Lawn Disease & Fungus Control: How To Get Rid Of Lawn Diseases
This page is a general lawn disease and fungus control guide. Using the products and methods suggested you can get control of any lawn fungus or disease. The lawn disease category pages provide additional information on the different types of fungus and disease and specific treatment instructions and options. Follow these guides and use the recommended products and we guarantee 100% control of all lawn fungus issues.
Has your lush green lawn all of a sudden started experiencing patches or has started to brown? It can be a cause for concern as there may be a lawn disease or fungus present. Lawn fungus and disease can come in a variety of forms. Some signs of disease include discoloration, brown and yellow patches of dead grass, the appearance of mushrooms, spots on leaves, or slimy/powdery residue among other examples.
Lawn diseases and fungi can progress on a yard quickly, starting out as yellow, tan or brown spots in your yard before degrading into something worse, potentially even killing your turfgrass if there is no intervention.
If your lawn is suffering from fungus-based diseases, we can help. By using our cost-effective lawn fungus killers and following the step by step instructions in our DIY lawn and fungus treatment guide below, youre guaranteed to make your lawn disease-free while saving money.
Causes Of Fungus Gnat Infestation
Knowing how to kill fungus gnats is easy, but it’s better off to prevent them altogether. Part of doing that is understanding what causes an infestation in the first place.
Fungus gnat eggs are generally planted in overly moist soil, though outdoors they’re known to even use moist, rotting wood. If it’s moist and has fungus growing, especially in topsoil, they like it.
Early intervention is the key to preventing an outbreak. If you see adults flying around in any significant numbers you need to act in the ways mentioned above, and quickly since their life cycle is so fast.
You need to get rid of the adults and stop eggs from hatching and larvae from developing all at once, otherwise multiple generations can grow while you’re just dealing with the adults over and over.
The cause of an infestation indoors and outdoors is simply a lack on your part to attack at least two stages of the life cycle to put an end to the replication.
How Do I Get Rid Of Red Grass
To get rid of red grass, fertilize your lawn with high nitrogen fertilizer because red thread occurs on a low nutrient lawn. The other thing you can do to remove red thread fast from your lawn is to apply fungicide in your lawn, which will remove the disease faster from the lawn but can cause some temporary damage to the lawn.
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How To Apply Patch Pro Fungicide
When applying Patch Pro Fungicide to lawn, there are procedures you should carry out to ensure there are effective.
First
Signs Of Fungus On St Augustine Grass
First, it is important to identify the problem because there are possibly other reasons for browning and dead spots including grub infestation in a lawn. Signs of fungus on St. Augustine lawn include:
- Stolons start to turn brown.
- Brown spots and patches on your lawn.
- Yellowing of grass blades in a random pattern.
- Dark brown fungal threads covering the stolons and crowns of grass.
Fungal diseases on St. Augustine grass manifest themselves in the form of irregular brown spots. In terms of size, these circular spots can go anywhere from a few inches to several feet in diameter. However, this appearance may vary depending on the soil conditions.
Additionally, if its a fungal problem thats gone untreated for a while, the inner part of the grass patches may recover and regain their green color, with rings of dead grass surrounding them.
When under fungal disease attack, St. Augustine grass blades that occur near the grounds surface tend to spot a dark-brown color along the edges and irregular tan spots that resemble a burnt-up cigarette.
If youre unsure as to the cause of the burns on your St. Augustine grass , your best option would be to consult a lawn-care professional.
Alternatively, you can call your local county extension offices, as theyre usually in possession of local laboratory listings. You can send a soil and grass sample from your lawn to one of these labs to be tested for fungal infection.
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What Are Fungus Gnats
Fungus Gnats make up 6 of the 7 families in the superfamily Sciaroidea. They can be helpful because they aid in the decomposition of organic matter, like in compost. They’re typically just annoying, but there are predator types in the Arachnocampa genus in the Keroplatidae family.
The are also pollinators and even can aid in the spreading of mushroom spores.
The main problem associated with them is they carry diseases that are particularly deadly to plants, such as pythium, which causes a condition called damping-off, as mentioned below.
Unlike other pests, you can find these year-round due to their bodily make-up including antifreeze proteins that makes them exceptionally tolerant of cold weather.
How To Repair Lawn Spots Damaged By Brown Patch
Once brown patch has been treated and is under control, its time to fix up any bare spots left by the disease. A simple way to do this is to use an three-in-one patch and repair mix like Scotts® EZ Seed®. Formulated to absorb water to keep the seed moist and protected, it has everything you need to patch and repair bare spots. Just be sure to choose the formula designed for your grass type, follow the directions on the bottle, and apply during early spring or fall for best results.
