How Long Does It Take To Go Away
Within a few weeks, you should notice the effects of red thread begin to lessen, i.e less visibility of red needles, and the patches should start to green up again. Of course, this is dependent on the type of fertiliser you choose and how fast it works. If you want the quickest solution make sure to invest in a quick release fertiliser.
What Causes Brown Patch Fungus
Brown patch fungus is most likely to thrive when the conditions are hot and humid. In order for the fungus to grow, the turf on your lawn needs to be wet for at least 10 to 12 hours straight. It can begin to develop when temperatures rise above 60°F, but it will spread rapidly when temperatures are between 70°F to 90°F.
The growth of brown patch fungus can be particularly severe in lawns that have been overfertilized with nitrogen, in addition to those that have inadequate levels of phosphorus and potassium. Other conditions that encourage the growth of brown patch fungus include having poor soil drainage, a lack of aeration, shaded areas of grass, cloudy weather, dew, excessive watering, and watering in the late afternoon all of these conditions increase the moisture in the lawn and thus provide brown patch fungus with favorable growing conditions.
How To Control And Treat Red Thread Lawn Disease
One of the more common late spring to early summer diseases on cool-season grasses is Red Thread lawn disease. It is most severe on Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass and Tall Fescue. There is another lawn disease that occurs at the same time and under the same environmental conditions known as Pink Patch.
The main difference between the two lawn diseases are the fruiting structures. Red Thread takes its name from the red thread-like structures called sclerotia that are produced by the fungus. Pink Patch produces tiny puffs of pink-cottony mycelium that resemble little bits of cotton candy stuck to the grass blades. Of the two diseases, Red Thread is the more common one seen in home lawns. Red Thread may develop when temperatures range from 40 to 75°F. Most grass activity occurs when temperatures range 65 to 75°F and during periods of cool, cloudy weather with long periods of evening dew.
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Fixing Lawn Care Disease: Red Thread
As we move through June, we all are getting outside to enjoy our lawn and landscaping for those Father’s Day picnics and graduation parties. For the most part, area lawns are coming along nicely and have rebounded from the cold start to the season. However, Cleveland and Columbus residents are now noticing patches of tannish-red areas in their lawns. In today’s blog, we’ll take a look at the lawn disease Red Thread, explaining what causes this fungus, how you can spot it, and what you can do to treat it.
What is Red Thread and What Causes It?
During June, we often see the return of warm days followed by cool evenings in both Cleveland and Columbus that can cause the right conditions for red thread to invade your lawn. The warm days and the cool nights with moisture can cause favorable conditions for fungi to grow throughout your lawn. Red thread often appears in lawns that are affected by drought stress, making it vulnerable to disease.
How Can I Spot Red Thread?
Red thread fungus appears as circular patches, from a few inches to 2 feet in diameter in your lawn. From a distance, these patches may have a tannish-red appearance due to the red color of the fungus growing. When inspecting the grass blades up close, affected areas will be “bleached” or yellow.
What Can It Do to My Lawn?
How Can I Get Rid of Red Thread?
Red Thread Often Indicates a Deeper Issue
Red Thread Disease In Lawns What Is It And How To Treat It
Red thread disease is a common complaint in lawns and it canbe very unsightly. Heres the turfonline guide to red thread disease
- Small brown patches in the lawn that steadilyget bigger
- Tiny pinkish red threads attached to affectedblades of grass
- Typically occurs in warm wet weather
- Can affect any lawn but worse on underfedlawns
- Treat by applying lawn feed
- Avoid a recurrence with careful lawn management
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How To Avoid Red Thread Disease
The best way to avoid red thread disease is to createconditions that the fungus doesnt like.
Of course you cant control the temperature, but you canmake sure that your grass drains as well as possible.
Trim trees and bushes to make sure there is plenty ofventilation to help evaporate surface moisture. Scarify and aerate your lawn at least once a year to improve drainage.Scarifying also removes the thatch layer which often harbours fungal spores.
Remember to feed your lawn regularly all year round. Use thecorrect formulation for the season and be sure to follow the manufacturersinstructions carefully.
What Is Red Thread And Pink Patch
Like I said at the beginning, Red Thread is the most common lawn disease in the UK.
It can appear at any time of the year but is most visible in summer. It will often appear in conjunction with another disease called Pink Patch.
Its a fungal disease caused by a fungus called Laetisaria fuciformis. This fungus is present in nearly all lawns, nearly all of the time.
Chances are that your lawn has even had a Red Thread infection in the past and youve never even noticed it. But when conditions are right, youll notice blotchy, pinky patches of dead grass as it kills the grass leaves .
Although it can infect any and all lawns, it particularly likes lawns that contain fescues, particularly Red Fescue, as well as bents, perennial rye-grass, and annual meadow grass.
