NEWLY LAID EL TORO SOD IN SAN ANTOIO, TEXAS

amenna – posted 10 September 2006 16:53

I just recently (1 1/2 months agao) sodded about 450 sq ft el toro zoysia sod and organically fertilized it after 2 weeks. It is extremely thick and growing very well and growing faster than I thought it would.I have been manually pulling weeds until recently when it became to time consuming then I finally identified the type of weed/grass it was crab grass. Is corn gluten an effective killer for this type of weed?

Also Brown Straw Color Patches are starting to show as well but I’m not able to identify if it is being eaten or just dormant (all the grass around it is very plush and thick and no fertilizer is needed.) I did notice in another part of the yard where I am replacing part of the flower bed with grass was found really thick grub worms. So could it be these nasty worms? If so, when can I treat the new sod (found a few grub worms in the new sod also?) Is it true to treat grub worms before September because they go deeper underground for the season and nothing can treat them for the following year?

Could it be chinch bugs? I did’nt look for chinch bugs because was told only problems for pests and weeds with the zoysia grass was grubs, fungus, the perennial nutsedge, and crabgrass.

Thanks in advance!

hankhill – posted 10 September 2006 22:26

You could kill the crabgrass with Image, but you may not want to use it on new turf.Crabgrass is not perennial, so I’d just put down a pre-emergent in the winterand spring to stop it next year.

You’ve waited too long to use most of the options for grubs. The only option now,AFAIK, is dylox, available at Lesco.

[This message has been edited by hankhill (edited 10 September 2006).]

TexanOne – posted 10 September 2006 23:46

Brown patches could be a number of fungal or insect problems. Here’s a website that may help you diagnose what’s wrong:

http://plantpathology.tamu.edu/Texlab/Lawns/ztop.html

If you can post some photos, maybe we can help…