Summer time is one of the most susceptible times for your lawn to be stricken with a fungus.  Your lawn may already be stressed by weather conditions such as extreme heat, mugginess, or drought.  The last thing that your lawn needs is a summer lawn fungus to wipe out a good portion of your lawn.  If you know what to look for you can catch the lawn fungus at its onset and minimize its spread.  During the summer it takes a keen eye to properly identify which lawn fungus is harming your turf or if your lawn is just suffering from an abiotic problem.  Below are some common summer lawn fungus that you may encounter in your lawn if you live in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa City or Waterloo area.

Common lawn fungus.

Powdery Mildew

One of the easiest funguses to spot is powdery mildew.  Powdery mildew looks like someone spread white chalk dust all over your turf grass.  This fungus is common in shaded areas when weather conditions stagger between 50 degrees F and 75 degrees F.  Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescue are especially prone to this fungus when humid weather persists.

Red Thread

Read thread causes circular patches to form that are red to orange in color.  These patches can be as small as one inch and as big as a foot and a half.  The tips of the grass blades are the first to die out and spread downwards.  Slimy pink fungal strands may form on the grass blades.  This fungus prefers wet conditions with temperatures between 40 degrees F and 70 degrees F.

Necrotic Ring Spot

This lawn fungus causes brown rings to form around a center patch of undamaged turf.  Necrotic ring spot sometimes is referred to as frog eyes because of its similar appearance.  Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescue can be damaged by this fungus when wet weather persists with temperatures staying between 50 degrees F and 75 degrees F.