To thicken up lawns that have had large areas thinned out by brown patch, overseed your entire lawn during the late summer or early fall with Scotts® Turf Builder® ThickR Lawn Sun & Shade or Scotts® Turf Builder® ThickR Lawn Tall Fescue Mix . Both formulas contain a combination of seed, controlled-release fertilizer, and soil improvers.
With a little care and Scotts by your side, your problems with brown patch will be a thing of the past.
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How To Identify & Treat Lawn Fungus
Grass, just like any plant, can be afflicted with fungal diseases. Fungal diseases spread through fungus spores that usually do nothing to grass. However, under the right conditions, these fungal pathogens can spread and cause disease.
There isnt just one type of fungal disease, either: there are dozens, and some types of fungal disease are more common in some areas than others. For this reason, its important to understand what fungal infections can be hurting your grass, how they spread, and how to prevent them.
What Does Dollar Spot Fungus Look Like
Dollar spot fungus first appears in your grass as spots about the size of a silver dollar that are tan or light brown in color. Straw-colored spots on the grass blade may be ringed with reddish-brown. When viewed closely, especially when moisture is present in the grass, you may be able to see fuzzy, cobweb-like white strands on grass blades. This is the Sclerotinia fungus itself.
If not treated early, the small straw-colored spots can grow to 6 inches or larger in diameter. Large patches of grass can be killed by the fungus if left unchecked.
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How Do You Get Rid Of Grass Rust
Good news here! Grass rust is probably the easiest lawn disease to get rid of.
An application of a high-nitrogen, quick-release fertilizer, such as Scotts Turf Builder WinterGuard Fall Lawn Food, when rust appears will make it disappear quickly. Nitrogen triggers leaf growth. This surge of growth when the lawn is naturally trying to slow down will grow the grass out of trouble. If your lawn is dry, watering the grass will also stimulate growth. Applying a fungicide is seldom necessary and not recommended.
How To Prevent Fungus Gnats
Of course, once you get rid of your fungus gnat problem, you’ll want to do what you can to prevent it the next time. Thankfully these are very passive methods that take nearly zero effort the first time and then you don’t have to do anything else.
Inspect Plants Before Purchase – If you see any fungus gnats fly up when handling the potted plant, reject it and those around it. You can turn up an inch or two of soil and see if you can find any larvae.
Let Your Soil Dry Out – The first thing you can do is make sure you allow more time to pass between waterings of your plants.
Fungus gnats like to lay their eggs in moist soil, so if the top is too dry for their taste, they’ll move on to another location . Just pinch the top inch of your soil occasionally to check dryness.
Add a Layer of Sand – Another way to keep your soil dry is to place about a 1/2 of an inch of coarse sand across the top of your soil. It’s not the prettiest solution but it drains quickly so adult gnats won’t be tempted to lay eggs.
It also helps stop growing larvae from every being able to emerge out of the soil and through the sand. The annoyance with this is you’ll need to start watering from the bottom of your container so you don’t wash the sand away.
Cover the Drainage Holes – If you’re taking care of the top portions of the soil as mentioned above, fungus gnats will still seek out the moist drainage holes, so you need to cover them too.
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How To Fix Lawn Fungus
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Now weve settled into national lockdown, the pace of life has slowed significantly. Each day small tasks like sweeping our patios, taking care of Spring pruning, and watering plants keep us busy, active and healthy when its essential to stay home, stay safe and save lives. We finally have the time and freedom to breathe, get our hands muddy and immerse ourselves in nature. One of the most overlooked issues you can refocus on during quarantine is how to fix lawn fungus. Fungal diseases can come in a variety of forms, from threads, slimes, and patches to rings and spots.
You can take action to stop the spread of fungal diseases with effective treatments. Here is our guide to fungal threats and the best ways to eradicate them:
How Do You Bring A Dead Lawn Back To Life
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Are Redwoods Fire Resistant
Once in a great while, fire will go up the trunk of a Sequoia, burn the crown, and thus kill the tree. Both kinds of Redwood are thus exceedingly resistant to fire and its effects. Once a fire was started, it swept through the forest, burning pines, firs, and young Sequoias, but seldom killing a mature Sequoia.
How To Identify Lawn Fungal Diseases
Signs that your lawn may have a fungal disease include:
- White, yellow, or brown patches or rings that grow in diameter.
