Kansas Turf Pest Control 3B Practice Test

Brown Patch is a classic disease of tall fescue in Kansas because the warm, humid summers create the leaf-wetness and warm soil temperatures that Rhizoctonia solani requires to grow and spread. Tall fescue’s dense canopy and leaf tissue stay moist after irrigation or rainfall, making it especially susceptible. The result is large, irregular patches that expand as the fungus moves through the turf, a pattern you commonly see in Kansas lawns during humid periods.

Dollar Spot, while present, is more typically associated with other fine fescues and greens systems; Pythium Foliar Blight and Fairy Ring occur on various grasses but aren’t as strongly tied to tall fescue in Kansas as Brown Patch.