# Please don't tell me this is Poa Triv



## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

I did a partial reno last year in 7A to burn off a bunch of creeping bentgrass and nimblewill invased. I re-seeded / over-seeded using GCI Turf Cool Blue seed which is supposed to be weed free. After fertilizing and a fresh cut I am starting to notice lime green patches throughout my lawn. Upon inspection, the stalks are quite hard in texture so my fear is this is Poa triv. If GCI Cool Blue is as good as they say then I have no idea where this invasion would have came from. Some pics for identification


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## Greensideup2019 (Nov 6, 2019)

That is definitely Poa trivialis. So sorry to see this infestation in your lawn. I'd show you how is has invaded our back lawn but we have two inches of snow on the ground now


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

It looks like it is poa trivialis. Unfortunately it looks like it's across much of the lawn. Glyphosate and fallow will be needed to get rid of it or at least lower how much there is.


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

I thought GCI Cool Blue was supposed to be weed free incl Poa A and Triv. Where does this stuff come from if it just popped up this year? Could be from topsoil even though spots im seeing it in didn't have the new top soil put down.


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## YEM (Apr 9, 2021)

jperm47 said:


> I thought GCI Cool Blue was supposed to be weed free incl Poa A and Triv. Where does this stuff come from if it just popped up this year? Could be from topsoil even though spots im seeing it in didn't have the new top soil put down.


@g-man commented on this the other day here. Basically sounds like nothing is going to be perfect out of the bag.
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=377996#p377996


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## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

I'm not an expert but that looks like triv and it looks like the entire lawn will need to be smoked if you want to get rid of it. 3 consecutive apps of gly spaced 7-10 days apart and then look at the destruction until August 15. Then follow the eutho+meso program during seeding and finish out the year with prodiamine.


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## Belgianbillie (Apr 3, 2018)

If the area is fullsun you could probably get rid of it with cultural practices. Your poa triv is kind of odd. Normally it becomes weak and floppy and yours seems to have really strong stems. Wouldnt hurt to try tenacity and acclaim to push it down and dont fertilize until early summer perhaps to only give the good grass fert?


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## Belgianbillie (Apr 3, 2018)

Another victim of Poa Trivialis Stress Syndrome.


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

Belgianbillie said:


> If the area is fullsun you could probably get rid of it with cultural practices. Your poa triv is kind of odd. Normally it becomes weak and floppy and yours seems to have really strong stems. Wouldnt hurt to try tenacity and acclaim to push it down and dont fertilize until early summer perhaps to only give the good grass fert?


Yes it gets full sun, very little shade. Yea it's super strong at the moment, the stems are very strong / hard. I've already fertilized this season as at the time I didn't realize how bad of an infestation I have


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

Belgianbillie said:


> Another victim of Poa Trivialis Stress Syndrome.


What does this mean?


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

learningeveryday said:


> I'm not an expert but that looks like triv and it looks like the entire lawn will need to be smoked if you want to get rid of it. 3 consecutive apps of gly spaced 7-10 days apart and then look at the destruction until August 15. Then follow the eutho+meso program during seeding and finish out the year with prodiamine.


I can't stand to go through another reno, if I smoke it I would just bite the bullet and replace with sod

I have a feeling this is all because I did not do a Fall prodiamine app. I sprayed Tenacity at seed down over most of my lawn so I'm surprised I have such an infestation


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

Also what is a bit strange is some of the more like green patches definitely have that rough feel while some others feel and look like my regular TTTF, just a bit lighter in green tint. I'm hopeful some of this is just a mixture of new seed vs old seed as opposed to it's a massive widespread infestation


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## creediddy2021 (Mar 27, 2021)

My front yard looks just like your backyard. I know I am beyond disbelief myself!


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## Old Hickory (Aug 19, 2019)

jperm47 said:


> Also what is a bit strange is some of the more like green patches definitely have that rough feel while some others feel and look like my regular TTTF, just a bit lighter in green tint. I'm hopeful some of this is just a mixture of new seed vs old seed as opposed to it's a massive widespread infestation


The purple coloring in the stalk (photo above) is a sure sign of Poa Triv.


