Sod Handling Quality and Tensile Strength of Seashore Paspalum in Oklahoma.

Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) is a warm-season perennial turfgrass with potential to be used on high saline/sodic soil areas of Oklahoma. Little research has been conducted on the sod production characteristics of Seashore paspalum. Objectives of this research were to assess the sod handling quality (SHQ) and sod tensile strength (STS) of entries grown at two heights (2.5 cm and 7.6 cm) in the 2016 NTEP Seashore paspalum Trial at Stillwater, OK. The trial was planted using plugs in July of 2016. The experimental field design and analytical design was a randomized complete block with split block arrangement of mowing heights. The trial was watered as needed to prevent drought stress, fertilized with 171 and 195 kg N ha^-1 in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Sod harvest was conducted at 12 and 14 months after planting. To assess SHQ and STS two sod pads, each measuring 0.38 m x 0.305 m x 0.15 m (length x width x depth), were cut from each replicate within each mowing height. The SHQ of each entry was assessed on a 1 to 5 visual scale where 1= very poor SHQ and 5=excellent SHQ. The STS was measured as the peak force required to cause sod pad tearing using a hand winch and force transducer/recorder system. Analysis of variance was performed on the dependent variables SHQ and STS using Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 9.3 software for Windows. Main plots were entry with subplots of mowing height and sub-sub plots as sod harvest dates. PROC GLM and PROC mixed were performed and when effects were found significant at p<0.05 Fisher’s Protected LSD test was performed to separate means at p=0.05. Sod tensile strength but not SHQ was found to vary among cultivars while mowing height did not affect either STS or SHQ.