Please help me with my St. Augustine Grass

Lsrlevy – posted 10 May 2001 19:02

My St. Augustine Grass has recently started turning brown. My front lawn now has brown spots in several spots. You can pull out the root stem and the bottom of the root is brown and rotten.

It has been very dry here in Florida. I have been watering my grass about two to three times a week in the morning for about twenty minutes at a time. I have tried Daconill, Dursban, and fertilizer. Nothing seems to help.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

wdrake – posted 10 May 2001 20:01

Sounds like my problem form last year. I sent sample to UF for analysis and they identified it as Take All Root Rot. There is no recommended corrective treatment.

Suggest you contact your county agent for advice on what to do next.

Good luck Bill Drake Niceville FL

Burlap_Etc – posted 15 May 2001 22:15

quote:Originally posted by Lsrlevy:My St. Augustine Grass has recently started turning brown. My front lawn now has brown spots in several spots. You can pull out the root stem and the bottom of the root is brown and rotten.

It has been very dry here in Florida. I have been watering my grass about two to three times a week in the morning for about twenty minutes at a time. I have tried Daconill, Dursban, and fertilizer. Nothing seems to help.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

O Boy,

I do actually have a recommendation. Find a product called Banner Maxx it is infact labled for Take All if that is what it is.Banner Maxx is a systemic product that means $$. If turf is to far along it may be to late. Although rare it is possible to have Take all in St. Aug. Turf. I have personally never seen it in St. Aug. Give it a shot. Burlap_Etc

Burlap_Etc

seed – posted 16 May 2001 08:52

Take-all Root Rot Disease of St. Augustinegrass is a patch disease involving thinning, unresponsive turf, and severe root rot, and the causal organism is the fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis

Banner MAXX by Novartis is a broad spectrum fungicide containing propiconazole, a demethylation inhibitor (DMI) and it has shown strong plant growth regulator effects on bermudagrass, which have been shown to be very harmful to golf course greens at high rates of application. There is also a risk of slowing down the growth of St. Augustinegrass, particularly at high rates of application, and possibly at high temperatures. The label is guarded on its usefulness for Take-All Patch, caused by the same organism, “Apply Banner MAXX to reduce the severity of take-all pathc.” Banner MAXX also has a Warning label, and there are specific safety clothing requirements for the applicator, and a restriction time on worker reentry.

With these issues, it might be good to look at alternative environmental factors that could help reduce the severity of infection, and to be very cautious about doing anything that could make the siutation worse.

In my personal experience in South Florida, St. Augustinegrass lawns with a Take-All Root Rot problem are often those with high soil pH > 8.0, and thatchy lawns that have received more-than-enough nitrogen fertilizer. That’s not much consolation once you’ve already got a problem. But it does imply that moderation is better than excess, there’s no point in fertilizing heavily, since the roots are not now functional. Also, some people have said that they gained temporary relief by applications of iron, and if you do fertilize with nitrogen and if you do have a high soil pH, then preferably use ammonium sulfate as your primary nitrogen source, because it has the maximum potential for pH reduction.

I have noticed the Take-All problem in South Florida as mainly a late summer and early fall problem. September is the peak month.

Phil

MBoyer1125 – posted 14 June 2001 18:31

Hello. I’m a certified commercial lawn applicator in Texas. I have some experience with take-all. It causes root failure in the spring & fall. Often decline continues in summer because of drought & high temps. I’ve used Banner max & Rubigan. Sometimes they help, sometimes not. Adding 1″-2″ of topsoil has helped(don’t totally cover the grass blades) I’m researching an organic product.

bill@palmbeachfertilizer. – posted 23 June 2001 01:45

A very loose thread, the first post discusses an undiagnosed lawn problem, (note, Daconil doesn’t control all fungal problems, also, Daconil is no longer labeled for residential turf.Then, the following post tunnel visions on “ take-all”, very uncommon in Palm Beach Co, also states “There is no recommended corrective treatment”. There may be no chemical cure in St. aug, although there is corrective treatment. Cultural !!The next post recommends the banner fungicide; it may be on the banner label forTake-all, although it doesn’t work on st.aug (last time I researched it, 2 years ago).

The site I had experience with was over watered for years, take-all set in, fungicides had minimal effect. The reduced irrigation frequency and liquid lawn fertilizers to promote a root system were recommended by Dr. Elliot, Ft Lauderdale. This worked, very little st. aug was actually lost. The last several years we have not had a return of this disease.

My limited “take-all” experience was on a large site with reclaimed irrigation water. I was wondering if the gray/green/purple water source might have been a contributing factor. If anyone has experience with this disease and reclaimed water please respond. Thanks, Bill Imboden, Academy Services, Inc. west palm beach, fl 561 478 4629

new to fl – posted 06 September 2003 19:49

I am new to north central FL in Aug ’03. During the end of Aug & beginning of Sept, my St aug grass started to turn brown and spread. A soil sample shows take all root rot. None of the lawn people I have talked to know what to other than “fertilize and it should ocme back when the weather cools.” My research on the web contradicts that approach, although most papers etc are almost a decade old. Anyone know of any new recommended approaches?

wdrake – posted 07 September 2003 23:52

My Take-All problem has not improved with “better cultural practices”, (infrequent watering, less Nitrogen, 3-4 inch cutting height, etc) which is what most authorities suggest. I also tried one of the currently popular “organic remedies”; corn meal–and found nothing positive to indicate it works! I replaced a portion of my St Augustine with Centipede as some literature suggests it may be more resistant. It is not. At least in my NW Florida yard it isn’t. After 4 months of good looking Centipede it is now starting to decline and the weeds are moving in. Only advice I have is to contact your country extension office and see what they say.

