Winter On The Course - Snow Mold

SNOW MOLD

Snow molds are the diseases that can occur on turfgrass through the winter months.  There are two types of snow molds - pink snow mold and gray snow mold. 

Gray Snow Mold

Gray snow mold is the least common of the two, and rarely occurs in this area.  However, the amount of snow cover we have had this year may result in more occurances.  The key to gray snow mold activity is snow cover, and lots of it.  The longer the turf is under the snow, the more likely this disease is to become active.  If conditions are right for gray snow mold to become active, the results can be devistating.  Gray snow mold can kill large areas of turf, unlike pink snow mold which the turf can grow out of when conditions are better for turf growth.  Lengthy snow cover caused by the amount of snow, shade or north facing slopes give way for the possibility of gray snow mold.  An application of a fungicide, like we did in November, can help prevent the disease, but the fungicide will only last a certain length of time.  Locations that experience continuous snow cover for long periods of time, will remove snow from their greens and reapply a fungicide to help the greens through the rest of the winter.  You can image the labor required for that type of job, on a course in the mountains, that may be removing a few feet of snow off all the greens!  If gray snow mold does occur, it can require reseeding and a lengthy recovery time.

Pink Snow Mold

Pink snow mold is the disease we will likely see this spring.  Pink snow mold is more common, and thankfully, less devistating.  This type of snow mold does not require snow cover to become active and is very common in the early spring and late fall when no snow cover is present.  If the disease is present in the spring after the snow melts, most often the turf can recover after two or three weeks of good growing weather.