Dr. Phyto

Goosegrass

Eleusine indica

Diseases & pests on this plant

• rice blastMagnaporthe oryzae
• fall armywormSpodoptera frugiperdaEU-notifiable quarantine organism

  Young caterpillars skeletonise leaves and make "windowpane" patches; older ones chew ragged holes and burrow into the whorl, tassel and cobs of maize, leaving copious moist sawdust-like frass; the caterpillar has a pale inverted "Y" on the head and four dark spots in a square on the second-to-last segment. Populations build explosively and "march" between crops.

• Soil compaction (lawn)Lawn soil compaction

  Grass grows thin, weak and pale along paths, gateways, play areas and other heavily walked routes, with hard ground that is difficult to push a fork into. Water puddles on the surface after rain instead of soaking in, and moss and weeds often move into the worn lines.

• Leaf spot and common root rotBipolaris sorokiniana

  Small dark brown to black leaf spots, often with a yellow halo, that enlarge and merge to blight whole leaves in warm, humid weather; on close-mown turf this becomes a general thinning and bronzing. Below ground the same fungus causes a brown rot of roots, crowns and stem bases, so plants are easily pulled up and the turf melts out in diffuse, irregular brown areas. Most damaging in warm summer spells on stressed, thatchy lawns.

• sheath blightRhizoctonia solani
• Drought dormancy (lawn)Lawn drought dormancy

  Large, irregular areas of the lawn turn uniformly straw-yellow to tan during hot, dry spells, usually starting on the sunniest, most exposed parts and over sandy or shallow soil. Footprints stay visibly pressed in (loss of springiness), but the crowns at the base of the plants remain alive and the grass greens up again after rain.

• Pythium root rotPythium aphanidermatum

  Yellowing + wilting leaves despite wet soil (the diagnostic combination), brown mushy roots when plant is unpotted, foul earthy smell from rotting roots, plant easily pulled from pot with most root system left behind in mix, stem base softening + black at soil line in severe cases.

• Scalping injury (lawn)Lawn scalping injury

  Pale brown, almost bald strips and patches appear immediately after mowing, exposing stems and bare soil where the mower cut into high spots, bumps or slopes. The damage follows the contours of the ground and the mowing pattern, and often shows brown crowns and stubble rather than green leaf.

• Japanese beetlePopillia japonicaEU-notifiable quarantine organism

  Adults are bright metallic green with coppery wing-cases and small white tufts of hair along the sides of the abdomen; they feed in groups in sunshine, skeletonising leaves between the veins (a lacy look) and chewing flowers and fruit of a huge range of plants (rose, grape, lime, fruit, soft fruit); the white C-shaped grubs eat grass roots, causing brown patches of lawn that lift like a carpet.

• Garden chafer (lawn grub)Phyllopertha horticola

  Irregular yellow-brown patches of wilting turf in late summer and autumn that can be rolled back like a loose carpet because the C-shaped white grubs have eaten the roots underneath. The lawn feels spongy. Secondary damage often follows: birds, badgers and foxes tear the turf apart at night to dig out the fat grubs. In early summer the small (8-11 mm) bronze-and-green adults swarm over the lawn at dusk.