When To Apply Anuew [And How To]

You might have gotten advice to apply Anuew on your lawn so that you'll have shorter and healthier turf grass. If you don't know yet when you should apply it and how to go about it, we've got you covered. We asked the experts about these concerns and here are their answers.

Apply Anuew when your turfgrass is actively growing and healthy to optimize its effectiveness. Check the label for the right amount of granules to be mixed with water per given area and proceed to prepare the solution. Put it in a sprayer for convenient application. Spray the solution to the turf's foliage and ensure full and even coverage throughout. Do not water for four hours after application to give time for plant absorption.

Keep on reading to find out more about the recommended application methods to guarantee the effectiveness of this product. We'll also answer how Anuew works and what growing degree days mean. Let's get this started!

How often to apply Anuew?

Having a healthy lawn is not just purely for aesthetic purposes but it is also good for the environment. It can reduce the risk of land erosion, provide you with cooler surroundings, and make the air cleaner and fresher. That's why it is important to manage your turfgrass so that you can enjoy these benefits.

However, it may get to the point wherein mowing your lawn is getting to be a tedious job for you.  You notice that you seem to be doing it more often than you'd want to. The grass blades just seem to be growing continuously and you're finding it hard to keep up with the continuous clippings and mowing that it requires to maintain a crisp-looking and healthy lawn.

It takes up so much time when you could be doing something else or better yet, taking a much-needed break during the weekend. Well, we have good news for you. There are products out there that'll help you manage the growth of your turfgrass so that you don't have to do these tasks frequently.

Anuew is one of the more popular plant growth regulators out there. It is manufactured by Nufarm and can be used on residential and commercial managed turf areas. Manufacturers say that using this product will reduce your lawn mowing or clipping time while improving the quality of your lawn grass. It works for different species of turf whether warm season or cold season grasses.

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It will slow down your turf's vertical growth and make it grow denser by making the grass stick together. This way, you get to save on operational costs, labor, and time which is a good thing, right? Not only that, it helps make your lawn healthier and greener. 

Anuew turf growth regulator is best applied when the turfgrass is actively growing or the period when the grass is at its peak growth rate due to favorable environmental conditions.

This would depend on the turf species as warm-season grasses are in active growth late in the spring season. A common example is the Bermuda grass. Meanwhile, cold-season turf such as the Kentucky bluegrass starts its growing season in mid-spring so you have to schedule the application accordingly.

It is also advised that you apply Anuew on well-maintained and healthy-growing grass. If your lawn is showing signs of stress or pest infestation, you can delay the application or apply a lower rate of this plant growth regulator instead.

When it comes to frequency of application, the growing degree days modeling is used as a guide to optimizing the use of this plant growth regulator. This would help you predict your plant's stages of growth and manage its development and prevent rebound growth. We'll talk more about this later.

How to Apply Anuew

It is recommended that you wait for cool and calm weather for your Anuew application. Make sure there are no winds so that the granules won't spread to other plants or places on your lawn. Hot weather conditions aren't recommended as they will make the plant growth regulator dry faster so there's little time for plant absorption.

Check the product label for the instructions regarding the amount of Anuew granules that you need to mix per gallon of water depending on your turf species and the size of your lawn. For example, 0.28 to 0.55 oz of Anuew granules is to be used per 1,000 sq ft for some warm-season turf species. For cool-season turf like Bentgrass, use only 0.14 to 0.28 oz for the same coverage area. 

Here are the steps to apply Anuew on your lawn:

1. Wear gloves, a long-sleeved shirt, pants, socks, and shoes when handling the product for your safety. 
2. Mix the recommended amount of Anuew granules with one to two gallons of water for every 1,000 sq ft of lawn area.
3. Put the solution in a water sprayer to make your application more convenient.
4. You can also add drops of dishwashing or detergent liquid (or any non-ionic surfactant) to help with better plant coverage.
5. Spray the solution to the turfgrass evenly, making sure you cover all of its foliage (not the soil).
6. Don't water the turf for at least four hours after the application to give the grass sufficient time to absorb the plant growth regulator. After this time also, Anuew will then be rainfast.
7. You can still proceed to use pest control and fertilizers (if you're using any of these) after applying Anuew to your lawn.

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That's it! Reapply based on the recommended schedule so that you won't have any problem controlling the growth rate of your grass and maintaining a healthy lawn.

How does Anuew work?

You might be wondering how Anuew works. As a plant growth regulator, it modifies the physiological process of turfgrass. This product is absorbed by the plant through foliar uptake. From the external surface of the turfgrass, it makes its way into its internal tissues where it can finally do what it's supposed to do to the plant's growth rate and development.

Anuew's active ingredient is prohexadione calcium which specifically targets the plant's gibberellin hormone. This hormone is responsible for the germination of seeds, elongation of stems, roots, and leaves, and development of flowers and fruits. 

Prohexadione calcium will inhibit this hormone's synthesis so that there is reduced plant growth in the form of less seed germination and suppression of shoot elongation. That is why there's not much vertical growth which means fewer clippings and mowing for you.

Depending on the turf species, you can see the results in as fast as five days. After you clip your grass and put the waste in a sack, you will notice that it's much lighter than before. 

Grass that is treated with Anuew also grows more compact and closer to each other resulting in denser and greener turf. That's how it helps make your lawn maintenance more convenient.

Why should Anuew application intervals be based on growing degree days?

Producers of Anuew plant growth regulator follow the growing degree day application modeling. This is a practical mode of predicting plant development using weather-based indicators. The growing degree days vary according to each plant species. 

Plants follow a successive process in their developmental stages from the time they are planted up to the period that they reach maturity and grow flowers and fruits. This is largely influenced by prevailing temperatures in their immediate environment.

The Growing Degree Day (GDD) is calculated by adding the highest and lowest temperatures for the day and dividing the sum by two to get the daily mean temperature. Then, you compare this to a base temperature. This is the temperature wherein a plant begins its active growth. When the prevailing temperature is lower than the base temperature, no plant growth would happen.

So, going back to our calculation above, if the mean temperature is higher than the base temperature, then there is active growth but if it is lower, there's zero growth.

The base temperature would also vary depending on the plant species. It could be 32 or 50 degrees Fahrenheit. In the case of turfgrass, cool-season grass has a base temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit since it can thrive in cooler weather conditions while warm-season grass uses 50 degrees Fahrenheit as its base temperature since they survive in higher temperatures.

These numbers have helped experts predict the best time for the application of plant growth regulators to optimize their benefits in the exact growth stage of the plant.

Final Thoughts

Anuew is a product that will not only help you manage the growth of your turfgrass and how often it needs maintenance but it also helps in ensuring a greener and healthier lawn. Use it while your turfgrass is in active growth and ensure full coverage on its foliage for optimum results.

For more tips and resources on how to maintain your lawn grass, feel free to read the following posts:

How To Make Bermuda Grass Dark Green [5 Helpful Tips] 

5 Best Fertilizers To Get Dark Green Grass Growing