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Warm-Season Defense To The Max
By Pat Jones
Researchers and dozens of top superintendents tested Aramax™ Intrinsic® brand fungicide in warm-season regions and found that it’s a great solution for patch diseases and other pathogens on bermuda and zoysia fairways.
Earlier this year, Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide made its big debut as a broad-spectrum disease control solution for snow mold, large patch, dollar spot, brown patch and 22 other key turf diseases. Now it’s time to head south and look at how the newest BASF turf innovation performs in some of the most challenging warm-season environments on patch diseases and a broad spectrum of other pathogens on bermuda, zoysia and paspalum.
What is Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide?
The concept and the components of Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide are proven. It’s a combination of well-known solutions from BASF – Insignia® SC Intrinsic brand fungicide and Trinity® fungicide – but the dual-active formulation and low usage rate are new. The result is a broad-spectrum powerhouse formulated to protect your fairways from 26 of the toughest turf diseases, delivering up to 28 days of effectiveness with proven plant health benefits.
“Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide is built on dual actives with proven track records,” says Dr. Emma Lookabaugh, BASF senior technical specialist. “Together, these chemistries become a go-to fairway fungicide brand with an expanded disease spectrum, longer-lasting residual protection, the power of Intrinsic plant health, and more consistent performance compared to solo fungicides on the market. Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide delivers reliability.”
Backed By University Research
Large patch on warm-season turf like bermuda, zoysia and paspalum is a challenge for many of the superintendents who rely on research from Dr. Jim Kerns and his team at North Carolina State University to guide their spray programs. “We conduct large patch efficacy trials on Zeon zoysiagrass each fall,” says Kerns
How did Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide perform? “Our trials have demonstrated the exceptional control of large patch by Aramax,” says Kerns. “The key to this success is ensuring adequate water volume during fungicide application for large patch management.”
Kerns sums up their trial findings: “Aramax is an excellent tool for golf course superintendents who deal with large patch on zoysiagrass fairways. Moreover, having two different modes of action allows for a broader spectrum of control of other diseases such as dollar spot, fairy ring, and take-all root rot.”
Real-World Results
Mike Fasy, The Plantation Golf & Country Club, Ft. Myers, FL
When the folks from BASF told Mike Fasy about a new product called Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide, his immediate reaction was, “I’d love to try it.”
Fasy, the superintendent at The Plantation G&CC in Ft. Myers, Fla., was going through the same awful El Nino winter that hit courses hard throughout the state. “I have paspalum and I knew I was going to be dealing with dollar spot and large patch. In February, we received some Aramax to try, and we decided to test it on our driving range tee top. We then treated the tee tops around the course and had zero dollar spot despite the fact that we had mega dollar spot all around them. It was great.”
“This stuff is insane. It was almost like combining Lexicon [Intrinsic brand fungicide] and Maxtima [fungicide] control-wise. For patch control, I don’t think there’s a better product than a stroby on paspalum. But I had to worry about dollar spot. Now we don’t.”
The bottom line for Fasy is simple: “I think Aramax is the best new fungicide we’ve seen for paspalum in a long time. I told BASF to add it to my EOP order.”
Jeff Sexton, Evansville Country Club, Evansville, IN
Evansville CC has had Meyer zoysia fairways and tees for 40 years. “It’s bulletproof. We rarely have any winter injury with the zoysia,” says superintendent Jeff Sexton. In fact, the fairways were largely left alone during Evansville’s recent renovations.
Sexton has used Lexicon® Intrinsic brand fungicide, Navicon® Intrinsic brand fungicide, Maxtima fungicide and Xzemplar® fungicide in the past so he was more than willing to do a test of Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide. For his trial, he applied his 2.5 gallon sample for four acres of tee tops. He sprayed tee tops twice last fall with it.
“I think it was identical in terms of the results we expect. The control was excellent. We paid a little more attention to green-up and thought that the Aramax-treated zoysia greened up a little faster than the untreated, which was interesting and might be a plant health effect from the Intrinsic components.”
Sexton says it was a good trial and he will consider Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide for greens. “We used to battle anthracnose and Trinity was always my goto as a curative. I knocked the heck out of it and I never had any negative response from it.”
Lastly, he loves the fact that companies like BASF are still creating new solutions. “I’m a huge new-product person and I love getting a chance to try stuff like this.”
John Reilly, Longboat Key Club, Sarasota, FL
Paspalum guru and “Turfgrass Monkey” John Reilly got right to the point when asked about Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide: “I used Pillar® G back in the day so I was very familiar with the combination. I really got a handle on paspalum disease management when I started using Pillar G preventatively. Now Aramax will fill that preventive role.”
What else is attractive about it? “I like the fact that the use rate is so much lower and it’s a way better return on investment,” says Reilly. “Also, there’s far less product exposure for the applicator and golfers.”
Like other paspalum managers, Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide will be a spot treatment tool for Reilly. “I also spot treat curatively and I know the symptoms will stop. Not all curative apps work that effectively on paspalum.”
Marc Muniz, The Golf Club at Lansdowne, Lansdowne, VA
Ask Marc Muniz how he feels about his trial run of Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide and he gets straight to the point: “My EOP will include an application of Aramax as my last preventative large patch application before we shut down in October.”
Muniz tried Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide the first week in May for spring cleanup and, even with the abnormally wet spring in the steamy mid-Atlantic, had great results. “I will 100% buy it and it will be part of my program this year.”
And the Intrinsic plant health impact of Insignia SC Intrinsic brand fungicide matters to him. “We definitely saw faster recovery in the areas that were already banged up. Insignia has always been our go-to after aerification so we know it definitely helps.”
John Ballard, Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, KY
Let’s give the final word to the host of the 2024 PGA Championship, John Ballard, who tested Aramax Intrinsic brand fungicide on his fabulous Zeon zoysia fairways in the run-up to a major.
Now, with a hugely successful championship behind him, Ballard had this to say about Aramax: “As we wrap up the 2024 PGA Championship and have an opportunity to evaluate what worked well and opportunities to improve, it was clear Aramax performed at a high level on our Zeon zoysiagrass. Large patch was never a factor and the playability of the surfaces was exceptional. BASF delivers once again with Aramax.”
Always read and follow label directions. Aramax is a trademark of BASF, and Insignia, Intrinsic, Lexicon, Maxtima, Navicon, Pillar, Trinity and Xzemplar are registered trademarks of BASF. All products may not be registered for sale or use in all states. Check with your state or local extension service. ©2024 BASF Corporation. All rights reserved.