The good news is that Red Thread doesnt cause significant damage like other fungal diseases so it can be fixed fairly easily.
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How To Treat Red Thread Disease
Most outbreaks of the disease will be corrected simply byfeeding the lawn. Well fed roots and grass can outgrow the damage done by the disease.That means that the unsightly spots soon disappear.
In severe or stubborn cases, the team at Turfonlinerecommend contacting a local lawn care professional. Trained professionalsusually have access to chemical fungicides which can be used to treat thedisease. However, specialist fungicides can be quite costly, so you may preferto let nature take its course. Most lawns recover in time they just look abit odd for a while.
Treating Large Affected Areas
In order to treat larger patches affected by brown patch fungus, you can apply a fungicide to your lawn. Look for products labeled for controlling brown patch disease, or a fungicide containing one of the following ingredients: azoxystrobin, azoxystrobin with propiconazole, pyraclostrobin with triticonazole, fluoxastrobin, propiconazole, triadimefon, or myclobutanil. Timings may vary, but in general, azoxystrobin and pyraclostrobin fungicides will control brown patch fungus for about 28 days, while the other fungicides listed will control the disease for 14 days. Follow the instructions for the method of application found on the label of your chosen fungicide. We recommend using the Scotts DiseaseEx Lawn Fungicide, as it starts to work within 24 hours to both prevent and control the spread of a number of lawn diseases, including Brown Patch Disease.
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How To Repair Patches On Lawn Damaged By Brown Patch Fungus
After carrying out any necessary brown patch control measures, you can repair the areas of damaged grass by overseeding the lawn. Choosing the best grass seed thats hardy to lawn disease at this stage will significantly help to reduce the chance of brown patch disease returning in the future. Following the guidance outlined in this article, as well as carefully following a proper watering and fertilization schedule will help the grass to recover and grow back even stronger than before.
How Can My Lawn Be Treated Once It Has Red Thread
The only products that are available in the professional turf industry are chemical fungicides. However, most of these fungicides tend to act only as a preventative, rather than a cure.
Lawn Master have our own 2 part treatment to cure Red Thread, which is a result of years of testing various products and methods at championship golf courses and football pitches, to see which work most effectively.
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Should I Increase Nitrogen Levels To Cure Red Thread
Its common conception that lack of nutrition or nitrogen are the main causes of Red Thread. This is not entirely true.
Although higher nitrogen levels can be used to burn out the Red Thread and disguise it, this does not cure it. Red Thread can still easily appear on well fertilised lawns.
If your lawn care company is repeatedly applying higher levels of nitrogen fertiliser to your lawn, Red Thread will typically be more difficult to remove. With correct greenkeeping skills and practices, your lawn shouldnt require high levels of nitrogen fertiliser at each visit.
Does Red Thread Kill Grass
While affected areas of grass appear to be dead, red thread doesn’t kill the grass. The fungus that infects the turf lives in the thatch and soil and can be spread by dead infected plant material and by mowing and other mechanical maintenance. The pink growths that appear in the grass do not infect the crown or the roots of the plant, so the grass is not killed by the fungus.
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How Do I Get Rid Of Red Thread Disease
Almost any lawn is susceptible to this turf fungus. However, it isnt uncommon for some lawns to have more issues than neighboring properties. Property owners often wonder what can be done to get rid of Red Thread on lawns when it shows up. The remedy is to disrupt the disease triangle so that this fungus stops growing. The disease triangle is used to illustrate how fungi grows on plants, in this particular case, your lawn. The susceptible host are grass plants that are lacking in nitrogen and have started to not grow as aggressively as they have in the months prior. The pathogen is present in the thatch layer of a lawn and impossible to completely remove. When the plant is weak, and the temperature and relative humidity is favorable, Red Thread will begin and continue to grow.
Will Red Thread Go Away
If your lawn is suffering from red thread, dont despair as your lawn will recover from this even without applying fertilizers or fungicides.
Red thread will not kill the grass roots which means that the roots will produce new green growth. The brown and pink grass will eventually rot down or be removed by a lawnmower.
Its likely that turf with a small outbreak of red thread will recover within a few weeks. Larger outbreaks probably wont recover for a few months or until the beginning of the next growing season.
Laetisaria fuciformis will always be present in the majority of lawns so the best course of action is to prevent it from infecting your grass by removing the conditions that allow it to take hold.
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Always Follow Lawn Care Best Practices
Red thread, like almost all lawn infections, preys on lawns that are not in good health. This means following year-round lawn care best practices is the best holistic method of protecting your lawn from a range of possible issues.
To this end, you should know when to fertilise your lawn, when to aerate, when to scarify and when to mow.
Weve already mentioned using sharp mower blades, and you should also stick to the one-third rule that tells you never to remove more than one-third of the height of your grass each time you cut it.
