Today is February 20, 2013 in Minneapolis, MN. We will be lucky to reach a high of 15* F here today at Target Field. Below are some pictures of our Dupont Xavan covers going on the field just before Thanksgiving. They are very light weight plant covers and are permeable. As the early winter forecast was dry, we chose to put two layers of blankets over the turf. Ideally, we would put one layer down and then get a nice layer of snow right away, but that was not the case this year. In the fall, we do not utilize our field heating system, letting the turf reach dormancy naturally. With that being the case, I like to have the blankets down by Thanksgiving, so we are putiing them on before it is too cold.
   Last fall was a good growing season for us here at the ballpark. Very little disease pressure and a good number of sunny days. In preparation for snow mold control, we spray CIVITAS twice in October, fifteen days apart, at a rate of 8 oz./1000. Our final snow mold application in 2012 was INSTRATA at the high rate, which was applied November 9th. We cease any application of granular nitrogen by October 15th. In late October we applied a 0-0-28 DG granualr at .7 lbs. K/1000.
   As far as spray applications, we decided to stay on our Primo Maxx application program through early November. The only difference was cutting back the rate of Primo from .25 to .15 oz./1000. We keep applying foliar nutrients into early November, utilizing Ultra Plex, Tuff Turf and Nutra Green from Grigg Brothers. This past fall we also finished with a couple more applications of Pana Sea Plus from Emerald Isle, which we combined with a new humic acid we are trying called Apex 10.
   So that is how we went into winter here at Target Field. Currently the field heating system is running at a set point range of 34-37* F. There is about 4" of snow on the field more or less. We will start moving snow off the turf in shade areas first, ideally early next week, and begin dialing up the heat from there. Opening Day is April 1st here vs. the Tigers. Larry