DISEASE CONTROL - 
Spring Dead Spot

Spring dead spot is found in the transition zone of the United States on intensely managed bermudagrass including golf courses and athletic fields. The severity of the disease does not decline as the turf matures like take-all patch. It actually becomes more severe if left unmanaged attacking the roots, rhizomes and stolons of bermudagrass during the fall and winter months. While the fungus does not kill the plant directly, it does make it more susceptible to freezing injury making its damage more severe after extremely cold winters.

• Circular patches from 6 inches to several feet in diameter
• Patches remain dormant as the turf greens up in the spring
• Roots, stolons and rhizomes are dark and rotten in affected areas
• Patches reoccur in the same spot each year and increase in size up to several inches each season

The centers of spring dead spot patches can sometimes reestablish with bermudagrass or other weedy species which results in a ring like appearance. Recovery can occur naturally by the spread of bermudagrass from the outside, but this is a very slow process and can take the entire growing season to happen in severe cases.

Spring dead spot patches while unsightly, also greatly weaken the uniformity of the playing surface and are more susceptible to weed invasion. While this disease primarily affects bermudagrass, it can also occur in certain varieties of zoysiagrass like ‘Meyer’ and ‘El Toro.’