The Effects of Athletic Field Paint Color On Perennial Ryegrass Photosynthesis.

Athletic field painting is a multi-million dollar industry and turf managers routinely paint fields for proper field marking and aesthetics. The objective of this research was to examine the effects of different bulk athletic field paint colors on net photosynthesis, NDVI, and canopy temperature of perennial ryegrass. ‘Patriot’ bermudagrass plots (1.5 x 2.1 m) were overseeded with a perennial ryegrass mixture (Par 3) and were painted in Fall 2012 and repeated in Spring 2013 in Stillwater, OK at the Oklahoma State University Turfgrass Research Center. Painting treatments were untreated, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, and black and each color was diluted 1:1 with water. There was a significant interaction between year and painting treatments and data is presented separately for each year. In both 2012 and 2013, untreated plots had the highest net photosynthesis among all treatments. In 2012, the red treatment had higher net photosynthesis compared to purple and black, but was not different from other paint colors. In 2013, the red treatment had higher net photosynthesis than all other colors. In 2012, the black treatment had lower net photosynthesis compared to untreated and red, but in 2013 black had the lowest net photosynthesis among all treatments. In both years, there was no difference in net photosynthesis among blue, green, orange, yellow, and white treatments. In both years, purple had lower net photosynthesis than untreated and red, and in 2013 was also lower than blue. Choice of paint color on athletic fields has a significant effect on plant photosynthesis whereby darker paint pigments reduced turf photosynthesis rates.