Not much going on in the Midwest. The weather has remained strange the past couple weeks. With day time highs in the mid 60's and lows ranging from the mid 30's to the mid 50's. Soil temperatures range from 58 F at 4 inches to 63 F at 2 inches in native soil areas. We are seeing a lot of leaf spot symptoms, but surprisingly enough we are not seeing a lot of spores in the samples. The samples have the characteristic reddish color with necrotic spots on the leaves, yet little to no sporulation on the leaf tissue. This has made diagnosis difficult because the plant and stand symptoms point directly at a leaf spot, but no signs of the pathogen. Each person that has submitted a sample has assured us that the area was not sprayed prior to submission.
However, if you do suspect leaf spot problems than an application of iprodione and chlorothalonil will do the trick, especially if the recent weather pattern continues. The forecast for this week if for warmer weather and more sunshine, which is usually the best medicine for leaf spots.
Turf managers that experienced winter kill are still trying to get areas to fill in. Because of the most recent weather pattern creeping bentgrass and annual bluegrass growth has been very slow. Going back to one of John's earlier posts, the weather drives almost everything in golf course management. The best quote I've heard this spring is from Pat Sisk "We need to be patient, we can put down everything we have but if the turf isn't growing than its not gonna work."
One response to “The Phantom Leaf Spot / When is it Going to Warm Up!”
We noticed some of the same looking "Leaf Spot" type patches on two of our bent/poa greens this spring it seems to be only affecting one biotype of bent. I think it is the grass reacting to the cool temps in combination with our growth regulators.
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