Red Thread

              

What is Red Thread?
Red thread is a disease that is both unsightly and can spread over your lawn if you let it. "Red Thread" (sometimes called pink patch) refers to a fungal organism that makes brown patches in a lawn and causes a red, thread-like strand to grow. Often the grass will recover from this in time, but there are a few things you can do to stop this disease from spreading rapidly in your lawn.

Causes and solutions for Red Thread
Red thread is normally caused by one of three things.
1. Red thread thrives when the grass is wet, but the roots are dry. This can be caused by over watering or improper watering. If there is water on the grass blades, when the weather is optimal, red thread will spread very quickly. The best way to solve this is to water no more than every 3-4 days. Also, be sure to water only in the morning or early afternoon, so the grass is not wet all night. And finally, liquid aeration treatments will help insure that the roots get water.

 2. Poor Grass is another factor that plays into the growth of red thread. Perennial Ryegrass is the most susceptible type of grass to red thread. This is often planted by builders and landscapers because it sprouts quickly. If your lawn is predominantly ryegrass, it will be difficult to eliminate red thread. The best solution is to super-seed in the late summer to get some grass that is more resistant to this disease.

3. Poor soil is also a catalyst for red thread. New lawns are especially susceptible to red thread because the soil is not very biologically active. There are many solutions to this, including organic fertilization, aeration and compost top dressing.

Now you know more about this disease that makes your lawn unhealthy and unsightly and are armed with the tools necessary to deal with red thread.

Tyler Kaiser
T.J. Landscaping