If you remove more than a third of your lawns height, you will be placing it under too much stress and, again, you will be inviting red thread and other similar diseases to establish themselves in your grass.
Catching The Disease Early
The best way to stop the spread of brown patch fungus in your lawn is to follow the guidance in the previous section, as removing the conditions needed by the fungus to grow will force it back into dormancy. If youve just noticed that the fungus has started to grow, you can fight it back by raking and fluffing the grass in the affected area to speed up the drying process. Then, you should apply an organic fertilizer to provide the grass with a healthy dose of nutrients to fight off disease. This Garden Care Organic Fertilizer from Milorganite can be used on your lawn all year round to keep your grass and plants strong and resistant.
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What Causes Red Thread And Pink Patch To Develop
Red Thread and Pink Patch can develop at any time of year but is most common during wet and humid summers. That said, if conditions are mild, itll last well into the autumn.
Early and late summer mornings with heavy dew provide excellent conditions for the growth and spread of Red Thread and Pink Patch. That said, the drying effect of the summer sun can sometimes mislead people into thinking that the lawn is suffering from drought conditions. So make sure you diagnose the problem correctly before treating it.
Red Thread also prefers lawns that grow slowly due to a lack of nitrogen.
Red Thread Lawn: How Do You Prevent It
Many diseases can affect lawns, but one of the most common in the UK is red thread. This fungal infection can leave unsightly patches of discoloured grass, and when it strikes, you will want to take care of it as quickly as possible.
To help, heres our guide to red thread lawn to explain what the disease is, how to identify it and what to do when it appears, allowing you to nurse your lawn back to health and prevent red thread from returning in the future.
If you want a preview of some of the stuff were going to be talking about as well as some extra tips and hints about dealing with it you can check out this video before reading on.
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How To Get Rid Of Pink Fungus And Red Thread
Healthy vigorous grass is able to withstand minor disease and insect infestations. Before you ever lay sod, make sure the pH is between 6.5 and 7.0.
Water infrequently and deeply in the morning so grass blades have time to dry quickly. Let in plenty of light to your lawn area by keeping trees and plants pruned back. Aerate and thatch to improve air circulation and water movement.
Fertilize in spring with the proper amount of nitrogen, as both pink patch on grass and red thread thrive in nitrogen poor soils.
Controlling pink fungus in lawns and other turf diseases starts with these types of good cultivation practices. Fungicides are rarely necessary except in extreme cases and are not 100% effective in all infections.
How Can You Help To Keep Your Lawn Healthy
- Dont mow too low a scalped lawn is more susceptible to disease
- Mow little and often dont let the grass grow long and then cut it really short. Its too stressful for the plants
- Regular feeding
- Move lawn ornaments and toys every other day so that all the grass gets all the sunshine it possibly can
- Clear up autumn leaves as soon as they fall
- Scarify and aerate at least once a year to remove food for bad microbes and maintain the optimum soil structure for good soil microbes.
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Treatment For Red Thread Lawn Disease
While this fungus will not kill the lawn, it can be frustrating for homeowners to deal with this eye sore for weeks while it grows out. If red thread lawn disease is severe, a fungicide treatment can be applied to the lawn. Post application, the disease will not be able to actively spread for three to four weeks. This allows the lawn time to grow out the infected grass blades more quickly than the disease can spread, and the fungus is gradually cut away with regular mowing.
What Is Red Thread And What Can I Do About It
The first thing you should know about red thread is that it has never killed a lawn, so whilst it is unsightly and quite frankly, annoying, it wont kill off your lawn.
In most cases, red thread isnt the fault of the lawn owner, so were not about to reprimand you – but it can be prevented by regularly feeding your lawn. More on that later, but first lets find out what this dreaded red thread is and what causes it.
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Here Are Our Top Tips On Caring For Your Lawn To Help It Resist Red Thread:
- Check on the condition of your soil. Grass struggling to grow on poor soil will have a weak root structure resulting in stressed grass which is more vulnerable to attack. If your soil structure is very poor then consider replacing it.
- Blunt Mower A blunt or badly adjusted mower will bruise your grass, remove chlorophyll from the leaf and leave it prone to attack.
- Compaction Regularly aerate your lawn to relieve compaction and to create an environment where natural bacteria in the soil can be beneficial and your lawn is not stressed.
- Thatch control Some thatch will help to prevent red thread, but too much thatch will cause problems and scarifying will be necessary.
- Correct Nutrient A careful balance of nutrient will keep your lawn healthy and less susceptible to red thread. Too much nutrient will cause the cells in the grass plant to become weak and invite Red Thread and not enough will leave the grass hungry.
- Poor Drainage Water logged soil will invite disease.
- Harden the grass Iron treatments during the autumn, winter and spring not only control moss but will harden the grass and make it less susceptible to Red Thread.
