St. Augustine plugs not so green

Jason – posted 07 September 2001 19:10

I had my lawn plugged about 2 months ago. In the last 3 weeks it has just started looking brown. Many of the plugs have brown spots on the blades and they are thinning and dying out. About 20 plugs are a total loss and I question whether the others are going to pull thru. The company that installed them also sprays for weeds and bugs every month. They came out and sprayed and they said, “too much water, caused a fungus, they will come back”. About a week later I called again and had the supervisor come out a look. He left me a message saying that the weed killer was hurting the plugs and he planted about 15 more. Needless to say I don’t know what the problem is and neither do they. I’ve invested 4 months and $1500 to grow these plugs and now they look worse than ever. Does anyone know of a solution? I’m growing frustrated and and beginning to wish I had just had sod installed (even if it was 2x the price).

Jason – posted 15 September 2001 20:44

I believe the problem is Dollar Spot but the plugging company believes the weed killer caused the problem. What can I do to take care of Dollar Spot without causing anymore damage?

seed – posted 17 September 2001 08:14

Jason, sorry it’s taken so long for you to get a response. While there may be a fungus disease, dollar spot is not the most likely one, based on my experience in South Florida. Dollar spot is typically seen in mature sod, and is usually fairly benign in St. Augustinegrass. The sod company’s suggestions for the cause of the problem (too much water, herbicide injury) may be plausible, but without more evidence, it would be hard to decide what is going on, and risky to correct a problem with no known cause.

Here are some specific questions:1. What was the name of the weed killer that was used, and at what rate of application?2. Were there unusual environmental circumstances at the time of the weed killer (herbicide) application?3. What was the water situation during the last two months? Was it rainy? How frequently was it irrigated? Too much?4. What kind of St. Augustinegrass plugs were used (variety name, e.g., Floratam, Palmetto, Raleigh, Delmar, FX-10, etc.)?5. What happened after the plugs were planted? Did they grow out as runners from the plug? Are the brown spots on the leaf blades of the runners? Or on the original plugs?6. What is the size and shape of the brown spots? Are they distinctive circles or ovals in the center of the blades, or are biting in from the margins? Are they uniform brown or do they have a smokey ring around the outside?7. Were the plugs planted in a shady area?

Plugging can be a good way to start a new lawn, and the cost savings is not the only advantage. The disdadvantages, however, are the approximately 3-5 months that it should take to get a lawn fully covered, and the difficulty of fighting weeds.

Thanks, Phil