily to enhance their turf's aesthetic look. Secondary uses include as a marking agent for pesticide apps, and for colorants’ plant health benefits.

This was a 5 percent increase from three years ago, when about 65 percent of superintendent respondents indicated they used turf colorants.

More than half (56 percent) of superintendents say that they use colorants for their plant health benefits, primarily to protect turf from sun damage and stress. In addition, superintendents say they also utilize the benefits colorants provide in improving turf growth in the spring.
 

On average, superintendents are budgeting around $2,900 annually on colorants. This spending has increased over the last three years for 56 percent of superintendents. Of those superintendents, 22 percent indicated they're spending 20 percent or more than they were three years ago.

We sat down with Joe Lara, the senior product manager for BASF's turf and ornamentals group, to discuss some of the findings.
 

GCI: The research indicates an increase in the number of supers who are using colorants as a tool in turf management since we first conducted the survey three years ago. What do you think accounts for this increase in popularity?

Joe Lara: Even before the recent elevated interest in pigment colorants, many superintendents were looking at colorants as a way to add a green hue in to some of their fungicide tank mixes that would leave a residual color on their golf greens. Some premix fungicide products on the market contain a green colorant and I think superintendents were looking for a way to simulate that residual colorant effect.

That said, and to address your question, I would account the recent increased interest to a couple of factors.

From our view, I think a key influence that pushed the early-adopters in the superintendent ranks was related to constricted or reduced maintenance budgets during this last economic recession. I don't think anyone would disagree that during this time superintendents were expected to accomplish the same or possibly more with lower budgets. The superintendents who had some working knowledge and experience with colorants were the first to consider these products as one way to way to manage through maintenance cut-backs and provide an acceptable cosmetic appearance to their properties. Responding to an even more challenging decision, there were turf professionals who made changes to their fall overseeding practices for economic reasons. As a result, I believe this gave them the opportunity to experiment with colorants to see what could be possible and acceptable to their club members and golf clientele for winter play.
 

Underlying some of these changes to traditional fall overseeding practices was the expectation of a potential agronomic benefit in an improved spring emergence of their warm-season turf without the presence of a competing cool season perennial rye stand. I think the tough economic conditions provided the momentum for proponents of this concept to actively put out trials on the golf course for closer evaluation. Many I know have found success in taking this approach and have embraced the addition of a pigment colorant to this program, creating a very acceptable green appearance on dormant winter turf.

The second factor contributing to what we see is the attention now from regional university and independent turf researchers. In the past few years we've seen field trial work performed by institutions like North Carolina State, Purdue University, Clemson University, University of Florida, The Ohio State University and the University of Arizona in collaboration with USGA turf agronomists. Their efforts have helped golf course superintendents and other turfgrass professionals gain a better understanding of the performance characteristics of turf colorants. What we see today is increased confidence by superintendents to use colorants in a variety of ways as these independent field research trials provide more information about the choices they have and what can be expected from these products.

We knew enhancing turf’s aesthetic look would be a top use, however, tied for second was using colorants for health benefits. Is this a new trend and why?

There is more discussion today among suppliers and turf professionals around the topic of plant health. Quite frankly, there are many ways to influence the growth and health of plants – starting with the basic foundations of what is required for plant growth, i.e. soil, water, air, nutrients, sunlight. Many different cultural practices and commercial products can be introduced into a growing environment to influence the performance and ultimately the health of plants.

What you are referring to today are the claims made by a few manufacturers that pigment colorants influence the way a plant functions. I think there is a trend to use pigment colorants predominantly to create a visual effect. Is there something more than cosmetic? I think there is still a lot of discussion and debate around factors like preferred color hue, canopy and soil temperature, and light levels that may directly or indirectly create a plant response. From my experience, the environmental growing conditions, time of season, and cultural practices are the larger external drivers that set the stage for how a plant grows and performs. Any physiological responses initiated from topical additions of a pigment colorant may be temporal, transitional, or incremental at best. It's not a substitute for practicing the essentials and fundamentals of turfgrass management, much of which includes cultural practices to move air and water into the profile, a proper regiment of nutrients, and management of disease and insect pests. Healthy resilient plants begin with strong active root systems that are necessary to help the turf plant growth through various stress events. It may be found that colorants, under certain conditions initiate a plant response that then influences some growth metric.

But I am not convinced that colorants grow roots. There is more work to be done to better understand how the use of pigment colorants applied to a plant leaf surface influence all the ways a plant could respond.

The majority of respondents indicated they will continue to use colorants as a turf management tool. What can we expect to see in the coming years?

We see today that colorants do have a place in the bigger picture of turfgrass management practices by golf course superintendents. Their current uses have expanded considerably in these recent years, largely driven by economic forces. Where there was once much skepticism and avoidance, there is now general acceptance of these pigment colorants as a result of early-adopters looking for new ways to not only solve turfgrass management problems, but to maintain and even enhance the game experience by their golfing clientele. I would say the place of colorants and how they may be used in more innovative ways will depend on where they fit as a component that superintendents use to create the kind of golf experience that draws greater participation and enjoyment of the game by future generations.

For more
Check out the Superintendent Radio Network for additional information about colorant use. BASF’s Joe Lara breaks down the research and what it means for your turf management program.