Drought comparison greenhouse study on fairway height L-93 creeping bentgrass

Improving drought stress tolerance helps the turfgrass survive with limited amount of water. This study compared various performance measures of L-93 creeping bentgrass maintained at fairway height using different products in a greenhouse setting. Turfgrass quality measures were taken using NTEP visual ratings and NDVI readings. Clipping collections and root mass were taken to assess plant biomass. Realtime water loss measures were taken to assess drought tolerance through transpiration. There were statistically significant differences in turfgrass quality using NTEP ratings and NDVI readings between the treatments and control. There were no statistically significant differences in plant biomass and root mass between the treatments and control in Phase a) of the experiment. There were statistically significant differences in plant biomass and root mass between the treatments and control in Phase b) of the experiment. There were few statistically significant differences in transpiration levels between the treatments and control. Overall, the products performed similarly in terms of drought stress tolerance.