What is Red Thread Lawn Disease and How to Cure It?

Since ages, people tend to adopt various measures to avoid the varied range of diseases that can harm the lawns. Among the various known lawn diseases, the red thread lawn disease can sometimes prove out to be severest and thus results in killing the entire grass of the lawn area. Therefore it is recommended to learn in advance about its symptoms and cures. This would help you in tackling any future problems related to this disease.

Identifying the Disease

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Before learning about related aspects of the red thread disease, it is primarily important to know about its characteristics like shape, color, etc. This disease can be identified as a brown patch with reddish tinge placed at any part of the lawn. These patches at the affected area are commonly found in irregular shapes. Ironically, you can only completely identify the disease once it reaches its more advanced stages. When the pink fungus mycelium of the disease finally grows up to 1/16" to ¼" length of the leaves, you can surely mark it as affected by the red thread infection. This fungus then passes on to another nearby areas, and thus affects the whole plantation. It is also to be noted that the disease also gets transferred from the lawn mower since the mycelium can easily get loose and pass on to the related areas.

The red thread lawn disease is commonly caused by the laetisaria fuciformis / corticium fuciforme fungus. The temperature surroundings of the lawn also play a major role in disease occurrence. The lawn with temperature between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit have more probability of getting affected by the disease. The disease mostly occurs during the autumn and spring seasons. During summers, the fungus may survive up to 2 years.

The Cure

It is essential to learn about the curing tips of the disease otherwise it may transfer the fungus from the infected blade of grass to the whole of grass. This may further result in killing the lawn grass. In order to prevent the onset of the disease, the following measures are recommended-

· Since the lawn with lack of nitrogen is more susceptible to the disease therefore make sure to use a high quality fertilizer with adequate nitrogen percentage.
· A well drained lawn helps in avoiding the fungus of the disease.
· During autumn, always aerate the lawn through a hollow spike lawn aerator.
· Make sure to regularly remove the lawn thatches.
· However, if the disease have already attacked a grass blade, you can prevent the spread of red thread lawn disease by adopting the following measures-
· Mow and burn the grass clippings collected from the infected area.
· You can also use fungicides, especially during wet weather. It is recommended to use fungicides that contain carbendazim or benomyl.

Initially the red thread disease affects a blade of grass, which further gets spread to the rest of the lawn area. Make sure to follow the above mentioned curing measures well in advance to prevent your lawn from perishing.

What is Red Thread Lawn Disease and How to Cure It?

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