Snow Mold

This week we made a winter fungicide application to greens, tees and fairways to protect the turf from snow mold.  The chemicals used specifically target the disease and are formulated to last up to four months given moderate weather variations.  The ideal application period is when the turf has stopped producing new leaf tissue and the ground is not frozen.  Frozen ground limits the plant's ability to absorb the fungicide which results in reduced disease control.  The weather forecast also moved our timeline up due to the sub-freezing temps and snow/rain events expected over the next 10 days.  In total, we sprayed 53 acres of turf with a chemical cost of $15,000.

There are two types of snow mold that negatively affect turfgrass, pink and gray.  Gray snow mold is associated with long periods of snow cover and pink snow mold can occur with or without snow.  Gray snow mold is much more destructive and can kill large areas of turf, while pink snow mold typically attacks leaf tissue and does not harm the growing point (crown) of the plant.  In southwestern PA we use a fungicide that targets both pink and gray snow mold since we don't know what the weather will be like during the winter.

Pink snow mold infection on a fairway.  Notice the pinkish hue around
the outside of the infected patches.