Yard Fungus: Identification Treatment And Prevention
When you spend a lot of time with the goal of having a green manicured yard, the last thing you want to see is signs of damage. You water, mow, edge and maybe even fertilize in the hopes of seeing a lush carpet. What do you do if you suspect you have yard fungus? How do you know if the damage you are seeing is a type of yard fungus or something else entirely?
St. Augustine is a popular grass for homeowners because it is shade, heat, salt and drought tolerant. When maintained properly, this variety of grass also handles normal human and animal traffic well. However, there a couple of types of lawn fungus that are more prevalent when you have St. Augustine grass. These lawn fungus types also like other warm-season grasses, such as Bermuda and Zoysia.
In this post, we will tell you what you need to know about the different types of lawn fungus, how to identify whats attacking your grass and how to treat these conditions so that you can go back to having a beautiful, healthy emerald green yard.
Brown Spots In Bermuda Grass
Is a brown patch destroying the beauty of your Bermuda grass? Dont be upset.
Brown spots in Bermuda grass is a common disease. When the temperature is high, from 70 to 90° Fahrenheit, brown patches start to scatter around the garden. Like other warm-season lawns, Bermuda grass is affected by brown spots in two seasons, late fall and early spring.
Now, we will point out here overall pick in the brown patches of the Bermuda grass.
First, you uncover the symptoms and causes of the brown spots that encourage you to identify the disease effortlessly.
Then, go through the treatment and prevention that supports discovering the ultimate solution.
Fungal Or Brown Patch Disease
If youre noticing brown patches on your lawn, one obvious culprit could be brown patch disease. While the name sounds like a broad description of a symptom, brown patch disease is actually a specific type of fungal infection. Other fungal infections can also cause brown, dead patches in your lawn. If youre facing a fungal disease in your lawn, you will need to treat it with the right fungicide for your disease. To do that, you need to know what disease you are treating. Well talk more about testing for disease later.
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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. Fungicides are designed to inhibit energy production at the cellular level and to harm cell membranes, which eventually kills the fungi that is attacking your grass. As with any type of pesticide, homeowners should do their research to identify the type of fungicide needed to manage a particular type of lawn fungus and make sure solutions are applied carefully and according to manufacturer instructions. Make sure to avoid overusing fungicide to prevent additional damage to your grass. If you are unsure about how to correctly apply treatments, contact a trusted pest professional.
Preventing Brown Patch In Lawn
homeowners can prevent brown patches to keep the garden green & active. Prevention is better than to treat brown spots after outbreaks. Alternatively, when it scattered the whole garden, you cant discourage the disease with ease.
Here is some basic prevention of the brown spots in lawns:
- Another highlighted way to prevent brown spots in Bermuda grass is overseeding, especially in the cool-season. In the winter months, some lawns go through dormancy. So, overseeding supports producing a lot of grass after fall.
- Too much irrigation is not good for your lawn. Irrigate when required and provide water if your lawn is needed.
- According to the grass types, you should keep them proper height to prevent several diseases.
- Try to keep your soil healthy. You have to ensure good drainage for the subsurface and surface areas for preventing soil compaction.
- When you notice some different syndrome of the Bermuda grass, you will test the soil. Check the soils pH rates. Is it more than 6.0 pH? Its not terrible.
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Causes Of Dead Spots In Bermudagrass
Dead, brown patches on a Bermudagrass lawn usually start as small circles. However, in the hot peak growing season, these spots can quickly grow and combine to create a patchwork of ugly dead grass. The first step to beating dead patches is determining the cause. Typically, dead spots in bermudagrass have one of four causes.
Keep It Under Control
The good news is that your turf can recover from brown patch. The bad news? You may have to wait until the active growing season to see an improvement in appearance. While a fungicide application can help prevent spread to other areas, spots that have rotted will need to regrow.
Meanwhile, steps should be taken to ensure youre not transferring the fungus to healthy parts of your lawn. Affected areas should not be mowed, as that could cause diseased clippings to deposit elsewhere, spreading the infection. You should also avoid walking over the area so your shoes dont transport the spores. Finally, its important to not apply fertilizer during an outbreak. Sure, youll feed your lawn, but youll also feed the fungus, too.
Because brown or yellow spots can be the result of a number of causes, its important to have your lawn assessed by an experienced landscape professional. If brown patch is confirmed, proper treatment is critical. Self-diagnosis and treatment could make the problem worse. Our teams are experienced in treating brown patch, and can help make the process stress-free. Request a free quote or give us a call at .
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How To Treat Your Yard For Lawn Fungus
Once you have determined what type of fungus or disease is present, its time to treat. Its best to treat a diseased lawn as soon as you spot the problem, as some diseases can spread and kill the whole lawn.
The type of disease or fungus you have will determine the best treatment option. In some cases, the issue is weather or seasonally dependent and will clear up on its own once the weather changes. Other problems need immediate mitigation, such as fairy ring, powdery mildew, or smut, as they can kill the plants or cause permanent damage to the lawn.
To treat your issues, first identify whether it can be eradicated via changing your practices. Powdery mildew, for example, may be able to be taken care of by rinsing the plants and getting rid of leaves or any other nearby debris that is causing it to spread. Avoiding overwatering, letting the grass grow a bit longer between mowing and not over fertilizing can also help clear up the problem.
