Centipefe decline

krammatt – posted 27 May 2002 12:01

I think that my 10 year old centipede lawn here in eastern NC is in decline. I have been using 6-6-18 Tobacco fertilizer(Rainbow) annually at a rate of 10lb/1000ft at 50% greenup and then in 30 days at 5lb/1000ft. I spray Atrazine in the winter while all is dormant. I have patchy areas of dead grass, especially around the septic tank drain lines. I mow my grass at about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches(the next setting lower on my mower tends to scalp). I have done no soil testing since this region tend to have acidic soil. What do I need to do?

jleeds1 – posted 23 June 2002 06:07

Well, I am an e. NC centipede decliner as well. I have the exact same problem, especially around my septic lines. From what I can tell, it is probably a combination of things. Too much nitrogen, even with the ‘centipede’ fertilizers, nitrogen is tough on centipede, and if you use a mulching mower like I do, you are probably getting enough nitrogen (I read this somewhere). Along these same lines, your sandy lawn, like mine, needs iron and sulfur. From what I understand, centipede loves this. I have used some liquid iron and it seems to help. Of course the greening that it cause may just make me think that its working. You may also have pests. I have lots of little bugs and they are accompanied by lots of little moles. This is a big problem, which I hope to eliminate with some bags of bug killer.

I read something the other day that said centipede is NOT well suited to sandy coastal soils, which surprised me, especially considering it is so common. Something else I read– the best thing you can do for your centipede is to water occasionally and go fishing! I hope this helps and let me know if you find any other solutions. le******@ho*****.com (wilmington)