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MTC Turf News – J.T. Brosnan and G.K. Breeden, University of Tennessee, Dept. of Plant Sciences

Background

The University of Tennessee (UT) launched Mobile Weed Manual in May 2013 as a new resource to aid individuals in selecting herbicides for use in both warm- and cool-season turfgrass, as well as ornamentals. This digital resource was a replacement to a historical UT Extension publication, PB 1789- Weed Control for Turf Managers in Tennessee, that was only available in county extension offices in print form.

Mobile Weed Manual was initially developed as mobile-friendly website (mobileweedmanual.com) that allowed use on any device that had access to the internet. Users could quickly filter through the entire suite of active ingredients labeled for use in turfgrass or ornamentals to find options for their unique situation. Users could simply select their turf type and/or weed species to get a list of herbicides that would be applicable to that situation. Conversely, a user could generate a list of herbicides to control a specific weed regardless of turf type or generate options for weed control in different ornamental plantings. Regardless of the search performed, all herbicides returned would be ranked based on results of UT research trials and contain direct links to both product labels and safety data sheets (SDS). When a particular weed-herbicide combination had not been studied at UT but was labeled for the use outlined via the search, results were marked “LND – Labeled but no UT data available.”

The initial launch of the Mobile Weed Manual website was very successful. The site was updated once annually (typically in January) and drew over 234,000 visitors from 191 different countries, as well as each of the 50 United States and over 268 municipalities across Tennessee. One hurdle that limited use was that Mobile Weed Manual was not available for download as a stand-alone mobile application on smartphones and tablets. Users were forced to save the web address to the home screen of their devices for it to function similar to a mobile application. Additionally, functionality was either compromised or negated in areas with limited or no internet access.

Mobile Weed Manual 2.0

In 2021, a decision was made to upgrade Mobile Weed Manual. This upgrade would have several primary objectives:

• Make this resource available for download as a standalone mobile application
• Improve the user-interface to facilitate faster searching
• Incorporate photos of both turfgrass and weeds to aid users
• Improve the data framework to facilitate in-season updates.

Thanks to a collaboration with digital specialists at mesur.io, a new and improved Mobile Weed Manual 2.0 launched in June 2021. This free resource is now available as a standalone mobile application for use on Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. The historical web address, mobileweedmanual.com, was also updated and takes users to the new and improved version of this resource.

Download for Apple Devices via the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mobile-weed-manual/id1572882654

Download for Android Devices via the Google Play Store:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.mesur.manual.prd&hl=en_US&gl=US

The new and improved Mobile Weed Manual 2.0 gained popularity quickly, drawing over 1,000+ users per month after initial launch. Users have taken advantage of a new user-interface that streamlines searches, as well as incorporation of both weed and turfgrass photos to guide individuals through the search process (Figure W). Coupling turfgrass and weed identification photos with herbicide recommendations was a logical next step in the advancement of the weed ID tool that was part of a historical version of tnturfgrassweeds.org.

An additional benefit of the new user-interface is that Mobile Weed Manual 2.0 can now recommend herbicide mixtures to control problematic weeds such as Poa annua (Figure X).

Additionally, the Mobile Weed Manual data frame was also updated to improve our ability to keep the resource current. Mobile Weed Manual 2.0 can now be updated multiple times during the season (rather than once annually) such that users will also have access to the most current label and efficacy information for over 114 different herbicides labeled for use in turf and ornamentals. With the ability to regularly update Mobile Weed Manual 2.0, users are encouraged to provide feedback on how to enhance the resource (Figure Y). This could include adding new weeds, new herbicides, or other functionality changes.

We encourage everyone to download Mobile Weed Manual 2.0 for the upcoming season and hope it’s a helpful tool in selecting herbicides for use in turfgrass and landscape ornamentals.

Authors would like to acknowledge Mike Prorock, Russell Hofvendahl, Chris Abernethy, and Tom Rump from mesur.io for their efforts in developing Mobile Weed Manual 2.0