- Thin patches of frayed, distorted, or discolored grass blades.
- Gray, black, red, orange, or purple spots on blades or stems.
- Gray, black, or pink powdery or threadlike coatings on and around grass blades.
- Areas of darkened, wet-looking, slimy, or greasy-looking grass.
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Killing Mushrooms With Baking Soda
Mix 1 tbsp of baking soda with 1 gallon of water to make a simple fungicide to kill mushrooms in your yard. Like vinegar, baking soda can change the pH of your yard. Of course, you would have to use a lot of it for that but its good not to use too much.
Alternate between using baking soda sprays and vinegar sprays to kill mushrooms. The two will interact to keep the pH of the soil neutral. Of course, doing this adds salts to your yard which are also bad.
If you can, the best way to get rid of mushrooms is always to wait, let them consume whatever dead plant matter is there, then theyll leave when all the dead matter is gone making your soil and lawn healthier in the process.
How Do I Get Rid Of Black Fungus In My Lawn
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The black substance on lawns is a primitive organism that is actually beneficial. It creeps along leaf blades eating dead organic matter, bacteria and even other molds. Slime mold on grass is not damaging to the turf, but if appearance is a problem you can remove it.
Furthermore, how do I get rid of lawn fungus naturally? Try natural treatments that kill fungicide.If you don’t like using chemicals, there are a few natural options you can try. Neem oil, compost tea, and baking soda solutions can all kill fungus. Pour or sprinkle the natural treatment over the infected patch.
Beside this, will lawn fungus go away on its own?
Unfortunately, lawn fungus will not disappear if left untreated. The most effective way to manage yard fungus is to use a fungicide and practice good turf management. Make sure to avoid overusing fungicide to prevent additional damage to your grass.
When should I apply fungicide to my lawn?
Preventatively, fungicides should be applied to turfgrass fescue in the late spring or early summer. Frequently brown patch becomes obvious around the first week of May in the Upstate. Warm season turfgrasses require fungicide treatments in the spring, but especially in the fall for best disease control.
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Why Is My Grass Red And How To Get Rid Of It
Wondering why your lawn is turning red. Is your lawn dying or have some issues? The cause can be a fungus disease which is very common on a lawn with cool conditions.
Why does my grass have red tips? The red tips on the grass are due to a fungal disease called a red thread. This disease is caused by a fungus present in the lawn called Laetisaria Fuciformis, which favors cool and humid weather. The other cause of red thread disease is the bad health of the soil. You will see red threads growing above the grass leaves.
The red thread disease is worrying for a lawn owner but there are certain things that you can do to eliminate this disease from your lawn. Lets talk about these things in detail:
How To To Get Rid Of Brown Patch Fungus On Grass
Many conditions can cause patches of brown, dead grass on your lawn, but only one gets the official name brown patch. Brown patch disease is a condition caused by a single species of fungus, Rhizoctonia, that often occurs in mid- to late-summer when the weather is hot and humid.
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Helping Prevent Resistance To Fungicides
When using fungicides for recurring lawn disease problems, you need to alternate fungicides. Lawn diseases can become resistant to fungicides with repeated use. It is not as simple as picking two different products or two different brands you will want to select at least two fungicides with different modes of action or active ingredients.
Preventing Lawn Disease And Fungus
The best way to deal with lawn disease and fungus is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Often, issues arise due to the way homeowners care for their lawns. Even some well-intentioned habits can cause problems, and making changes can prevent disease or keep it from causing permanent or widespread damage.
Some of the best methods of lawn fungus control to keep disease away include:
- Watering properly. Overwatering can cause mold, mildew and yard fungus to form. Once your grass is established, water deeply but less frequently. Your grass only needs about an inch of water per week. Water early in the day so grass will dry in the sun wet grass is more susceptible to fungus.
- Mow regularly, but dont cut the blades too short. Grass that is too short is more hospitable to disease. Keep your blades sharp so they cut without damage.
- Clean up debris from your yard. Leaving piles of leaves, branches and other debris creates the ideal breeding ground for fungus.
- Improve drainage. If you have low-lying areas or spots that dont drain well, fix them so that water doesnt pool and cause problems.
- Test the soil. Sometimes the problem is due to the nutrient balance in the soil, and changing or adjusting how you feed can solve it.
- Prevent spread by cleaning tools. Clean all of your lawn tools, including mower blades, rakes and shovels with a mixture of water and bleach to kill any spores that could be hiding there, waiting to cause a problem.
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