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Now that Fall weather is here, you may see a few disease problems pop up. Fall weather in the Northwest typically is hot and dry during the day, and cool with heavy dew in the evenings. Coupled with warm soil temperatures, this will often give rise to several diseases.

Some common problems include lawn disease like Red Thread and Rust. Red Thread shows up as a brown patch about 4-8 inches in diameter. In the morning, you may find red fibers criss-crossing. This will disapear as soon as the lawn dries in the sun. Rust shows up as an orange powdery material on grass blades. It tends to be more common on Bluegrass. (Photo: Red thread in lawn.)

Both of these diseases are common but seldom cause major issues. They will soon disapear as Fall changes to Winter.

In the planting bed, you may see a white dusty covering called Powdery Mildew on some shrubs. (Photo: Powdery Mildew on pumpkin leaves.)

Deciduous Azaleas will often develop this problem just before leaf drop. You may also see this on grass, flowers, some trees and tomato plants. Again, there is no real cure for this, but spraying the plant with water will slow it down. Powdery mildew likes humidity and dew but not flowing water.

Thank for reading.... Steve