Help with Fungus please

[Keegan]

I went and looked at one of my customers today. Last year was the first year I started there. Last year was the first year she went organic after using CHemlawn or whoever for years.
I got an e mail from her this morning that the whole lawn looks dead.
I went there and all of the tips are brown, with either tiny black spots or purplish color.
We did have a rough winter this year with snow being on the ground for a good part of the winter.
When I left there in Ocotober the lawn looked fine.
Snow mold? THere is a lot of it around me but it wasn't matted down.
Could it be rust?


THanks!!

[ICT Bill]

I went and looked at one of my customers today. Last year was the first year I started there. Last year was the first year she went organic after using CHemlawn or whoever for years.
I got an e mail from her this morning that the whole lawn looks dead.
I went there and all of the tips are brown, with either tiny black spots or purplish color.
We did have a rough winter this year with snow being on the ground for a good part of the winter.
When I left there in Ocotober the lawn looked fine.
Snow mold? THere is a lot of it around me but it wasn't matted down.
Could it be rust?


THanks!!

I think its too early for rust, it needs more heat
Take a sample and run it to your local extention agent, they have seen everything
Its tough to say over the interent it could be anything
Probably different colonies of different stuff, things that like to be under the snow for a long time, it is actually a very active time in the soil under the snow. I heard a talk from an alaskan guy about how much was going on down there, unbelievable how th snow keeps and even environment for things to grow
Brew up a batch and hit hard it will come around

[TMGL&L]

post pics to make it easier for people to see symptoms and signs of disease.

[JDUtah]

slime mold?

[Kiril]

slime mold?

Purple black spot dead tip disease. ;)

[dishboy]

Red Thread?

[Smallaxe]

A lot of lawns here look like all kinds of things until it breaks dormancy and starts growing again.

One problem with undigestted meal on the lawn and under the snow is that - things can rot under the snow. That rotting material could be making the surrounding living material less than ideal.

What was she putting down last fall?

[NattyLawn]

I agree with Smallaxe on this one. Wait for it to break dormancy and all should be fine. You won't be seeing rust or red thread yet. Tall fescue tips sometimes brown at the end of the year and it it does tend to get grey leaf spot? What type of turf is it? If the tips are brown, who mows the lawn? Did the last mowing happen with dull blades allowing disease to enter? A lot of possibilities here....

[dishboy]

I agree with Smallaxe on this one. Wait for it to break dormancy and all should be fine. You won't be seeing rust or red thread yet. Tall fescue tips sometimes brown at the end of the year and it it does tend to get grey leaf spot? What type of turf is it? If the tips are brown, who mows the lawn? Did the last mowing happen with dull blades allowing disease to enter? A lot of possibilities here....

Red thread over winters and likes cool moist conditions particularly slow growing turf. With soil temps still in the forties so Not much N available I have seen red thread on a couple of lawns in fine fescue.

[Keegan]

It's not red thread. I think she has an old neighbor cut her lawn. I don't think he cuts it on a regular schedule because sometime there is a ton of clippings left on and others not much at all.
I will try to get some pics up

[NattyLawn]

Red thread over winters and likes cool moist conditions particularly slow growing turf. With soil temps still in the forties so Not much N available I have seen red thread on a couple of lawns in fine fescue.

I'm sure red thread overwinters, but are cultural conditions right for the disease to thrive? We don't have the temps here for the disease to thrive, and I'm pretty sure CT doesn't yet either...

I think this is from aggieturf.org

Shoot attacking fungus; most severe during periods of slow shoot growth; typically occurs in spring and fall; Pathogen overwinters as mycelial fragments on living and dead plants; disease is spread by mycelia from infection centers during moist cool weather (60 to 75 degrees); confined to leaves and leaf sheaths; spread by water or machinery moving over infected turf; red threads are easily broken off the leaf and carried by the wind to spread the disease-next year it will likely be in another location

FACTORS THAT MAY PROMOTE DISEASE DEVELOPMENT:

Spring and fall disease; temperatures 60 to 75 degrees; high humidity; low nitrogen levels; heavy dews

[Keegan]

Here are some pics I finally got uploaded. 75% of the lawn looks like this. Not every single blade is infected.

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[Smallaxe]

Here, There are entire sections of lawns that look that way right now. I do cleanup with a blower instead of a rake and one advantage is to get air through the crown of the grass plant.
Good air circulation when the grass starts growing is beneficial to healthy growth and not to disease organisms.
How can you tell the difference between fungal infection and winterkill?

[Kiril]

How can you tell the difference between fungal infection and winterkill?

I agree. Not seeing anything there that indicates fungus .... salt burn & freeze damage are possibilities.

[Keegan]

THe reason I thought it might be a fungus were the reddish brown marks which are hard to see.
It makes sense about it being winter kill. We had a tough winter here.