SNOW MOLDS HIT HARD

COMPASS WDG PDF MANUFACTURE LABEL click here

Summary of disease management strategies.
Diseases and pathogens	Environmental management and resistant species/cultivars
Anthracnose (Colletotrichum graminicola)	Provide adequate fertility (especially nitrogen), avoid excess irrigation, improve drainage, aerate to relieve compaction, and improve air circulation. Annual bluegrass and creeping bentgrass particularly susceptible. No resistant cultivars known.
Brown patch (Rhizoctonia solani)	Avoid excess nitrogen and irrigation in summer. Creeping bentgrass, perennial ryegrass, and tall fescue are the most susceptible. Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescues are the most resistant species. Resistant perennial ryegrass cultivars: Prizm, Affinity, APM, Morning Star, Bright Star, Prelude II, Assure, Wind Star, Riviera II, Mulligan, and Seville.
Damping-off (species of Fusarium, Pythium, and Rhizoctonia)	Avoid excessive seeding rates and excess nitrogen. Do not seed in summer unless absolutely necessary. Avoid overabundance of mulch. No resistant species/cultivars known.
Dollar spot (Sclerotinia homoeocarpa)	Avoid nitrogen deficiency, drought stress, and night watering. Remove dew in early morning. Creeping bentgrass, annual bluegrass and Kentucky bluegrass particularly susceptible. Tall fescue is quite resistant. Resistant creeping bentgrass cultivars: Penn A-1, Penn G-2, L-93, Cato, and Providence. Resistant Kentucky bluegrass cultivars: Preakness, Princeton 104, NuStar, Unique, Banff, A-34, and Eagleton.
Fairy rings (basidiomycete fungi)	Mask symptoms by fertilizing with nitrogen and/or iron. Thoroughly water rings to avoid drought. Core aeration and application of wetting agents may help wetting of affected soils. No resistant species/cultivars available.
Gray snow mold (Typhula incarnata)	Avoid piling snow in sensitive turfed areas. Remove tree leaves from turf before snow cover. Rake disease damaged areas in spring to break up matted grass. Creeping bentgrass, perennial ryegrass and tall fescue are very susceptible. In problem lawns substitute Kentucky bluegrass or fine fescues for perennial ryegrass or tall fescue.
Leaf spot/melting out (Bipolaris, Drechlera, and Exserohilum spp.)	Avoid excess use of nitrogen in early spring. Avoid using common types of Kentucky bluegrass. Resistant Kentucky bluegrass cultivars: Ascot, Princeton 104, Eclipse, Unique, Alpine, SR 2000, Bartita, Apex, Touchdown, Liberty, and Barblue.
Necrotic ring spot (Leptosphaeria korrae)	Use cultural practices that reduce turf stress, such as irrigation when turf undergoes drought stress and raising mowing heights to 2 inches or more. Overseed affected areas with perennial ryegrass. Tall fescue is also resistant to necrotic ring spot.
Pink snow mold/Fusarium patch (Microdochium nivale)	Avoid piling snow in sensitive turfed areas. Continue mowing turf in fall until growth ceases. Do not apply excessive amounts of nitrogen in mid-fall. Creeping bentgrass and perennial ryegrass are more susceptible than Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescues.
Powdery mildew (Erysiphe graminis)	Do not grow Kentucky bluegrass in shaded areas. Prune trees to allow more light to reach turf. Use fine fescues or shade-tolerant ground covers in shaded areas.
Pythium blight (Pythium aphanidermatum)	Avoid excessive nitrogen and irrigation in hot, humid weather. Improve drainage and air circulation in areas where Pythium blight is a problem. Perennial ryegrass and creeping bentgrass are particularly susceptible to Pythium blight. Kentucky bluegrass is less susceptible to this disease.
Red thread/Pink patch (Laetisaria/(Limonomyces fuciformis)/roseipellis)	Avoid nitrogen deficiencies, especially on perennial ryegrass and fine fescues. Although Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue are susceptible to these diseases, the resulting disease damage is usually not as severe as with perennial rygrass and the fine fescues. Resistant perennial ryegrass cultivars: Regal, Legacy, Sherwood, Derby Supreme, Loretta, Gettysburg, Assure, and Pinnacle.
Rust (Puccinia spp.)	Avoid nitrogen deficiencies and moisture stress in late summer/early fall. Applications of nitrogen fertilizer and irrigation at the first sign of infection will help reduce disease severity. Perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass are very susceptible. The fine fescues and tall fescue are quite resistant to most foliar rust diseases.
Slime molds (Mucilago, Physarum, Fuligo spp.)	Remove spores by mowing, brushing, raking, or irrigating the turf.
Summer patch (Magnaporthe poae)	Employ cultural practices that promote root growth. Increase aeration and improve drainage on compacted and poorly-drained soils. Raise mowing heights of Kentucky bluegrass in summer if mowed below 2 inches in height. Kentucky bluegrass, annual bluegrass, and fine fescues are susceptible. Perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, and creeping bentgrass are resistant.
Take-all patch (Gaeumannomyces graminis)	Only a problem on bentgrasses. Use acidifying fertilizers or sulfur to lower thatch and soil pH. Avoid applications of lime where take-all patch is a problem. No resistant cultivars are known.
Yellow patch (Rhizoctonia cerealis)	Improve surface drainage and avoid excessive applications of nitrogen.
Nematodes	Employ cultural practices that promote root growth. Increase aeration and improve drainage on compacted and poorly-drained soils.

 

Clues to MOST common lawn diseases: 1) Dollar spot - 4-6" spots/patches, straw-colored leaf blades, individual leaf blades will have a lesion across the entire leaf, often with brownish red borders, low N turf, warm to hot weather, white cottony mycelium in morning or after a night in the plastic bag. 2) Pythium blight - mostly on ryegrass lawns, greasy, collapsed leaf blades, easily streaked by mowers, very hot and humid weather, high N turf, greasy leaf blades, white cottony mycelium. 3) Brown patch - most common on ryegrass lawns, usually large patches, individual leaf blades have irregular "bruised" looking spots, warm to hot and humid, high N turf, grayish white mycelium at leading edge of patch.   CRABGRASS BROADLEAF WEEDS SURFACE INSECTS GRUB CONTROL DISEASE CONTROL PSLR ORGANICS INOCULANTS APPLICATION GUIDES SOIL TEMPS TERMITES SPECIALTY FERTILIZER QUICK PICK SPRAYER SITE MAP CONTACT US WEATHER MAIN CONTROLS TOP OF PAGE