New research on bacterial decline of bentgrass

Hot weather (air temperatures above 85F, or 30C) is the trigger for many diagnoses of what has come to be called "bacterial decline" — a condition where irregularly shaped patches of bentgrass become yellowed and weak and the plants become elongated, or etiolated. But exactly how bacteria are involved in creating these symptoms has been unclear (reference july 2012 bacterial wilt update). The new research we report below may raise more questions than it answers, but this is unfortunately a…