{"id":1103,"date":"2026-01-26T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T14:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/?p=1103"},"modified":"2026-01-26T09:00:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T14:00:01","slug":"turfgrass-disease-issues-during-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/2026\/01\/turfgrass-disease-issues-during-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Turfgrass Disease Issues During Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sooty Mold on Dormant Turfgrass<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We have recently received several turfgrass samples and inquiries regarding gray to dark, olive-green areas appearing on dormant or semi-dormant turfgrass. Under the microscope, we have found a large amount of several saprophytic (no disease-causing organisms) fungi and yeasts associated with the symptoms. These organisms colonize dead and senescing foliar tissues and remain external to plant tissues. Their spores and mycelium produce the characteristic black, sooty appearance. This condition is commonly referred to as\u00a0sooty mold.<\/strong> Development is favored by prolonged humidity, frequent rainfall, and low-lying areas of the lawn that retain moisture, as well as other environmental stress factors. While unsightly, these saprophytic organisms are harmless to the turfgrass. These areas usually don\u2019t require additional chemical and or cultural practices currently. If too unsightly, mowing off usually suffices. No slime mold was observed or associated with the symptoms in the samples examined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Microdochium patch in warm season greens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We have seen symptoms of Microdochium patch in our quasi-dormant experimental bermudagrass greens and unoccupied paspalum research plots. Infections start as small water-soaked spots of less than 2 inches, which rapidly change from orange, brown to light gray or tan. The outer perimeter of the patch may have a brown, dark margin.\u00a0 If the conditions are conducive for pathogen infection (cold, overcast, wet conditions) a thin fluffy mycelium can be observed on affected leaves. The disease occurs more frequently in late fall or early spring when the temperatures oscillate between 32-46\u00b0F (0-8\u00b0C) coinciding with high relative humidity and reduced sunlight. Microdochium<\/em> is more severe in turf with excessive thatch. The disease tends to subside when temperatures reach above 60\u00b0F (16\u00b0C), sunny days and the canopy dries. Prevention of Microdochium patch include avoiding heavy applications of nitrogen or with nitrogen forms that are readily soluble in water in late fall. Continue to mow into late fall to avoid excessive humidity on the foliage and avoid excessive thatch accumulation and prevent soil compaction. In early spring, promote rapid turf drying and warming by improving soil drainage, and eliminating sunlight barriers. Low soil pH and maintenance of a balanced soil fertility have been described as ways of controlling the disease.\u00a0 In Georgia, fungicides utilized against Microdochium<\/em> include products containing active ingredients azoxystrobin, fluoxastrobin, fluxapyroxad, iprodione, metconazole, propiconazole, pydiflumetofen, pyraclostrobin, methyl thiophanate, triadimefon, trifloxystrobin, triticonazole and \/or vinclozolin or premixed fungicide products of these active ingredients. For a complete and updated list of available fungicide products, refer to the latest edition of the Georgia Pest Management Handbook https:\/\/extension.uga.edu\/programs-services\/integrated-pest-management\/publications\/handbooks.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sooty Mold on Dormant Turfgrass We have recently received several turfgrass samples and inquiries regarding gray to dark, olive-green areas appearing on dormant or semi-dormant turfgrass. Under the microscope, we have found a large amount of several saprophytic (no disease-causing organisms) fungi and yeasts associated with the symptoms. These organisms colonize dead and senescing foliar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":499,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-turfgrass-disease"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/499"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1107,"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1103\/revisions\/1107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.caes.uga.edu\/entomologyresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}