Root Decline of Warm Season Turfgrasses

From Turf Wiki

• Pathogen: Gaeumannomyces graminis (Sacc.) Arx & D. Oliver var. graminis

• Common Names: Root Decline of Warm-Season Turfgrasses, Bermudagrass Decline, Root Decline

• Climatic Zone: Temperate, Subtropical, and Tropical

• Geographic Distribution: North America, Europe, East Asia, Australia, Africa, South America

• Favorable Conditions: Low light, warm-hot temperatures, extended periods of rainfall

• Hosts:Creeping Bentgrass, colonial bentgrass, velvet bentgrass, Perennial Ryegrass, Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua), bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon), Tall Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass, St. Augustinegrass, zoysiagrass, fine fescues

• Symptoms: Irregularly shaped chlorotic patches up to 3' (1 m) in diameter, the lower leaves become chlorotic first, stolons and rhizomes turn off white to dark brown with possible black lesions, shortened root length that may also turn black and rot