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

Old Hickory said:


> jperm47 said:
> 
> 
> > Also what is a bit strange is some of the more like green patches definitely have that rough feel while some others feel and look like my regular TTTF, just a bit lighter in green tint. I'm hopeful some of this is just a mixture of new seed vs old seed as opposed to it's a massive widespread infestation
> ...


What's odd is the obvious poa triv patches have the purple and others that are lighter in color and appear to be poa triv don't. Is there any rhyme or reason to the purple stalk?


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## Belgianbillie (Apr 3, 2018)

jperm47 said:


> Belgianbillie said:
> 
> 
> > Another victim of Poa Trivialis Stress Syndrome.
> ...


its a PTSD joke because so many people are at their wits end and stressing with the POA T in their yard.


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

Belgianbillie said:


> jperm47 said:
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> > Belgianbillie said:
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Ah ok yea, I mean it seriously is PTSD. If my yard wasn't so big I would burn it down and replace the whole thing with sod and never look back


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## Belgianbillie (Apr 3, 2018)

jperm47 said:


> Belgianbillie said:
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> > jperm47 said:
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Dude, it seriously is. Im looking at POA Triv on a 20k sqft and im just sad.


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## Old Hickory (Aug 19, 2019)

jperm47 said:


> What's odd is the obvious poa triv patches have the purple and others that are lighter in color and appear to be poa triv don't. Is there any rhyme or reason to the purple stalk?


"The plant has a broad collar and a boat-shaped leaf tip that is characteristic of other bluegrass turf species. The leaves are shiny, and are pale green or yellow-green in color, but they often turn red or maroon during periods of drought or heat stress."

https://turf.purdue.edu/roughstalk-bluegrass/

This is all I have to go by.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

jperm47 said:


> I did a partial reno last year in 7A to burn off a bunch of creeping bentgrass and nimblewill invased. I re-seeded / over-seeded using GCI Turf Cool Blue seed which is supposed to be weed free.


I just read your post from 2020. It reads that you used tenacity and scalped. I don't see the use of round up at all.

This poa t is fairly mature. It was there before your overseed and unlikely it is the seeds.


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## Lawn Noob (Jul 26, 2020)

Gents, we're going to need a support group for this soon. We've been wrecked by poa this year.

I either have to laugh or lose my cool. I choose to laugh. :lol:


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

g-man said:


> jperm47 said:
> 
> 
> > I did a partial reno last year in 7A to burn off a bunch of creeping bentgrass and nimblewill invased. I re-seeded / over-seeded using GCI Turf Cool Blue seed which is supposed to be weed free.
> ...


Correct, because it was a partial reno I didn't burn down the entire lawn so yes I suppose it's possible the Poa in the existing lawn has always been there or it came as a result of an overseed.

Would a fall pre-M have helped or even by then would have been too little too late?


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## Belgianbillie (Apr 3, 2018)

Lawn Noob said:


> Gents, we're going to need a support group for this soon. We've been wrecked by poa this year.
> 
> I either have to laugh or lose my cool. I choose to laugh. :lol:


So my plan is the following:

I took out all the sections where it really all merged together. Glypho, 2 rounds, will do a third one. I will probably seed but might then cut the sod out and put new sod in. All of this is in the shade so with some watering i could probably make it through summer. If i dont, i will paint it with green paint.

I will not fertilize until late may early june and i will do fertilizers with equal NPK. I hope this gives the good grass a boost.

I will hit it twice with acclaim Late may too and then late august i will do multiple rounds of tenacity to show where stuff is still hiding. If i see patches i will kill it. The last drop of tenacity will be for pre-emergnet purposes and i will do an overseed. Then i will also do a dormant seed.

I will re-evaluate in spring and do it again.

