Centipede grass dead/dry patches?

nahoku – posted 12 May 2005 15:18

Hello,

I am so glad to find this web site – and I am hoping you can help me…. I live in northern Louisiana and we have Centipede that’s been put in two years ago (new house), clay soil.

The grass seemed to come back this spring, until a couple of days ago, when I was getting ready to mow again and noticed these large areas where the grass does not look good. It appears that these areas have a lot of dry grass, the centipede blades are very thin in this area, and it looks like there’s just something really wrong with it. We apply a fertilizer once every spring, specially formulated Centipede fertilizer we get at the garden center. We water these areas between 10 to 20 minutes (depending on an area) three times a week.

Here’s the photos:http://www.cs.uml.edu/~ucvek/lawn/patch1.jpghttp://www.cs.uml.edu/~ucvek/lawn/patch2.jpghttp://www.cs.uml.edu/~ucvek/lawn/patch3.jpghttp://www.cs.uml.edu/~ucvek/lawn/patch4.jpg

Any ideas what this could be? These spots are very large, as you can see from the photos I provided on my web site. It almost looks like a different type of grass is growing in these areas, although I know this is not true – no apparent bugs or any red or moldy discolorations are apparent to me.

Your help is really appreciated, I’m at a loss at what to do to save my lawn!

Turfmiester – posted 12 May 2005 19:53

Have you had your soil tested? Your county extension agent or State College can do that for you. But as for the fertilizer, 1/2 lb/1000sq.ft. every two years is the most you need for centipede. From the pictures it looks as if it is burning up from the fertilizer. But have your soil tested too be sure.

nahoku – posted 13 May 2005 10:12

Thanks for your reply!

I will have my soil tested to make sure.

I applied the Sta-Green 15-0-15 fertilizer about a month ago, and I made sure I put it down according to the directions. We only do it once a year, every Spring (although the companies recommend doing it twice a year and claim that it holds for 2 months) and the only other product we put on our lawn is an insecticide (for ants).

I hope this has not been too much fertilizer!?

tallahassee lassie – posted 13 May 2005 12:39

Looks dry to me.

Have you checked your sprinkler by setting out a bunch of plastic cups and checking how much water you’re actually putting on that and other areas of the lawn? Partial shade near the house doesn’t need as much water as full sun, so that area may be just squeaking by.

10-20 minutes doesn’t sound like much water, I turned my big oscillating sprinkler on for 5 hours yesterday to get an inch over most of the lawn.

K.

Mrs. G – posted 15 April 2006 09:57

I was wondering if the original poster solved this mystery. The same thing is happening to my centipede grass this year. We had a large area die out last summer. I am worried that we will lose more of our lawn.

gingerkurtz – posted 05 June 2011 19:52

Judging from your pics, i would say you have an insect infestation. It could be grubs but I’d put my money on Cinch bugs from the look of the pics and from the date of your post. There are ways to test this yourself. First… spot water the area heavily, if it doesnt perk up the patch then under watering is not the issue. Next, dig your fingers into the root system of the grass and try to get it to roll up like a rug, if it is easy to pull the grass back, you probably have grubs and they will be very visible just under the surface. If not, you probably have chinch bugs which can take out an entire lawn in just a couple of weeks. You can actually see these little critters if you look closely. Google ‘chinch bugs’ so youll know what your looking for. Part the grass just outside the area which is dying and use a magnifying glass. You should see some activity. Or, You can cut both ends out of a coffee can and wedge it into the ground a couple inches, mix one gallon water with a couple teaspoons dawn dish detergent, pour it into the can and watch about five minutes, you should see them scurrying to the surface, or, you can mix five gallons of water with a quarter cup dawn detergent and flood the area right outside the damaged area and spread a white or light colored sheet on top, within a few minutes you should be able to turn the sheet over and see them crawling all over the under side trying to escape(the funnest) There are lots of home remedies for chinch bugs but at the pace this thing kills, you could lose your lawn if they dont work. Its best to purchase a chinch and grub killer and use it immediately. After you get them under control, youll need to read up on prevention. I hope this helps.