Happenings Around the Northeast

As I mentioned in last weeks post, dollar spot is slowly starting to kick it into high gear. In addition to dollar spot, we have seen a fairly large increase in the amount of red thread around the region as well. As the grass has been actively growing for some time now, it is likely that any residual nitrogen in the plant and soil is being utilized to sustain this growth. Red thread and dollar spot are both diseases that thrive in low N situations.

Red Thread, originally uploaded by John E Kaminski.

A few weeks back, Dr. Inguagiato at UConn reported active brown ring patch in New England and things haven't changed much during this period. With the varying wet weather and the reversion every so often back to spring-time temperatures, BRP may last several more weeks. When you start to see those symptoms disappear you should begin to prepare yourself for the typical brown patch.

Although not disease related, I am fully aware that many golf course superintendents are dealing with increasing levels of damage from the Annual Bluegrass Weevil. While this pest typicall is found feeding on annual bluegrass, increasing reports have shown that the insect can and will feed on creeping bentgrass too. In 2001, we identified ABW causing damage to a creeping bentgrass fairway in Maryland. As of last year, entomologists have identified ABW as far south as the Carolinas and as far west as Ohio! Based on recent information at our Annual bluegrass Pest Meeting, it seems that the entomologists are making headway in understanding and controlling it. Two great resources for information on the ABW include Pat Vittum's updates at the UMass Extension site and Dupont's Weevil Trak site.