browning of lawn

jjm2958 – posted 26 September 2007 11:42

So I’ve been reading about chinch bugs, brown spot, etc and I’m having a hard time figuring out what’s going on with my lawn (St. Augustine). I put a coffee can in teh ground and ran water in it – didn’t see any chinch bugs, but maybe I didn’t do things right.

Based on these photos, any suggestions?

Almaroad – posted 01 October 2007 16:27

Jim, I can’t be 100% sure but it really looks like a fungus. Tell me about your watering habits and be truthful. Tell me about your fertilizer schedule. Tell me about your herbicide (weed control) When did you have the PH of your soil tested? I don’t mean to be mean but need to know a little more info before making any suggestions. Roy

jjm2958 – posted 02 October 2007 07:47

Roy,Thanks for the reply. Well, we just moved into the house about 3 months ago and the previous owner apparently didn’t do anything with the yard so it was a mess. Having never had a lawn before, I hired a lawn service to take care of it until I learned more about what to do. Unfortunately, with all the rain we’ve had in central Texas this year, they couldn’t come out as often as they normally do so I ended up cancelling the service because I could see things declining. Here is what they did in the mid-June timeframe:

1. aerated the lawn2. grub control3. Fertilized (I think – I’d have to check their receipts)

Since they are no longer in the picture (cancelled their service in early September), I’ve fertilized with an organic fertilizer (link here:

Almaroad – posted 02 October 2007 09:42

OK Jared here goes: Before doing anything do this: Go into you yard with a shoebox and rubber gloves; dig down about 5-6 inches using something like a small hoe or big spoon if it is strong enough and scoop about a 1/2 cup into the shoebox; step off about 25′ north, south, east, and west of that spot and take a sample as before; go around the yard similarly and get your samples; you should have about 10-12 spots. Mix up these in the shoe box and do not touch with your hands. Take this box to the county extention agen and ask for analysis for St. Augustine grass. This will take about 2 weeks. When you get the analysis you will see what the lawn needs as far as fertilizer and THE PH OF THE SOIL. This is the very first thing that company should have done for you. If your PH is to high–no amount of fertilize will help it because acidic soil will not break down the fertilizer and will actually lock it. After the soil test, we need to know if the PH is 6.8–7 for St. Augustine. You may have to apply either lime to get the PH down or sulphur to raise it. Let’s hope it is around 6.8 or so. After that we will need to apply the correct amount of fertilize per 1000sq. ft. so measure your yard area. Of course, do not count the driveway or flower beds. You may need some help in calculating the correct amount….we’ll discuss that later. Do these thing and get back to me. Roy

PS…I think you’ll be able to revive the yard. If you could get in really close for some photographs that would help. Do this: go to one of the stolens (Runners) and find a spot where three leaves sorta come together and pull on the middle one for me. Notice how it either breaks off or pulls out of the stolen easily.

saltcedar – posted 02 October 2007 11:11

Hi. Welcome to central Texas.

Roy’s got it backwards on the pH scale. Lime raises pH, sulfur lowers it. Anyway I can guarantee your pHis High. In the range of 7.5 to 8.5 and the water will bethat high or higher thanks to our limestone aquifers.I think fungus from all that rain this year is a fairly goodbet. I wouldn’t treat it unless you know you have Raleigh St. Augustine. It’s The scourge of the Centex area. It’s extremely prone to Brown Patch, Takeall Patch Fungus and Chinch bugs.Hopefully it’s another variety such as Del Mar or Floratam St. Augustine which are better adapted to our Alkaline soil and water. Mow high as your mower will go and cut it when it’s no more than one inch taller than it’s previous height when cut.Water deeply and infrequently in the absence of rainand use organic fertilizers.

HTH

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 02 October 2007).]

jjm2958 – posted 02 October 2007 11:30

Thanks to both of you – I’ll gather that info and post back…

saltcedar – I have no idea if it is Raleigh or not. Is there an easy way to tell?

