In the autumn months, the amount of dew that forms on lawns is really important and becomes a source of opportunities, but also of potential difficulties and problems.

The continuous stagnation of humidity on the leaves favors the entry of fungal pathogens that hinder the normal maintenance of the lawns.

The following lawn diseases:

Dollar Spot (Sclerotinia homeocarpa),

Rust,

Helmintosporiosis (Drechslera, Bipolaris, Exserohilum),

Gray Leaf Spot (Piricularia grisea),

Red thread (Laetisaria fuciformis)

and foliar diseases in general are carried by that thin veil of water which forms during the night and which remains in the early hours of the morning.

Fusariosis, but also Rhizoctonia spp. (i.e. mushrooms that overwinter and remain protected in the felt) are also benefited by the constant degree of humidity present due to dew.

	Dollar Spot
	Dollar spot is a leaf disease of turf caused by the Sclerotinia homeocarpa fungus. Affected plants have white to pale yellow lesions that progress downward from the leaf tip or laterally across the laminae.
	Helminthosporiosis
	Helmintosporiosis (scientific name: Bipolaris spp, Drechslera spp.) Is an extensive decay / yellowing (not patchy) turf fungus.
	Gray Leaf Spot
	Gray Leaf spot or "gray spot" is a leaf disease that mainly affects the perennial ryegrass and secondarily the Festuca arundinacea. It is caused by a fungal pathogen (Pyricularia grisea) that infects and destroys the leaf blades.
	Red thread
	Red thread (Laetisaria fuciformis, syn. Corticium fuciforme) is a fungal disease that affects the turf. It manifests itself with irregular spots that are initially light brown in color, then straw-colored.

How to counteract dew on the lawn

With the presence of water in the ground we can obtain what is called field capacity and consequent formation of an adequate water supply for moments of crisis.

Hence, one of the first and most important cultivation practices in autumn is to create larger drops on the leaf that fall to the ground by gravity, overcoming the adhesion force with the leaf blades. We are talking about the practice of autumn morning syringing with the irrigation system switched on for a few minutes in the early hours of the morning. If we do not have an irrigation system or do not want to use it, even just brushing the lawn involves the fall of dew droplets on the ground and the consequent healthiness of the turf.

But dew can also be contained through other cultivation practices and the administration of products.

What products come in handy

The first control method is that of the use of wetting agents. In particular, the Bottos Water Plus manages to control the correct ratio between microporosity (spaces occupied by water) and macroporosity of the soil (spaces occupied by air) with consequent reduction of the phenomenon of evapotranspiration and the formation of dew and exudates. foliar.

Surfactant products suitable for increasing the infiltration phenomenon such as Bottos Water X are also decisive for reducing the negative impact of dew. By reducing the surface tension of the water, smaller droplets are formed that slide along the leaf limbs because they fail to develop an adhesion force and adequate viscosity and fall into the ground penetrating it.

The antiperspirant function is also exercised by dyes for lawns with particular regard to the Bottos Wintergreen product. It is a specific non-toxic dye, naturally green, which covers the leaf limbs improving the photosynthetic yield and forming a semi-permeable patina against the leakage of liquids from the plants. In this way it is possible to obtain plants which, in addition to being colored in a period where they usually go into dormancy, are also more robust towards traction, wear and trampling (harder and crunchy leaves).

As already mentioned, dew control also indirectly determines the control of the felt and therefore the consequent action to prevent the development of other fungal diseases.

We therefore return again to the need not to have an excessive incidence of dew. It is necessary to have the right amount of it to maintain a correct degree of humidity of the vegetation, but it is also necessary to ensure that this degree of humidity does not turn into stagnation and lack of air circulation.

Keep the plant in operation

Making the grass roots work well keeps the "turf hydraulic pump" always in operation, making sure that there is always the correct internal balance of the plants between ascending and descending sap, being able to transfer the reserve substances along all parts of the plants. plants and making every physiological process vital.

Biostimulations, bioactivated / bioactivators with the introduction of beneficial antagonist fungi, granular fertilization of root development (high titre in Potassium and Nitrogen with slow release or programmed release), agronomic actions of cracking / nailing complete the control and management phase of the dew at in order to keep lawns always healthy and robust.