If the triv is worse. Maybe i just go all triv and pretend i wanted it for *insert reason*.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I just don't understand the term partial reno. In a reno, you kill your lawn for at least 3 weeks using round up weekly while irrigating to get rid of the poa t. I don't think you did this.


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

g-man said:


> I just don't understand the term partial reno. In a reno, you kill your lawn for at least 3 weeks using round up weekly while irrigating to get rid of the poa t. I don't think you did this.


Right I didn't do this. I had a creeping bent grass problem and killed that off with 3 round of tenacity. I think maybe where I failed was not fallowing the soil and putting round up on it to kill anything that pops up. My only issue with that is I have Triv in areas where I did not do this "reno" so to speak


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## Belgianbillie (Apr 3, 2018)

g-man said:


> I just don't understand the term partial reno. In a reno, you kill your lawn for at least 3 weeks using round up weekly while irrigating to get rid of the poa t. I don't think you did this.


I guess you can kill patches and not the whole lawn?


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## CutLawn_DrinkBeer (Apr 20, 2021)

Definitely Triv and unfortunately quite a bit based on the pic....good luck and remain patient.


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## JERSEY (Sep 9, 2018)

that was in the dirt...there seems to be alot of it this year.

sooner or later they will come up with a good herbicide.....thats a tough one.


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## stevehollx (Apr 8, 2020)

JERSEY said:


> that was in the dirt...there seems to be alot of it this year.


We had a ton of rain in March here. I wonder if the rain overload when the temps were good for Poa but too early for fescue are a reason it grew so much since Triv likes water so much. I had the bright idea to fertilize in March too, which I now regret but probably exacerbated further growth for me too. But 3 apps of gly this spring and seeding and a month later and I have 2" seedlings in those triv spots now. Interested to see what fall and next spring bring.

I'm inclined to watch spots with Tencaity during overseeding closer this fall, and nuke some stuff in the fall too, since I have a germination window in through November here so I can seed+tenacity in Sep, watch it in Oct and still have time to nuke and seed before things shut down for the winter. If I see spots this fall, I'd probably just do a single app of gly and seed a day apart in the fall though to prevent having an immature spot all winter and then reassess in the spring again.


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## ChrisNJ08844 (Apr 21, 2021)

When you nuke and reseed those spots are you ripping out the dead spots? About to tackle several poa triv areas w glyphosate and wondering if I should wait until fall to seed.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

jperm47 said:


> Would a fall pre-M have helped or even by then would have been too little too late?


Pre-M will never help with Triv because it spreads primarily via stolon, not seed. You have to burn it out with a non-selective herbicide (like roundup), and / or dig it out, and / or it solarize it.


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## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

That is how poa triv looks in the spring when let to grow a bit.....Since you have fescue, apply aneuw at the max rate and it should put a hurting on the Triv. You are going to need to get it down quick though...


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## john5246 (Jul 21, 2019)

wow if that's all poa triv you need to nuke the ENTIRE lawn. Do it now. You will need more than one application. Then water it as if you have seed on the ground. See what weeds and other grass comes up. After that nuke it again with glyphosate. I haven't seen an infestation that bad before.


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

john5246 said:


> wow if that's all poa triv you need to nuke the ENTIRE lawn. Do it now. You will need more than one application. Then water it as if you have seed on the ground. See what weeds and other grass comes up. After that nuke it again with glyphosate. I haven't seen an infestation that bad before.


Lol thanks for the reassurance....I actually don't think it's all Poa Triv, there is some shadows at play as well as newly planted GCI TTTF that isn't mature vs the existing turf. Yes, I definitely have Triv as I've seen spots that are growing much faster than my TTTF/KBG

Given my lawn size and the fact that the Triv intermixed with my good grass, I can't nuke it. Going to see how the summer plays out and what dies out vs not (I have underground irrigation) and then assess in the Fall to figure out a Spring 2022 plan


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## sam (Mar 10, 2018)

If you're trying manage this without glyphosate and reno then you're going to want to back off the irrigation this year - infrequent.