Almaroad – posted 02 October 2007 11:36

That’s right saltcedar–Jim I put it backwards…Too many things going on in my head to type properly. Anyway check it as suggested and we’ll go from there. Roy

saltcedar – posted 02 October 2007 15:26

If it has brown patch every Spring it’s most likely Raleigh St Augustine. If it was sodded in the last20 years it’s also most likely to be Raleigh as it’sthe cheapest grass available.

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 02 October 2007).]

jjm2958 – posted 02 October 2007 18:57

quote:Originally posted by Almaroad:I think you’ll be able to revive the yard. If you could get in really close for some photographs that would help. Do this: go to one of the stolens (Runners) and find a spot where three leaves sorta come together and pull on the middle one for me. Notice how it either breaks off or pulls out of the stolen easily.

Roy,Well, I have a form to send in the soil sample. I’ll do that tomorrow after work. I did some digging per-say near the brown patches and took some pics. In the largest spot, I found a bunch of white fluffy fungus (I assume) near the dirt. Also found a few of these long black bugs (with a forked tail).

I posted the pictures at:

saltcedar – posted 02 October 2007 21:07

The bug is an Earwig, not a problem unless you grow strawberries. The fungus might just be from your organic fertilizer and may be a good thing. They are competitive against pathogenic fungi.Leaves pulling off the runners easily is usually a sign of brown patch. The seed heads are more or less normal on turf especially since you are feeding with organics which are lower ratio and slow release.

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 02 October 2007).]

Almaroad – posted 03 October 2007 04:49

Your on the right track Jared. I like the way that you jump on advise. As I thought on the leaves pulling out. A healthy blade would have snaped rather and sorta slide out. These are “Quick and Dirty” tests for Summer Patch, Take All and Brown Patch. I didn’t see any brown specks on the blades (Not close enough really) Brown specks are where chinch bugs have eaten on the grass and are a big problem in the south. Both of these things can be treated BEFORE they become a problem. It’s very difficult to do much after the problem has manifested. Basically you are going to need a maintanence schedule. St. Augustine needs a lot of Nitrogen during the growing season–generally about a pound/K every 30-45 days. With all of the rain that you speak of, your fertilizer may have ‘leached’ into the soil before the grass could use it. A good slow-released Nitrogen would be best as some Nitrogen on most fertilizer is released into the air. I do not know how much but it does. St. Augustine loves Nitrogen like pirates love Rum. Be Well, Roy If you could hand carry your sample to the Extention Agent and tell him/her about the problem–just more info to do battle. When you get that soil analysis back–scan it to computer and we’ll take a look. Keep up the good work! About when does grass go dormant in Texas? Roy

jjm2958 – posted 03 October 2007 19:14

quote:Originally posted by saltcedar:[B]The bug is an Earwig, not a problem unless you grow strawberries.B]

Ah, an earwig – I looked it up in a book before I posted to see if I could figure it out and that was the only thing close. Good to know I was on the right track. Thanks for the confirmation! I’m glad to know that they aren’t a terrible bug to have to deal with…I think I have enough to deal with already

jjm2958 – posted 03 October 2007 19:22

quote:Originally posted by Almaroad:Your on the right track Jared. I like the way that you jump on advise. As I thought on the leaves pulling out. A healthy blade would have snaped rather and sorta slide out. These are “Quick and Dirty” tests for Summer Patch, Take All and Brown Patch. I didn’t see any brown specks on the blades (Not close enough really) Brown specks are where chinch bugs have eaten on the grass and are a big problem in the south. Both of these things can be treated BEFORE they become a problem. It’s very difficult to do much after the problem has manifested. Basically you are going to need a maintanence schedule. St. Augustine needs a lot of Nitrogen during the growing season–generally about a pound/K every 30-45 days. With all of the rain that you speak of, your fertilizer may have ‘leached’ into the soil before the grass could use it. A good slow-released Nitrogen would be best as some Nitrogen on most fertilizer is released into the air. I do not know how much but it does. St. Augustine loves Nitrogen like pirates love Rum. Be Well, Roy If you could hand carry your sample to the Extention Agent and tell him/her about the problem–just more info to do battle. When you get that soil analysis back–scan it to computer and we’ll take a look. Keep up the good work! About when does grass go dormant in Texas? Roy

