Nothing can beat a few mild nights and a warm rain to remedy impatient golfers and superintendents alike. The warmer conditions spell the end of cool season diseases, speed surface recovery, and promote more consistent fertilizer response and growth rates. Mother Nature is finally making hay and let her proceed without interruption. All the clever little tricks we try to accelerate the process help, but there is nothing like the real thing.

The cooler, dry spring weather has not been all bad. In fact, the root development I have observed has been vigorous, and reports from around the New England generally support those observations. A poor root system now is cause for concern and reason to reevaluate your cultural practices and growing systems. It is important not to overlook potential disease pathogens or parasitic nematodes as causes for the weak root system. Although rare, root dysfunction diseases and parasitic nematodes are active and can be devastating. Symptoms of root dysfunction diseases and parasitic nematodes are difficult to detect, and often go unnoticed until it is too late. Utilize a diagnostic lab if rooting is unusually weak and you suspect there may be a biotic agent at work. A positive diagnosis provides an opportunity to correct the situation in a timely fashion and take advantage of the still favorable growing conditions. Those actions may make the difference between a long, hot summer, and a day at the beach.

Disease Diagnostic and Nematode Assay Laboratories

Dr. John Kaminski
University of Connecticut
Department of Plant Science
1376 Storrs Road Unit 4067
Storrs, CT 06269-4067
Phone: 860-486-0162
john.kaminski@uconn.edu

Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
Ms. Karen Snover-Clift
Department of Plant Pathology
Cornell University
334 Plant Science Building
Ithaca, NY 14853

University of Massachusetts
Dr. Robert Wick
Professor of Plant Pathology
Department of Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences
109 Fernald Hall
Amherst, MA 01003
T: 413-545-1045 rwick@pltpath.umass.edu

Plant Diagnostic Laboratory & Nematode
Detection Service
Mr. Rich Buckley
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
PMB 550
Milltown, NJ 08850-0550
T: 732-932-9140 clinic@njaes.rutgers.edu
Website: www.rcre.rutgers.edu/plantdiagnosticlab

Plant Services Department
Dr. Nathaniel Mitkowski
University of Rhode Island
234 Woodward Hall
9 East Alumni Ave.,
Suite 7
Kingston, RI 02881
T: 401-874-2932 (Jackson)
   401-874-5996 (Mitkowski)
   401-874-9280 (Lab)
mitkowski@uri.edu
Website: www.uriturf.org