Large patches of yellow grass w/ purple tips

mickapoo – posted 06 December 2002 10:44

Hi everyone,If you check out the photo on https://turfgrass.com/puzzlers

that is the exact problem I have. My lawn looks terrible, with large yellow patches, which eventually turn brown, and these yellow blades have purple tips.

I just fertilized in October, using Scotts Weed and Feed. It greened up for about two weeks, then when the new grass came in it was yellow once again.

I live in Central Florida, and am going crazy with how horrible my lawn looks. Anyone, please help!!

Thank you,Mickapoo

seed – posted 10 December 2002 15:14

Mickapoo, this weekend I got an email saying the same thing, “my lawn has large areas of yellow and (now turning brown) grass with purple tips. It appears just as the photo.”

The lady did not mention anything any Weed and Feed applications.

I would be cautious not to jump to any conclusions, because color changes in turfgrass can be caused by different phenomena.

In the case of the photos, and my experience at this time of year in South Florida, I think it may be related to a phosphorus deficiency, or at least that could be evaluated. Phosphorus is normally plentiful in many of the limestone type soils. In addition, there is clear evidence of mechanical injury to the leaves in the photo.

That may or may not help you. In fact, it seems very possible that you have some problem directly related to the fertilizer, maybe a little too much overstimulation, followed by a change in temperatures.

You can evaluate this by looking for any discernible pattern associated with your fertilization. Are there any apparent skips or overlaps? Depending on which direction you fertilized, it is possible that you might see some streaks of a different color running in the same direction as you fertilized. Is your neighbor’s lawn affected? Do you see a pattern that stops at the properly line?

Phil

George777 – posted 12 December 2002 04:58

Mickapoo, I would take a sample down to your county extension agent. The white stripes you are concerned about has me thinking it may be st. Aug decline or SAD. You will find out when your extension agent puts it under a microscope.

When the cells are induced to replicate viruses, normal plant metabolism is disrupted. A typical symptom of viral infection is chlorosis-yellowing due to lack of chlorophyll.

I don’t mean to scare ya, but I would take a sample in. Is this problem you have through out the lawn or is it isolated? SAD can be spread from mowing.

What kind of weather conditions have you had? Temp, rain, humidity, sunshine.

seed – posted 18 December 2002 15:00

I didn’t see where mickapoo said anything about white stripes. The whites stripes at https://turfgrass.com/puzzlers/ are downy mildew, and are not SAD-MV.

Phil