Roy,I’m all about jumping on things before it is too late. I just wish I would not wasted 2 months with a lawn service…seems like they just put be in a more difficult situation. I got the soil sample from the front lawn ready to go. I was going to get a back yard sample as well, but it is amazing how different the back yard grows versus the front – I think it grows twice as fast and is twice as green. I guess it couldn’t hurt though to send in a sample anyway.

I’ll definitely scan in the report when I get it for you guys to see. I’m honestly not sure when grass goes dormant here – I’ll have to do some research on that I guess. If it takes a couple weeks to get the results back from teh soil test, am I going to be too late in the season to do much about things?

I’m so glad I found this forum – you guys are great and I really appreciate the advice.

Thanks,Jared

Almaroad – posted 04 October 2007 06:06

Just that I’ve been around for a while and my Dad told us that we only we take with us is what we give away. I’ve been at this for 45 years or more and just recently (3 years) started with centipede and St. Augustine. The only thing I have going is that I know a lot of extention agents and good people that are willing to talk with others. Pass along that which you learn; you’ll never be without friends. St. Augustine is a very particular grass and will do well as long as you respect it and plan ahead–way ahead. Roy

saltcedar – posted 04 October 2007 12:08

Rereading my sources on turf diseases inclines me to think this has to be Takall Patch if it’s a disease. Brown Patch is a cool season disease here in Texas. Takeall thrives in warm, damp, alkaline soils. (sounds just like Cental Texas) Low nitrogen fetilizers tend to be better here because high fertility rate tend to encourage thatch build up. So I’d suggest a ammonium sulfate 21-0-0 winterizing feeding (Mid-October) at 1/4 the recommended dose. That will add sulfur and since our soils are naturally high in Phosphorus and Potassium there no need for a balanced fertilizer. In fact many soils that are regularly fertilized with phosphorus in this area have toxic levels of the element which locks up iron and other necessary trace minerals in the soil.Summer Patch doesn’t occur on warm season grasses such as St.A. Zoysia, Paspalum, Centipede and Bermudagrass.

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 04 October 2007).]

jjm2958 – posted 18 October 2007 19:28

Hey Guys…I FINALLY got the analysis back from Texas A&M. I posted it on the flickr website:

saltcedar – posted 18 October 2007 20:42

Sounds like a plan just make sure to use quick releasefertilizer as this is the latest we can fertilize St. Augustine.

TexanOne – posted 19 October 2007 12:14

Here is an interesting read and may answer some questions:

Almaroad – posted 19 October 2007 15:44

Go ahead and put down that sulphur to lower the PH a bit. More than likely you can put down you winterizer fertilizer–Lesco’s 20-0-20 plus Atrazine. Talk with your Lesco guy. The atrazine will help take care of winter weeds. The atrazine in the winterizer is very low, so you may do a granular application of 0-0-9 Atrazine also. I think Texas got a lot of water and may have leached the fertilizer if you have sandy soil. Do these things now. Sulphur then about two-three weeks and do the winterizer. If you have a lot of weeds that are growing NOW, hit them with the liquid atrazine. Stay away from the Image NOW. It requirs active growth or it will kill your grass during the transition period or DORMANTCY period. In February you will need do some more granular atrazine then two weeks after greenup, start your Dimension with fertilizer with something like 19-2-17 or close. St. Augustine requires about 1lb/1000sf every 30-45 days during the summer. Water that lawn about 1 time a week during dormancy. Roots are still active storing up the N for the greenup. I hope you can decipher this, if not write. Roy

saltcedar – posted 21 October 2007 06:29

Almaroad – posted 29 October 2007 16:22

Jim: How are things going on the soil admendments?