Also keep reading up and watching videos on identifying triv so you get a handle on how much of those light colored patches are triv

Only other idea (which I've never tried myself) is Aneuw or similar. Because that's a non herbicide way to set it back


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

sam said:


> If you're trying manage this without glyphosate and reno then you're going to want to back off the irrigation this year - infrequent.
> 
> Also keep reading up and watching videos on identifying triv so you get a handle on how much of those light colored patches are triv
> 
> Only other idea (which I've never tried myself) is Aneuw or similar. Because that's a non herbicide way to set it back


Thanks for the practical feedback. I have been looking into Aneuw, I might try it as I have nothing else to lose at this point


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## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

Anuew is a good option.. max rate... That will buy you some time to give the fescue time to overtake...

In the fall look to run an aggressive tenacity program


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## Belgianbillie (Apr 3, 2018)

Jersey_diy said:


> Anuew is a good option.. max rate... That will buy you some time to give the fescue time to overtake...
> 
> In the fall look to run an aggressive tenacity program


Does anneuw only focus on triv?


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## stevehollx (Apr 8, 2020)

Belgianbillie said:


> Jersey_diy said:
> 
> 
> > Anuew is a good option.. max rate... That will buy you some time to give the fescue time to overtake...
> ...


Anuew just puts the triv to sleep for a season. Tenacity basically does the same but give it a punk rock bleached white hair color before its bedtime.

Both may prevent spread the season that you apply (may be useful while you are fertilizing), but neither will eradicate and you will delay the inevitable.


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## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

Why is everyone being so hard headed about triv eradication? They want to try everything except what works. You need to use glyphosate if you want to get rid of Triv. End of story. It's been proven time and time again, then ignored time and time again. They have a preconceived idea of what they want to hear and until they hear it, everything else is thrown to the wayside.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

learningeveryday said:


> You need to use glyphosate if you want to get rid of Triv. End of story.


This ^


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## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Don't be too upset with the Triv. Most people will just see a thick green lawn and be happy, no reason you can't be happy with it. On the upside if you maintain it well then the Triv will fill in to a nice consistent color :roll:.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

kdn said:



> Don't be too upset with the Triv. Most people will just see a thick green lawn and be happy, no reason you can't be happy with it. On the upside if you maintain it well then the Triv will fill in to a nice consistent color :roll:.


Case in point, my dad's lawn is at least 50% Triv (but full and lush) and he's baffled why I fuss with it in my own lawn. Granted his yard is fairly shaded and well irrigated so the Triv doesn't go dormant in the summer. I think that's key, otherwise you consistently get brown patches when things heat up.

But if you're fussing with Triv because it goes brown then you might as well glypho it... it's going to go brown anyways so why not have it go brown *once* instead of repeatedly?


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## jperm47 (Jul 29, 2020)

davegravy said:


> kdn said:
> 
> 
> > Don't be too upset with the Triv. Most people will just see a thick green lawn and be happy, no reason you can't be happy with it. On the upside if you maintain it well then the Triv will fill in to a nice consistent color :roll:.
> ...


Yea this...this is my first rodeo with triv so I want to see how it handles in the summer / dormant season because I have irrigation. If it does indeed brown out then agree I will nuke lawn next season and probably put sod down to avoid a triv rebirth

I got some Anuew and going to apply that to see if I can stunt the growth and try and crowd it out as a stop gap. Given I did a large Reno last summer, I need a summer off before tearing the yard up again


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

jperm47 said:


> davegravy said:
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> 
> > kdn said:
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I think it survives renos because it's dormant in August when most people start their renos, so the glypho isn't effective on it. Best time to kill is spring when it grows gangbusters. But a spring kill means living with a lawn that's brown for most of the growing season. Sod is a cleaner although probably more costly solution.


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## SumBeach35 (Jul 11, 2019)

Natural saying it will work 100%, but i haven't seen it mentioned yet either.

Tenacity app (5 oz/A) and mechanically remove all white spots. Fallow the replacement soil then seed when appropriate. If you can't seed before summer, spray pre-m and seed in fall.


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