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Cultural and biological control of dollar spot diseases caused by Clarireedia spp of turf grass:

Turf grass

Turf grass has been used for centuries for recreational activities. Well-maintained turf grass also provides important environmental benefits including improved groundwater recharge and surface water quality, reduced soil erosion, dust abatement, increased soil carbon sequestration, and reduced noise.

dollar spot is the most common and widely distributed disease in all areas where turf is grown, including golf courses, home lawns, and athletic fields.

 

 Symptoms 

white to straw-colored lesions that progress across leaf blades and move downward from the leaf tip.

As the disease progresses, circular, sunken patches appear with varying diameters.

Symptoms of dollar spot vary depending on the turf grass species and management practices. Under close mowing conditions of fine-textured grasses (e.g., bent grass or bermudagrass), symptoms first appear as small, circular, straw-colored spots of blighted turf grass about the size of a silver dollar (Fig. 1A and B),

but when the mowing height is increased for coarser textured grasses (e.g., Kentucky bluegrass or ryegrass), the blighted spots are larger, irregularly shaped, straw-colored patches approximately 7 to 15 cm in diameter (Walsh et al. 1999).

On individual blades of grass, early symptoms include chlorosis and water-soaking areas, and as the disease advances, the infected leaf tissues take on a straw-colored appearance of variable shape and size (Fig. 1C) (Walsh et al. 1999).

Signs of infection with Clarireedia spp. may include white mycelium with a cobweb-like appearance (Fig. 1D) that may be seen early in the morning when dew is present.

 Cultural control

 The removal of leaf wetness early in the morning with dew whips, mowing, or lightweight rollers can help decrease the incidence of dollar spot.

Collection and removal of dead plant tissues containing fungal stroma may help reduce the incidence of dollar spot because the pathogen overwinters on dead plant tissue 

Additionally, maintaining adequate soil fertility, particularly nitrogen (N), and optimizing irrigation systems to maintain adequate soil moisture were found effective in reducing dollar spot severity in turfgrass swards.

Organic composts enriched with nonpathogenic soilborne fungus Trichoderma atroviride are beneficial in controlling turfgrass diseases including dollar spot.