8/23/2022 - By Dr. Raymond Snyder

Recently, I was asked to provide a fungicide recommendation for a suspected disease outbreak on bermudagrass.  This was not an unusual request as the weather had been favorable for disease development.  Before making the recommendation based on only a few facts given to me, such as grass type and visual appearance, I, therefore, asked for more information.  The following were given to me:

1. Bermudagrass
2. Baseball field
3. Greater than 0.5” mowing height
4. No shade
5. Disease occurred overnight

Something seemed peculiar to me as the above turf and environment did not seem like a prime disease incidence location, regardless of how much rain and cloudy weather had occurred.  Furthermore, how likely is it that the disease incidence occurred overnight on such highly cut bermudagrass?

At this point I need a picture before making a chemical recommendation.  Well a picture is worth a thousand words, and sure enough the true cause of the “disease” became increasingly apparent (see picture below).  The outline of the “diseased” looked like it had very similar dimensions to that of the batter's box!  In this case, multiple days of rainfall forced the grounds crew to cover the entire batter’s box with a covering to protect it from erosion.  Following the rainfall, several days of sunshine and high temperatures occurred, perfect for a little batting practice!  The baseball players moved the protective cover from the batter’s box onto the turf.  So for several days, the turf’s leaf tissue was subjected to the scalding temps of the cover causing rapid disease-like symptoms which went unnoticed until the cover was placed back onto the batter’s box.

The uncovering of the batter’s box and placement onto the turf was never disclosed to the turf manager, who manages several fields in the city.  However, it was confirmed as the causal agent after I inquired about the covering possibly being the culprit.  Case closed!

In summary, turf disease diagnosis can be tricky.  Turf can be injured by both biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors.  When diagnosing disease, be sure to take all potential factors into consideration. Follow this link to the University of Georgia’s publication on turf disease diagnosis.  There you will find some great tips for identifying disease in turf.

For more information on turf diisease and help determining what might be hurting your turf, your local Harrell's Representative is here to help diagnose.

Editors Note: This post was originally published on July 2nd, 2013 and has been checked and rechecked by our team of Ph.D.s for content accuracy and relevancy.