Why can healthy turf withstand more insect injury?

• A. It grows faster, making pests less damaging
• B. It is able to recover from damage caused by turf pests by several times the amount of a stressed turf
• C. It requires less water
• D. It attracts fewer pests

Answer: (B)

Healthy turf can withstand more insect injury because its vigor gives it a strong ability to recover. When pests remove leaf tissue, a well-nourished stand has plenty of stored energy in crowns, roots, and stolons and more active growing points. That energy allows rapid regrowth of damaged leaves and continued root development, so photosynthesis can resume quickly and the plant can replace the lost tissue multiple times over. Stressed turf, with fewer carbohydrate reserves and a smaller growing point system, can’t rebound as quickly, so it suffers more lasting damage from the same level of insect feeding.