Rutgers Cooperative Extension
If you are managing high value turf areas, like a golf course putting green, I hope you are watching the weather. By most accounts, we are in for some cold rain next week. High temperatures in the low 50s and a 90% chance of rain from Tuesday through Thursday are imminent. Crummy cycling weather, but perfect for pink snow mold!
Pink snow mold. Photo: Todd Clift, Country Club of Ithaca
The great blizzard of 2013, with all the snow and ice (and hype), has brought concerns about snow mold diseases in turfgrass. First thing first, I am glad I don’t live in Connecticut….40 inches! At any rate, snow cover provides an excellent environment for many fungi including some species of Pythium. In New Jersey we have the fungi Typhula incarnata, which causes the disease gray snow mold, and Microdochium nivale, which is the cause of pink snow mold (AKA: Fusarium patch).
Pink Snow Mold. Photo: Todd Clift, Country Club of Ithaca