bill@palmbeachfertilizer. – posted 15 September 2003 19:35

to w.drake

The county agent probably doesn’t know. You should reread my previous thread. A liquid fertilizer program was recommended by the plant pathologist I referred to earlier. The diseased turf has no roots to take up granular fertilizers. The foliar fertilizers are required to heal(push roots) the diseased turf, without roots to support the plant, there’s not much chance of recovery. Here’s a specific case that proves “that N is bad for fungal problems” is a general rule that has exceptions. This recommendation is from the researcher, and it works. The deeper thought is, that most Take-all turf samples come back with other pathogens present. The weakened turf may need other remedies (fungicides to deal with the other pathogens, usually Rhizoctonia). As for the “most authorities” reference to low N, Dr. Elliot is the published authority on Bermuda Decline in Florida.

It’s time to send a disease sample to the State of Fl lab. If you know what disease and follow the recommendations you’ll have a better looking turf.

I wonder why the centipede is dying ?

Bill

wdrake – posted 16 September 2003 21:42

Thanks Bill.

I appreciate the suggestions. I tried the foliage or liquid fertilizer route as soon as I discovered I had a root problem with the St Augustine. I observed some improvement, but nothing close to building new roots and resurrecting the turf. I sent St Augustine samples to University of Florida and they identified take-all as my problem and recommended improving my cultural practices as a semi-cure. I’ve also gone through two yearly cycles of preventative fungicide applications as recommend by the U of F folks. My St Augustinegrass is still in decline! I also believe my Centipede has succumbed to take-all; however, I haven’t tested.

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 18 September 2003 10:49

Here is what Texas A&M University says about corn meal as a fungicide.

quote:Biological Control of Soilborne Fungi It is known that certain fungal species in the genus Trichoderma feed on mycelium and sclerotia of Sclerotinia minor. Sclerotium rolfsii and Rhizoctonia sp. All peanut fields in Texas tested to date have a natural population of Trichoderma. For several years, tests have been conducted in Texas using corn meal to stimulate Trichoderma development as a way to control the major soilborne disease fungi. When yellow corn meal is applied to fields in the presence of moist surface soil, Trichoderma builds up very rapidly over a 5 to 10 day period. The resulting high Trichoderma population can destroy vast amounts of Sclerotinia, Sclerotium and Rhizoctonia. This enhanced, natural biological control process is almost identical to the processes that occur when crop rotation is practiced. The level of control with corn meal is influenced by: 1) organic matter source 2) soil moisture, 3) temperature, and 4) pesticides used. Seasonal applications of certain fungicides may inhibit Trichoderma. Testing will continue to determine the rates and application methods that will give consistent, economical control.

What this says is that using corn meal on peanuts is as good as crop rotation. If the treatment did not work for you, then it was probably due to previous use of fungicide that killed off the Trichoderma. If not, then I suppose it is possible there was never any Trichoderma there to begin with and compost would be needed along with the corn meal.

Tiny1770 – posted 20 September 2003 07:53

My St Augustine yard in rainy central FL has 6 large brown spots about 4 feet in diameter. I tried liquid copper fungicide a few weeks ago with no improvement. The last 3 years I sprayed regularly for chinch bugs, but never treated for fungus. Now my bad diagnosis is haunting me. My neighbors are encountering fungus problems also and callers to the garden shows are reporting unusually heavy fungus problems due to the rainy summer. Yesterday I applied Scott’s lawn fungus control, $16.50 for 10 lb bag at Lowe’s, heavily around brown areas and lightly around the rest of the yard for prevention. I have cut way back on watering and it will take about 35 or 40 sods to replace the dead grass. I haven’t tried corn meal yet, but will probably try that in the future.

daveworld – posted 29 September 2003 10:28

i would jump on the corn meal ! the scott’s i applied x 2 , about 2 to 3 month’s ago. virtually all of my st.Augustine has died.

Tiny1770 – posted 19 October 2003 13:41

My feed store doesn’t have corn meal, so I used Scott’s lawn fungus control 4 weeks ago. Turned off my sprinkler system during this period. So far there has been no spreading of the brown patch on my Floratam.Removed the dead grass with a steel-bladed weedeater and bagger mower.Will re-sod next week with new Floratam. It will take about 20 sods. It’s a miracle that my whole yard didn’t die, b/c I was watering 3 or more times a week just after midnight.I will cut back the water to once a week and nearer to sunrise to prevent moisture problems.

ted posted 19 October 2003 15:42

yeah ,the watering was definitely getting you. considering it’s probably brown patch, the keeping it wet during the dark nights is causing the fungus. the scotts products would have no effect on the brown patch and a grass blade is a long way from a peanut! next year cut out watering during the rainy hurricane seasons and get a pro to use a product called prostar as a preventative measure- once you see the brown circles you cannot remove them with fungicide. also keep your nutrient levels correct by soil testing. you could easily have imbalances which could greatly effect the strength of the lawn to resist disease. keep the fertilizer lean during aug. and sept, cut back on the watering, and bag your clippings and use a professional strength fungicides as a preventative.

Airwave1 – posted 04 June 2005 18:00

crittendentina – posted 24 November 2008 12:03

I have St. Augustine grass in the back yard, my chemcial company sprayed 2-4-D what would happen to my grass

jncollier – posted 17 October 2011 09:07

I have been reading about the problems in this particular post. I was wondering if anybody new whether or not a possible solution might be to re-sod the infected area in the spring after applying some top soil on the affected area.