Now that we are well into the warmer weather and bermudagrass has had a chance to get going, you may wonder why some areas are not growing as well as others. If you have tried a few things to make the areas catch up and nothing seems to be working you may want to consider sending in a soil sample to look for nematodes, particularly sting nematodes (Belonolaimus longicaudatus). Sting nematodes are commonly thought of as the most destructive species of plant-parasitic nematodes in turfgrass and they have caused many bermudagrass putting greens to lose coverage.

If greens are healthy, damage from sting nematodes can be minimal even with numbers as high as 100 nematodes per 100 cubic centimeters (cc) of soil. However, it is not unheard-of for areas of a putting green to be decimated by fewer than 10 per 100 cc of soil. If you send in a sample from a green that is struggling and it says you have over 500 sting nematodes per 100 cc in the soil sample, you can rest assured that the damage is from the nematodes and you will need to implement an effective nematode control program. If numbers are below the tolerance threshold and you have tried everything else, you may want to put out a small test plot using Indemnify (fluopyram) to see if conditions improve over the next few weeks. 

For more information about sting and other plant-parasitic nematodes you can look through my recent article, “Best Management Practices for Controlling Turfgrass Nematodes.”

Southeast Region Agronomists:

Chris Hartwiger, director, Agronomy – chartwiger@usga.org

Jordan Booth, Ph.D., director, USGA Course Consulting Service – jbooth@usga.org

John Rowland, Ph.D., agronomist – jrowland@usga.org

Information on the USGA’s Course Consulting Service

Contact the Green Section Staff