Take-All Root Rot Disease - St. Augustinegrass

TARR Disease

In the past few decades, turfgrass pathologists have determined that roots of turfgrasses are often attacked by ectotrophic fungi. These fungi cause destructive patch diseases. Take-all root rot (TARR) of St. Augustinegrass is a major problem for lawns in states along the Gulf Coast. Visual symptoms of the disease include yellow leaf blades that appear chlorotic. The disease eats at the root eventually causing total root system failure resulting in a dead lawn.

Disease Control:

Texas Cooperative Extension
photo by Dr. Karl Steddom

In most cases, proper lawn maintenance will prevent diseases from taking hold, but research was done to come up with a practical solution to rid lawns of this disease. Survey's indicated that a high percentage of TARR infected lawns also had St. Augustinegrass Decline (SAD). This suggests that it occurs in high stress conditions.

Applications of Heritage® (0.4 oz) resulted in a decline of the disease following spring and fall applications. The application of this peat moss topdressing consistently gave good results in repeated field tests. The recommended application is 3.8 cubic feet of peat moss per 1000 square feet of lawn. The success could be attributed to the raised level of ph when adding peat moss, which discourages the growth of the disease. Additional research will be conducted to determine the best times to apply peat moss products as well as the effects of peat moss on other pathogens and diseases.

Reference:
Peatmoss Topdressing Control of Take-all Root Rot on St. Augustinegrass
Phillip F. Colbaugh, Xikui Wei. and l. A. McAfe Texas A&M Research Center at Dallas April, 2003

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