Help deciding on which TTTF blend

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

I am preparing for my renovation this year.

I have come across two blends and I am having difficulty settling on which one I want

Southern Belle Blend

Has a blue tag / certified (Oregon ...) with no weed seeds. However, it has 3 cultivars that I don't know anything about.

--- Raptor III

--- Titanium LS

--- Firecracker SLS

All three of these are listed as "promising" on the Virginia Tech TTTF cultivar list for 2016-2017 (http://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/CSES/CSES-17/CSES-17_pdf.pdf).

Jonathan Green has its three Black Beauty TTTFS, including:

- Dakota

- Tonto

- Montana

Dakota is on the "recommended" list of TTTF by Virginia Tech (which ranks higher than the 'promising') for 2016-2017.

Montana was on the "recommended" list on 2015-2016 but has since been removed.

The blend has a weed seed count, but it had a smaller "Other Crop" count than the other blend. (I'm more worried about Other Crop than weeds, though.)

When I began my renovation planning, it was with the intention to use the Jonathan Green seed. I did some experiments with it early in the spring and I was impressed.

However, the Southern Belle other blend has caught my eye and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with Raptor III, Firecracker or Titanium.

I can't decide :-P

I am in the transition zone (Richmond/Chesterfield, VA).

Featured Answer

Larry Badger

10 years ago

Not sure if thread still active, but make sure that the VA location uses a similar Nitrogen/Mow Height/Irrigation regiment that you use. I have always used MI as my test location until I looked at the specifics. MI used 3-4# Nitrogen, mowed at 0.5-1.0 height, and irrigated to prevent stress. None of those specifics matched my regiment even closely.

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Comments (9)

Dr. Drill
10 years ago
Look at the NTEP website. The top bag of seed has a few cultivars that were on that list. I haven't seen or heard of the cultivars in the bottom bag.

If it was me, I'd go for the top bag but again just check the NTEP website for the results in VA
User
10 years ago
Why not just give Hogan Seed a call and get some top notch cultivars?
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owlnsr
Original Author
10 years ago
I prefer to buy locally to support the small businesses here. Moreover, I want to ensure that I will have the ability to drive down the street and pickup another bag if something goes wrong with the seeding (and for future overseeding).

I pulled out the latest NTEP report for Tall Fescue --- from 2015 --- and filtered it to only show me the VA records. There were 116 cultivars in the report; the trial site was Blacksburg, VA. This is the same city as Virginia Tech.

Raptor III was the #1 with a rating of of 7.5.

Firecracker SLS was #54 with a rating of 6.5.

Titanium LS wasn't on the report. It's successor, 2LS, was. FWIW, 2LS was ranked #8 at 7.3. I don't think I can reliably use that.

Jonathan Green/Cascade Seed doesn't submit their cultivars to NTEP.

So, I don't think I will have any useful or objective means for deciding.... Other than the Virginia Tech recommended lists. (Keep in mind that Virginia Tech runs the NTEP trials in Virginia.)

Below, I've broken down the cultivars according to the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 VA Tech recommendations:

Black Beauty

Dakota

15-16: recommended

16-17: recommended

Tonto

15-16: n/a

16-17: promising

Montana

15-16: recommended

16-17: n/a

Southern Belle

Raptor III

15-16: promising

16-17: promising

Titanium LS

15-16: recommended

16-17: n/a

Firecracker SLS

15-16: promising

16-17: promising

So, without a real solid & objective method for comparing, I was hoping the community here might want to weigh in?
reeljake
10 years ago
I'm not a fescue guy, but I applaud your efforts to buy local!
User
10 years ago
Where did you get 2015 Tall Fescue data for Blacksburg VA? I only see 2014 listed on the NTEP website.
owlnsr
Original Author
10 years ago
http://www.ntep.org/data/preliminary/2015/tf1215tqloc.txt
User
10 years ago
Thank you.
owlnsr
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Good point, Larry. VA had two plots on the report (VA1 and VA2). Both at Blacksburg.

VA1 used "Schedule B" which mowed @ 2.5-3.5" w/ 2-4 applications of nitrogen per year @ at a rate of 0.25lb/1000 sq ft during the growing season. No fungicides and insecticides, and bare minimum herbicides. Watering was at 50-60% of ET.

This more or less matches my practices... Except for the nitrogen is higher in my regimen. (3-4# n per year)

I ended up selecting the Southern Belle blend with Raptor III, Titanium LS and Firecracker SLS. I will have a renovation post up shortly to track the progress.

Thanks everyone for your guidance!