Finally some Rain for Sydney- October 2014

Regular readers our turf blog will know that I put out a post every year around this time for a disease alert for brown patch dollar spot and pythium. This year is a little late as it has been very dry and pressure has been low. However this is all about the change as I am writing this. The BOM has put out a forecast for this week of up to 100mm in some parts and its actually raining at our headquarters in Wetherill Park.

There are different types of brown patch that occur in turf. The main 2 species are solani and cerealis (yellow patch) strains of brown patch.There is some anecdotal evidence of other rhizoctonia diseases (which cause similar symptoms) present but these have not been DNA tested as far as I am aware.

Even on couch surfaces (tees and sportsfields) you will see some brown patch (solani strain though) as turf starts to come out of dormancy.

Solani can tend to occur all year round with the right conditions Yellow Patch has been a bit difficult to control once it is there. It tends to disappear with 28+ temps. This week temperatures are going to hover in the high teens and low 20’s.  If you have the disease there you may need to do 2 sprays 10-14 days apart depending on the conditions and products you use. For example Ippon (or 250GT) then follow up with Dacogreen or a registered product.. See pictures attached of the brown patch I was talking about (yellow patch). If you can do a preventative do it.

I have a few other posts coming to stay tuned. I will have a update on Monstar our newish surfactant Filmstar and another surprise if you use pigments at all..

As usual if you need to contact me please feel free to email me zreikat@campbellchemcials.com.au