Composts prepared from a variety of feedstocks were tested for their ability to suppress seedling and root diseases of creeping bentgrass caused by Pythium graminicola. Among the most suppressive materials in laboratory experiments were different batches of a brewery sludge compost and a biosolids compost from Endicott, N.Y. Batches of these composts that were initially not suppressive to Pythi...

Soil-borne pathogens are posited to maintain forest diversity. However, their in situ impact and spatial variation are largely unknown. We examined spatial patterns of pathogenic activity in a deciduous forest using a common garden experiment and also in a natural experiment around replicated trees, and we quantified Pythium (a soil-borne pathogen) density around individual Prunus serotina tree...