Snow Mold Applications

There are two types of "snow mold" fungi that cause damage: Pink Snow Mold and Gray Snow Mold. Pink, is the more serious one and infects the crown of the grass plant. Gray Snow Mold affects the leaf blade and is generally considered the less harmful of the two.

Snow mold fungi are active at temperatures just above freezing in moist conditions. These conditions occur most frequently under snow cover or anything else that covers the grass, such as fallen tree leaves. Gray snow mold usually only occurs after prolonged snow cover and seems to be more prevalent in shady areas. Pink snow mold may be active in cool, wet conditions from late fall through early spring.

In late fall, we apply fungicides at rates high enough to keep the damage under an economic threshold, but not high enough to completely eliminate the diseases.