Cool, wet weather has triggered large patch activity in golf courses – and in our research plots.
The photos below are from an ongoing research trial. You can read some details about the study in our online research update from spring. PhD student Mingying Xiang is the lead researcher on this study, under the mentorship of Megan Kennelly and Jack Fry.
The photos below show different zoysiagrass breeding lines. For each plot, one side was inoculated in Sept 2016, and the other side is protected with fungicides to allow ongoing rating of quality and agronomic traits in the absence of disease AND to serve as a “healthy check.”
As you glance through the photos, you can clearly see the large patch on the inoculated sides of many of the plots, while the fungicide-treated side is clean. However, you will also see plots where you can’t even tell which side is which. That is, even the inoculated, non-fungicide-treated side is looking clean. We are hoping those may be resistant lines to examine in further testing. Stay tuned! Turfgrass breeding takes a long time!
