Fungi, Fungi, Fungi

Mycelium in root zone 

The rain the past few weeks gave us a good look at just how susceptible our turf grass is when not protected. Conditions were perfect for a host of diseases and it seemed like we saw all of them. The first and most curious were spots that showed up on our bent grass, sand based, tees. They presented similarly to Dollar Spot but there was an absence of Mycelium around the edges. After investigating further I found mycelium in the root zone, no idea if it has direct correlation but it was really interesting to find.

The next best guess was pythium root disfunction, which makes a lot of sense after seeing the extensive layering and thatch and mat layers. To back up my theory there were black spots visible with a hand lens on the roots, rhizomes, and lower stems suggesting that they might be oospores. The fungal spots were maybe 2-4" in diameter and while they did not appear to grow in size they did seem to pop up in new areas.

April 26th

Another theory and possibly a better one was Pink Snow Mold. With day time temperatures in the mid 50's and constant moisture on the leaf tissue its probably a really good bet. Its just so hard to believe the weather we are having, the picture on the right was taken April 26th, it was 48 and raining. We had better weather in December this year than we have had in April and May so far. If this continues they may need to find a new name for the pathogen.

May 4th 

The picture to the left was taken a week after the picture above. You can see how the pathogen has spread over the tee box and even though the spots haven't enlarged they have become more numerous. That week was a little hairy for us because there wasn't a single day we could get the sprayer out. It was either raining or the wind was blowing too hard, and if we got any break at all there was always someone waiting to tee off. We monitored the tees closely to make sure we weren't taking to much damage until we got the sprayer on them. Once we could, we loaded them up with a combo that would ensure coverage regardless of what was cooking. It was nice to finally get around the course and make sure we were covered. I was really glad I did too cause as I rode around I caught sight of a few more pathogens. Once the fungicides were out we quickly started seeing regeneration on  the tee boxes.

Tourney, Banol, 26GT

I give a lot of credit to my boss, he has been in the industry longer than I have been alive and knows more about fungicides than I could dream of knowing. He was able to put our application together pretty much off the top of his head and with very little effort. I'm enjoying learning from him so far and being part of the operation.

Pythium? 

Brown Patch? 

We found some kind of ring active on our bent grass approaches. While I'm not entirely sure what it is it got sprayed and went away. I texted the picture to a few friend and the top answers were either pythium, or anthracnose. I might not ever know but it was still cool to look at.

The other clear as day ring that showed up was on our Perennial Ryegrass range tee. I'm pretty positive it was Brown Patch even though the weather wasn't perfect for it the smoke ring is almost too perfect.

Red Thread? Pink Snow Mold? 

Finally the Rough. While I'm not positive as I have never seen it in the field, the picture to the left I believe to be Red Thread. Which made me really excited since its pretty much a non damaging disease and is just fun to look at. Then again it could be Pink Snow Mold which would be a little more discouraging but not really terrible either. Regardless, Fescue seed costs less than Fungicides everyday of the week so were not to worried.

Grey Snow Mold? 

Of course this patch was close to the patch above. A little less pink/red looking and more... Grey. No idea for sure of course, could be anything but really did look like Grey Snow Mold. Regardless we'll monitor but there's no plan to remove it as of now.

 And finally, the picture below, clear as day read thread. I'm Happy.

Red Thread!

Until Next Time,

Peter Danaher
Peter.danaher88@gmail.com