Bermuda sod: dormancy or death?

bobby dukes – posted 18 July 2010 06:48

Hi.

I live in NW Florida and had my lawn replaced 1.5 months ago. The entire lawn was scraped clean of the old centepede and replaced with a full irrigation system and bermuda sod.

I watered well, at about 1hr every 3 hours or so (roughly 4 times a day) per zone. The sod took well, getting lush and showing growth within the first week. After three weeks I mowed at maximum deck height to even out the growth. I also cut back on the watering. For weeds I have have yellow nutsedge growing along with indications of spurge.

Now, my lawn is browing rapidly. This is consistant throughout the yard, but heavier in some area. The tops of the blades are green with much browning underneath. If I pull on the sod, it won’t come up indicating to me the roots took.

Since no amendments were put down when they installed the sod, I’m thinking this is a shock or stress phase for the sod to go through. Maybe getting adapted to the local soil conditions? I’ve seen some spiders and believe there to be other small insects in the grass. I am hesitant to have it sprayed for the weeds or the bugs at this stage.

Yesterday I put down 15-0-15 weed and feed to try and help out. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you very much.

Now,

Turfguy_UF – posted 18 July 2010 09:50

I would think you have a disease. Having no pictures it is hard to finalize that. Your watering for the first weeks were to much. Twice a day for 30-45 minutes would have been fine or enough to keep the root zone moist. You most likely kept your sod/root zone soaked, creating perfect habitat for disease. I would suggest finding a fungicide that attacks a broad range of fungus. Most likely it is leaf spot or dollar spot. Need pictures to confirm. Cut back on watering to once a day for 30 minutes if that, do not apply any herbicides to the lawn before six weeks (hopefully the weed and feed won’t hurt it), and apply that fungicide.

Hope that solves it!

bobby dukes – posted 18 July 2010 15:49

Ok,

I’ve reset the timer to go off for 30 mins per zone daily at 6 am.

Here are some images to help troubleshoot the problem.

http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/813223/fullsize/dsc_0336.jpghttp://www.supermotors.net/getfile/813224/fullsize/dsc_0334.jpghttp://www.supermotors.net/getfile/813227/fullsize/dsc_0335.jpg

[This message has been edited by bobby dukes (edited 18 July 2010).]

[This message has been edited by bobby dukes (edited 18 July 2010).]

turfgrass – posted 19 July 2010 20:17

how tall did you let it grow before the first mowing?

bobby dukes – posted 19 July 2010 21:22

It got pretty tall in most areas. Greater than 4 inches I’m guessing. Some weren’t higher than what the initial sod height was.

When I cut, I set the mower for max height and then cut. The clippings stayed where they lay.

turfgrass – posted 20 July 2010 17:43

bermuda will look a bit stressed if it grows tall, and gets chopped down.

bermuda is also nearly impossible to kill…fertilizer should help you out.

turfgrass – posted 20 July 2010 17:45

one more thing….with you being in FL, you need to be on lookout for armyworms.

mix a couple gallons of water with dish detergent….pour in spots on your yard to flush and check for worms. you’ll know if you’ve got ’em.

bobby dukes – posted 20 July 2010 20:43

Green things? Look like caterpillars? Yellow stripes? Curled up? Got ’em.

Soap and water will flush them out permanently?

turfgrass – posted 21 July 2010 15:55

soapy water only flushes them out to let you know if you’ve got them, they feed primarily at night. they bury themselves in the thatch layer during the heat of the day.

they can wipe out some bermuda….fast.

should you find that you’ve got them, spray with some carbaryl(liquid sevin).

go type “armyworm” in google images and you’ll see what it is. they’re the offspring of gypsy moths.

cgaengineer – posted 08 August 2010 10:11

Your problem is not disease, its because you waited so long to mow. Mow more frequently and remove less of the grass blade, if possible mow at a lower overall height .5″-1.75″ and keep it at those heights. The lower bermuda is the more leave there will be instead of brown stems.

bobby dukes – posted 11 August 2010 22:17

Well, I do have worms present so I’ve treated for them.

So, keep it at half to three quarters then? Easy enough.

bobby dukes – posted 26 August 2010 21:16

Grass is on the mend. Thanks all for the advice. Between army worms, overwatering and lengthy growth I’ve identified most of the issues.

Now the nutsedge is getting under control with some professional help. Following that, it’ll be a year-round treatment plan with a realistic watering schedule to avoid issues in the future.