Plant Defense Activators

The use of plant defense activators in turf has become a very common trend in recent years largely due to the fact that they have proven to be very effective in managing the stresses that the plant is put through and due to their more positive view on the environment in comparison to synthetic fungicides. The general understanding of this process is that we can promote the plant to use its own natural plant resistance responses to fight stresses such as disease, insects and abiotic (physical) stresses. The two most common defense mechanisms are Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) and Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR). 

The focus of this post will be on Systemic Acquired Resistance which is when a stress, pathogen or type of activator triggers the salicylic acid (SA) pathway which then results in a systemic signal within the plant that activates the defense response genes. This results in the production of PR (pathogenesis-related) proteins which are vital for the plant in dealing with the stress. Once this process has taken place the plant can then be strong enough to fight the pathogen or stress without having the plant decline just from using its own natural processes. This process can be related to a human strengthening their immune system to be strong enough to fight a cold without the need for antibiotics.  

Some very common elements that help to bring upon an SAR response in plants are the addition of phosphites, salicylic acid and silicon. SAR products have proven that in some cases they can provide equal and acceptable control of pathogens when comparing them to traditional fungicides which is a huge advantage to our industry as they have now given turf managers the option of products that have a stronger perception within society and government environmentally and more product options as chemical restrictions become more common. These products have also shown that they are fantastic tank mix companions with fungicides as they can either provide better control out of the fungicide or even provide the consumer with the opportunity to cut fungicide rates and still achieve acceptable control. 

The great benefit to using products that contain elements that trigger natural plant defense mechanisms within the plant is that you are able to supply the plant with everything it needs to fight without having the plant deplete itself in any way so that immediately after the plant has dealt with the stress it can then continue on with its normal processes such as photosynthesis or protein production. 

There are many Turf Fuel products that can help to trigger a Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) or natural plant defense mechanism within the plant. Any of our products that contain Nutrifense are going to work fantastic in carrying out the plant defense process. Nutrifense contains an SAR elicitor that will work as a defense activator and Nutrifense also supplies defensive, (stress-fighting) chemicals derived throughout the world for their unique abilities to deal with extreme stress. The three product that contain Nutrifense are Element 6 (which contain a full dose of Nutrifense), Respo Fuel and Photo Fuel which are all going to give any turf manager fantastic results when it comes to stress management. 

Other Turf Fuel products that contain elements such as salicylic acid, phosphites, humic acid, silicon, etc that will all help to trigger the natural plant defense mechanisms within the plant are Phos-sil Fuel Supreme, MZ-23, XChange and Lessen 11. 

Turf Fuel is committed to developing products that are not like any other on the market and finding solutions to the problems that have been plaguing turf managers for years. They are committed to always improving the already great products they currently have. Turf Fuel has solutions available from the most simple aspects of nitrogen nutrition to the much more complicated solutions that you have been looking for such as stress management.