Dollar spot is one of the most common diseases of warm- and cool-season turfgrass stands and is especially devastating on creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.). The fungus Sclerotinia homoeocarpa degrades the foliage by creating silver, dollar-sized depressions of dead and bleached turf. Frequent fungicide applications and cultural management strategies are required throughout the growing season to prevent or reduce severity of this disease. Previous research has demonstrated that ferrous sulfate applied at 48.8 kg ha-1 suppresses dollar spot epidemics without traditional fungicides. In vitro studies showed 100 to 1,000 mg kg-1 of ferrous sulfate directly suppressed S. homoeocarpa growth of an isolate collected from an established, intensively-maintained creeping bentgrass putting green. Genetic diversity of S. homoeocarpa segregates isolates into two groups; strains generally associated with warm-season and cool-season grasses. It is unknown whether isolates of each group react similarly in the presence of ferrous sulfate. Our research explored use rates of ferrous sulfate required to suppress 50% of dollar spot in the field and in vitro. Ferrous sulfate (heptahydrate 20% Fe, Valudor Products Inc) rates in field trials included 0, 4.88, 24.4, 48.8, and 97.6 kg ha-1. Our results indicate a hyperbolic relationship between ferrous sulfate rate and dollar spot reduction. Using this model, 26.4 kg ha-1 reduced dollar spot incidence by 50%. We concluded that ferrous sulfate suppresses 50% of S. homoeocarpa mycelial growth at between 480 and 720 mg L-1 concentration in 0.25 strength potato dextrose agar in vitro, and fungitoxic activity of ferrous sulfate was dependent primarily on historical fungicide inputs at isolate collection sites. The use of ferrous sulfate may supplement traditional fungicide use. Chlorothalonil is the most common fungicide used to suppress dollar spot in turfgrass. Annual site-use limitations of chlorothalonil often prevent turf managers from achieving acceptable dollar spot control throughout the season. It is not known how ferrous sulfate may contribute to a successful chlorothalonil fungicide program. Therefore, we examined whether ferrous sulfate can be used to minimize chlorothalonil requirements through reducing active ingredient concentrations and extending the longevity, while still maintaining acceptable disease control. Chlorothalonil treatments were applied at 0, 2.28, 4.57, 6.86, and 9.16 kg ai ha-1 (Daconil WeatherStik) across plots treated with and without 48.8 kg ha-1 ferrous sulfate applied bi-weekly. Ferrous sulfate reduced the chlorothalonil rates necessary for 80% disease reduction by 36 to 51% across all trials. Additional studies showed that ferrous sulfate applied with chlorothalonil increased duration of disease control by five days and eliminated two seasonal treatments. Our research expands the guidelines for practical ferrous sulfate usage for dollar spot suppression by elucidating the rate-to-disease relationship and providing best management practices involving admixtures with chlorothalonil. / Master of Science / Turfgrass systems offer many environmental and recreational benefits. Managing turfgrass stands that are free of damaging turf pests is essential to providing aesthetically pleasing lawns, golf courses, and sports fields. Creeping bentgrass is one of the most common turfgrass types found on golf course putting greens but is also used on golf course fairways and tee boxes. There are many diseases that can be found on creeping bentgrass when environmental conditions are favorable. Of these diseases, dollar spot is the most common. When dollar spot is present, half-dollar sized spots of bleached turf can be seen. In order to prevent these easily noticeable spots from appearing, fungicide applications are required in a given growing season to prevent the pathogen from infecting. Available fungicides are very effective at providing control but can be very costly. Beyond fungicide use, other research has shown various cultural practices to reduce disease incidence. Previous research has shown that iron sulfate applied to creeping bentgrass can reduce dollar spot epidemics without the use of fungicides. Laboratory studies have shown a similar trend as ferrous sulfate at varying concentrations directly suppressed dollar spot pathogen growth. In both cases, a limited range of ferrous sulfate rates was tested. To obtain more information we explored use rates of ferrous sulfate required to suppress 50% of dollar spot in the field and in vitro. Ferrous sulfate rates in field trials ranged from 0 to 97.6 kg ha⁻¹ . Results from these trials were used to create a hyperbolic regression. Using this model, we were then able to determine that 26.4 kg ha⁻¹ iron sulfate was required to suppress 50% of the dollar spot in the field. For the laboratory studies we concluded that ferrous sulfate suppresses 50% of the dollar spot pathogen mycelial growth between 480 and 720 mg L ⁻¹ iron sulfate concentrated potato dextrose agar. Although there are many different fungicides available for dollar spot control, the active ingredient chlorothalonil is the most common used. Due to the mode of action which chlorothalonil exhibits, it is much less likely that the pathogen causing dollar spot can become resistant. Although resistance is not an issue, governmental annual site-use limitations restrict turf managers from achieving desirable control. The use of iron sulfate in conjunction with chlorothalonil has not been previously studied. Chlorothalonil treatments were applied at a range of labeled use rates across plots treated with and without 48.8 kg ha⁻¹ ferrous sulfate applied bi-weekly. Ferrous sulfate reduced the chlorothalonil rates necessary for disease reduction. If a threshold of 80% is used, up to 50% reduction in chlorothalonil use was observed. Supplemental studies investigating the duration of control achieved by the combination showed an increase of up to 5 days and eliminated the need for two applications across one season. This research fills a huge gap in our knowledge base on the practical use of iron sulfate for dollar spot control.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/86365 |
| Date | 12 December 2018 |
| Creators | Shelton, Camden Drake |
| Contributors | Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, McCall, David S., Askew, Shawn D., Ervin, Erik H. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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