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Don't Let This Fast-Spreading Disease Take Down Your Lawn
By JOANNA MARIE
Dark, unsightly patches on the damper areas of your lawn could signal pythium blight, a fungal disease that devastates turfgrasses and turns green areas into wastelands of decay.
Diagnosing pythium blight can be difficult, as it shares a similar look with brown patch lawn disease. Excess soil moisture is a critical factor in the growth of pythium fungi.
Initial warning signs include heavily soaked or greasy patches of grass that spread out swiftly. The grass caught in the disease's clutches turns a dull gray then a sickly yellow.
Even worse, these affected areas tend to link up, creating extensive streaks that snake their way across your lawn and underscoring the aggressive nature of pythium blight.
To treat the disease, reduce your watering frequency to once a week, use fertilizers sparingly, and keep your soil's pH in the sweet spot — not too alkaline, not too acidic.
If you’re using fungicides, metalaxyl and mefenoxam-containing fungicides can be effective. Apply every two weeks during high-risk periods to keep pythium blight at bay.