St. Augustine Not Rooting

Jimmy – posted 18 August 2002 12:38

About two months ago I installed St. Augustine sod and it has never taken root. I can pull up the sod as easily as the day I put it in. The sod is about 50% green and looks stressed. Before installation I tilled the soil, added a starter fertilizer, and watered-in the sod appropriately. I installed St. Augustine last year the exact same way in a contiguous area (same soil, sunlight, water, etc.), and that sod rooted in about a week, and now looks great. So, I suspect the sod I bought this year might have been diseased on purchase. Does anyone have any thoughts on this possibility? If I’m correct about disease, what should I do? Thanks.

wdrake – posted 18 August 2002 19:49

I really don’t have a good hypothesis for explaining your situation. However, ———-

1. If you didn’t tamp or roll the sod to force good contact between the sod and the soil, you may have “air pockets” where the soil dried out and the roots died .The remaining (live) roots won’t penetrate below the original layer of soil if it is dry. Try rolling it!

2 It is possible that you purchased diseased sod, but unless you got it from a Mom and Pop grower I doubt that is your problem. Only way to find out if you have a disease is to take a sample to your county cooperative extension office and they will direct you to a laboratory that can find the problem. The University Of Florida charges $30 or so per sample to check out diseased turf.

Jimmy – posted 19 August 2002 06:48

Yes, I did tamp down the sod, and the down-side surface of the sod is damp, so the roots have definitely not dried out. I bought the sod from a reputable garden center whose supplier is the Patten Seed Company. From my web research it appears to my layperson’s eyes that my sod may have gaeumannomyces graminis. If this is so, is there anything I can do to mitigate the damage? Thanks.

wdrake – posted 19 August 2002 07:30

I sure hope you are wrong on your diagnosis. I put down 8 pallets of Bitter Blue St Augustine year before last and lost essentially all of it to Take-All-Root Rot [a.k.a.Gaeumannomyces graminis fungus]. I found no cure either for the do-it-your-selfer or with a lawn service. University of Florida identified the bug, but recommended only cultural practices to treat infected soil/sod. Cut high, water infrequently, and don’t over fertilize. Some current literature suggests that adding one pound of Potassium for each pound of Nitrogen used in fertilizing may help. [You can now buy 15-0-15 fertilizers at Loews that are marked for Centipede] I tried that, but have not seen an improvement. I believe my problem is in the soil vice the sod. Pieces of the same sod used to “patch” spots in my son’s yard are doing fine. Take a look at U of F literature on this dastardly villain and thencontact the cooperative extension people for help

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/LH079