Turf Growth Regulation
PRIMO MAXX is a highly effective, trusted turf growth regulator that is easy to use and gives constant performance. It works by blocking production of gibberellic acid within the plant leaf, which effectively limits cell elongation and vertical growth. The regulation allows management of the plants energy with the most obvious benefit of shortening the distance between the shoot nodes, leading to shorter and more upright turf growth. This ability for PRIMO MAXX to manage the plants resources contributes to an array of other benefits to the turf grass, including improved water usage, increased colour and phytochemical efficacy, improved rooting and increased ability to maintain quality under stress conditions caused by drought, heat and shade.
MAXX formulation
Syngenta’s MAXX formulation technology has been developed specifically for efficiency and safety for use in turf grass. The MAXX formulations including PRIMO MAXX bring nano micro emulsion technology. Benefits include: outstanding turf safety as the formulations have no harsh solvents; small particle size providing excellent solution stability; no sediments; no foaming; no crystallization; enhanced product uptake. PRIMO MAXX also has excellent compatibility with other products such as ACELEPRYN Insecticide for grub control. It can be used with BARRICADE Herbicide and can be left on the leaf allowing a delayed wash-in. This compatibility with products means it can be utilized with existing spray programs with confidence of performance.
Driving water use efficiency
With increasing pressure on water resources, PRIMO MAXX can support efficient water usage while maintaining and improving turf grass quality.
Turf that has been treated with PRIMO MAXX is able to retain water longer through reduced transpiration rates (Huang 2007). Under consistent PRIMO MAXX growth regulation the water utilization of a plant can be increased by up to 30%. This is accomplished by:
- Smaller leaves with less surface area for transpiration
- Improved rooting creating a larger reservoir to draw from
- Increased turf density, reducing the water loss directly from the soil
- Improved stomatal regulation
Reduced mowing
Inhibiting vertical growth can reduce the growth by up to 50%. This reduces the time required for mowing, clipping clean-up and disposal with reduced consumption of fuel required for mowing while preserving a very valuable resource in mowing equipment and labour.
Plant health and playability
Improved surface density
When vertical growth is inhibited, the density and tensile strength of the turf stand is enhanced by the increased lateral growth and clipping yield is reduced. The result is a stronger surface, less prone to damage and wear while providing an improved playing surface. Improving surface density also supports less weed incursions as the tight dense surface makes it is harder for weeds to establish though the canopy.
Improved shade tolerance
The natural response of turf that is growing in the shade is to increase the gibberellic acid production in order to become taller in an effort to find sunlight. This creates a thin, spindly weak stand. PRIMO MAXX will inhibit gibberellic acid production helping to increase the density of turf grown in the shade. This leads to improved turf density and color even under shade conditions.
Enhanced rooting
With improved rooting, the turf grass resilience to stress from use, heat, shade and low water conditions is increased. Applications of PRIMO MAXX prevent wasteful use of energy on growth elongations. This energy is redirected back into the plant increasing density and root systems.
Superior rooting and drought resistance
Use with line marking
PRIMO MAXX is approved for use as a pre-mix with paints for wheel-to-wheel application or with spray line marking applicators. The combination has been extensively tested with a full range of commercial paints and line marking equipment. Mixing the turf growth regulator with line marking paint can suppress grass growth for up to six weeks and has been shown to give significantly better retention of line colour and visibility for longer. Furthermore, there is no damage to the playing surface associated with total herbicide applications, which can allow weeds to ingress and create the need for re-sowing at the season's end. At the end of the season, the turf simply reverts out of regulation with no damage or lasting effects. There is no cost or effort of re-seeding, no bare soil for weeds to establish and, if sports turf is being used for another event over the summer, new lines can be quickly and easily put in place.
PRIMO MAXX line marking trials have shown the lines marked with paint mixed with PRIMO MAXX remain clear and visible up to 50% longer than line marking paint alone.
PRIMO MAXX should be used at a rate of 2 mL/L of line marking paint applied, or 40 mL in a 20 L tank, for example.
