SCG: Pest Mgt - turf disease

Agrisystems | Economic & Community | Environment | Food Safety | Youth

IMPROVED DISEASE MANAGEMENT FOR PUTTING GREENS IN THE SOUTHEAST

ACCESSION NO: 0189292 SUBFILE: CRIS
PROJ NO: SC-1700168 AGENCY: CSREES SC.
PROJ TYPE: HATCH PROJ STATUS: NEW
START: 01 JUL 2001 TERM: 30 JUN 2004

INVESTIGATOR: Martin, S. B.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
PLANT PATHOLOGY & PHYSIOLOGY
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
CLEMSON, SOUTH CAROLINA 29634

OBJECTIVES:
1) Develop best practices for fungicide use for disease control in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera Huds.) putting greens appropriate for the southeastern United States.

2) Determine the influence of diseases on the health of cool-season grass overseedings in commercial turfgrass systems.

3) Determine the influence of diseases and disease control strategies on fall establishment of cool- season turfgrass overseeded into bermudagrass and on spring transition and health of bermudagrass after transition.

APPROACH:
The use of biological and chemical controls as components of the overall management of bentgrass putting greens is important. Target diseases include brown patch, Rhizoctonia leaf and sheath spot, dollar spot, Pythium blight, anthracnose, yellow patch, and fairy ring infestations. Other diseases of importance, such as bentgrass dead spot (Ophiosphaerella agrostis) may also be utilized in fungicide and biological control experiments. Nontarget effects, including acute phytotoxicity, growth regulation, and disease resurgence will also be evaluated. Another approach involves evaluation of sequential treatments of fungicides or biological materials, compared to curative approaches. Specific chemical or biological fungicides will be applied in precise sequence as environmental conditions change throughout a potential epidemic. Programs will be evaluated as treatments and disease severity and turfgrass quality will be assessed through time. Disease severity measurements will be used to construct disease progress curves.

Objective 2: Identify specific pathogens that impact the health of overseedings on bermudagrass putting greens. Potentially, dollar spot, brown patch, Rhizoctonia leaf and sheath spot, Pythium blight and seedling damping-off, leaf spots, fairy ring, Fusarium patch, spring dead spot and other disease impact the health of overseedings under various environmental conditions. Standard mycological techniques will be utilized to identify potential pathogens to species.

Objective 3: The health of overseeded grasses in the late spring may influence the transition to a healthy bermudagrass base. Experiments to evaluate the influence of seeding date, overseeded grass species, rate of seeding, and related factors in conjunction with the natural occurrence or induction of specific diseases will be conducted. Disease control strategies and their influence on control of disease in the overseeded grass as well as their influence on health of bermudagrass during and after transition will be determined. Cultivars for overseeding will be limited, with more emphasis given to disease control materials evaluated. Shoot counts of overseeded grasses will be assessed within each plot during the germination and establishment period. To determine transition effects, shoot counts of the overseeded grasses as well as bermudagrass will be conducted on cores harvested from each plot.

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Diseases of bentgrass and overseeded bermudagrass limit their successful culture in the southeast. The purpose of this project is to optimize disease management for bentgrass and overseeded bermudagrass putting greens.