If we'd gotten two solid weeks of heat and humidity this summer, we'd have to change our phone numbers."
Because of changes in the local climate the past couple of years, Hicks and Joe Rimelspach, Ph.D., turf pathologist at Ohio State, are seeing some things in the field they aren't always used to seeing, including gray leaf spot in juvenile tall fescue and gray leaf spot on perennial ryegrass. Throw on top of that typical hot and humid summer conditions, and some old favorites are back stronger than ever. "I've never seen dollar spot this aggressive or severe in high-cut turf than it is this year," Rimelspach said. "I don't know what it is, but in Ohio this is the worst year I've seen. "Last year, we saw gray leaf spot in perennial ryegrass first on July 29. This year, the first reported sighting was at least two weeks earlier than that. "This has been a challenging year." The only thing bailing out superintendents this summer, Hicks said, has been a seemingly regular cycle this summer of a few hot, humid days followed by a couple of days of cooler temperatures. If it weren't for that, he said, the phone in the OSU turf pathology lab would be ringing much more often than it already is. "The saving grace has been that feast-or-famine weather pattern of three to five days of hot followed by two to three days of cooler temperatures that allow guys to catch up," Hicks said. "If we'd gotten two solid weeks of heat and humidity this summer, we'd have to change our phone numbers."
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