Identifying and treating red thread grass

Symptoms and identifying red thread grass

Red thread grass is caused by a fungus (Laetisaria fuciformis), and the first symptoms of this disease will be the appearance of small pink coloured particles looking like candy floss. This may be confused with another common lawn disease – snow mould – but if this is followed by thin strands growing like thread, that look like red or pink grass in your lawn, then you have red thread. The red strands eventually turn a light straw, almost bleached colour and the patches can vary in size from a small circle up to larger areas.

At first glance, you may think the lawn is just suffering from environmental factors like drought or lack of feed – but if you look closely, you will see the red strands.

How to treat red thread grass

Although there is no fungicidal treatment available for the home gardener, what you can do is treat the problem…

One of the main causes of red thread is a lack of nitrogen, so set up a regular feeding routine throughout the year, ideally using a product high in nitrogen for the first feed such as Miracle-Gro^® Fast Green Lawn Food Concentrated Liquid. This will help provide a good source of nitrogen and will have the added effect of greening the rest of your lawn.

After that initial feed, later in the year apply a more balanced feed that will help strengthen your lawn, enabling it to fight off disease. A recommended product would be Miracle-Gro^® Lawn Builder.

Lawns that suffer from compaction and poor drainage are more susceptible to red thread disease as well, so it is a good idea to aerate the lawn as this will create holes to aid drainage, air circulation and making it easier for lawn feeds to get down to the roots.

Scarifying the lawn to remove thatch and moss will also aid with air circulation and remove any affected debris, but make sure that this is not composted and is disposed of. This applies for any grass clippings too, as if this goes into the compost, it will spread the disease.

For a full programme of how to look after your lawn all season long have a look at this artcicle.

Although it is always advisable to carry out regular lawn care, if red thread is a persistent problem then you may wish to hire a professional company to come in and carry out a treatment using professional products.