Take-All Patch and what has worked

for me

By Bill Hirchert—Highland Park Golf Course

 Take-All patch (Gaeumannomyces graminis) is something superintendent’s fear even mentioning the name of, let alone getting on their greens.  Although it has been documented as early as the 1960’s in the U.S. some pathologists still question whether it has really been identified in the southeast.  There has been some studies that say newly constructed greens and soils with a pH > 7 are most likely to be infected.  These theories remain true with me since my greens are only 3 1/2 years old and the pH of my greens is approximately 7.1. Highlands greens were diagnosed with Take-All patch the previous two years.  The following is my story on what we have seen and what has worked for us.

       On July 4th, 2000 I first noticed a few circular patterns on my third green.  They had an orange-bronze edge to them and were about the size of a five gallon bucket.  At first I thought maybe my cup changer had something on the bottom of the bucket since the circular areas were about the same size.  After seeing the spots on four greens by the end of the day I knew otherwise.  We sent several samples to turf diagnostics and it was reported that we had take-all patch. 

       It was recommended that we spray Thiophanate-methyl at a 6-oz./1000ft2 rate and follow up with Heritage at a  .4-oz. /1000ft2.  That is exactly what we did.  On July 5th we sprayed with thiophanat-methyl.  We were told it that it takes three to five days for the chemical to get into the plant and stop the development of new spots.  By the time we sprayed the Heritage on the July 8 there were patches on all but two greens.  On the 9th of July there were no more spots developing, but we weren’t out of the woods yet.  We continued on a 14 day schedule with both products at high rates due to recommendations and after seeing new patches the 18th day after the primary applications were made.  Although some of the patches were unsightly we never lost any turf and ball roll was not affected.

       In 2001 we used a slightly different approach .  After several different recommendations we decided to spray preventatively in April with Heritage at a .4 oz/1000ft2 rate and follow up 28 days later with thiophanate-methyl at a 7 oz./1000ft2.  These are not inexpensive applications, but we felt it was necessary.  Once again on the fourth of July week we saw our first patches.  (Why does that always seem to be the case?)  This time we knew what to expect.  We went on our rotation of Heritage and thiophanate-methyl through the month of August.  This time we only had a few spots on four greens compared to several dozen on seventeen greens the year before.  Also, we sprayed manganese at 1 oz. / 1000ft2 weekly and switched our nitrogen throughout the rest of the summer to ammonium sulfate.  Within three to four weeks you could hardly see the spots even if you knew where they were. They were gone entirely by September.

       This year we are going to spray preventatively again when the temperature is right in April, and we will use primarily ammonium sulfate as our nitrogen source throughout the whole summer.  I hope this information is beneficial to readers.  If you have any questions, please call me.