Pink Snow Mold Flashcards
Pink Snow Mold
Cause:
Microdochium nivale
Pink Snow Mold
Host:
– Agrostis spp.
– Festuca spp.
– Lolium spp.
– Poa spp.
Pink Snow Mold
**Symptoms: **
- Small Bronze Rings form and turn into 5 inch tan colored dead patches of matted turf with bronze borders, that Coalesce.
Pink Snow Mold
Signs:
- Forms pink mycelium on outside of patches
- High amouts of sporodochia and lunate conidia.
- Mycelium “bleeds” from the patches
Pink Snow Mold
Predisposing Conditions / Epidemiology:
- 35–65 degree temperatures –optimal 45 degrees
- Extended leaf wetness – (heavy dew, light rain, overcast skies, fog) for 48 to- 72 hours
- Snow Cover or heavy mulch
- Thatch accumulation
- Excess nitrogen and potassium before winter dormancy - ( this creates a soft succulent grass)
- **High pH **
- Short Cut grasses (greens, tees, fairways)
Do you need snow cover for Microdochium nivale?
No. Only Gray Snow Mold requires snow
Pink Snow Mold
Disease Cycle:
Small, coin sized spots that grow no larger than 5” in diameter form with a bronze colored ring. The spots fill in and the grass dies. Active Microdochium nivale forms pink mycelium on the outside of the patches. When the conditions are right, it starts producing mass amounts of sporodochia with lunate conidia. It continues to spread rapidly until conditions change either naturally or chemically.
Pink Snow Mold
Management Tactics:
- Maintain a balanced fertility program – soil test and adjust levels of nutrients as necessary
- Maintain adequate N inputs in season
- (3 to- 5 lb. per 1000)
- avoid excessive N and K going into dormancy
- Choose acidifying fertilizers (drives the PH down)
- Prevent or remove snow
What’s the most effective fungicide for
Michrodochium Nivale?
quintozene (=PCNB)
Trade name:
Pink Snow Mold
Chemical Control:
- quintozene (=PCNB) is best chemical to use