Some homeowners prefer to try to treat lawn diseases organically, rather than using fungicide. If your areas of fungus are small, using treatments like neem oil, cornmeal or baking soda solutions can be effective. Before you opt for an organic approach, though, do your research and be aware of the potential drawbacks. In some cases, using home remedies can only make the problem worse, or introduce new, unexpected issues.
Positively Identify The Disease As Red Thread
Among the first lawn diseases of the growing season, red thread is extremely common in spring but can appear in fall in and winter as well. Cool, wet weather and prolonged overcast conditions create the ideal environment for it to thrive.
In addition to the pinkish-red color, lawns affected by red thread have grass blades that look ragged and seem to be dying back from the tip of the leaf. The affected grass will appear in irregularly shaped, straw-like patches that range in size from 2 inches to 3 feet in diameter.
The red, thread-like strands that may also be present appear more often in later stages of the disease. Youll notice brittle, antler-like strands extending ¼ inch or more from grass leaf tips. When grass is wet, red thread appears darker red in color when dry, it looks more pink. The best time to look for red thread is in the early morning when theres still dew on the blades. As red thread disease continues to progress, you may also see a pink, gelatinous growth on top of grass blades.
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Apply Fungicide If Needed
To control lawn diseases such as brown patch and dollar spot – or help prevent them if you have had disease problems in previous years – apply a fungicide made for lawns. Scotts® DiseaseEx Lawn Fungicide provides broad spectrum disease prevention and control. You can apply any time on all lawn types. Just be sure to follow the directions on the label.
Best Fungicide For Brown Patch In St Augustine Lawns
Brown patch fungi are quite stubborn and cannot be wiped out with only a single application of fungicides. As such, you should ensure regular application of the appropriate anti-fungal treatments such as thiophanate-methyl or propiconazole. While doing so, ensure to follow the manufacturers instructions on frequency of application for maximum effectiveness. For instance, when using thiophanate-methyl anti-fungal products, you should apply no less than 6.75 pounds for every 5000 square feet of lawn area every 14-21 days.
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How To Prevent And Treat Lawn Fungal Diseases
A simple change in your lawn care practices may be enough to prevent or eradicate lawn fungal disease. At other times nature may deliver a soggy spring or summer heat wave that just cant be helped. Stressed or unhealthy lawns are much more likely to develop disease so the better you care for your lawn, the better the grass will be able to handle the natural conditions in your area.
Follow these steps to help take control of fungal diseases in your lawn:
What Natural Home Remedy Will Kill Grass Fungus
17 July, 2017
For many people, keeping a green, uniform-looking lawn is important. A solid sheet of grass is not a natural environment, however, and invasive plants and organisms are constantly trying to break it up. Many varieties of fungus can appear in lawns, but a number of natural home remedies can alleviate problems associated with grass fungus. Some types of fungus can cause diseases in your yard, but treatment with fungicide is not recommended.
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Five Best Causes Of The Brown Spots In Bermuda Grass
Generally, every gardener loves his/her lawns and desires to get the lush green grasses always. Without knowing the fundamental causes of the brown spots in Bermuda grass, no one can protect or prevent the disheartening spots appropriately.
Plus, you cant take the right steps to prevent this remedy and dont stay in black green lawns. So, we mention here five causes of brown spots:
Dollar Spot Fungus On Your Lawn
Dollar spot fungus is a pest that invades lawns, killing grass. If your lawn has been stricken with dollar spot fungus, use the following methods to save your grass.
- Water infrequently and only water in the morning.
- Apply a high-nitrogen fertilizer.
- Mow your lawn at a higher blade height.
- Clear your lawn of leaves and debris.
- Dethatch your grass.
- Bag and dispose of grass clippings.
- Use a fungicide to kill dollar spot fungus.
This invasive fungus can attack most turfgrass species, including Bermuda Grass, Ryegrass, Fescue, Bentgrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, and Zoysia. If your lawn is being attacked, take immediate action before the fungus spreads.
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Will Dollar Spot Fungus Go Away On Its Own
If temperatures rise above 85 and the lawn is not excessively moist, then dollar spot fungus will die out. However, dont count on mother nature to wipe out the fungus. It can do a lot of damage to your green lawn before summer temperatures stop it.
In some cases, dollar spot fungus may linger throughout the summer in shady areas with high soil moisture, then explode into life again in fall, causing a second invasion. Rather than wait for it to come back, attack the dollar spot early to kill it.
How Do You Get Rid Of St Augustine Grass Fungus
Do you have St. Augustine grass growing on your lawn and have started noticing signs of turf stress lately? Do you suspect that the turf damage is due to fungal infestation but arent 100% sure? Brown patches or burnt out turf sections on St. Augustine lawns could be as a result of various factors, including fungal infestation, pest infestation, weed invasions, excessive shading, and so on.
Therefore, to be sure that the problem youre dealing with is a fungal disease, you need to know the signs and symptoms for identifying fungus on St. Augustine grass. We discuss these identification signs and more in this blog, complete with a section on how to get rid of various types of lawn fungi.
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What Causes Brown Patch Disease
Of all St. Augustine grass fungal diseases, brown patch causes the most damage to turfs, as it leaves behind large sections of unsightly brown patches over a short period of time. The disease is caused by Rhizoctonia fungus, which finds nitrogen-deficient lawns more favorable. Rhizoctonia also prefer hot and humid conditions, hence the disease advances more rapidly when temperature conditions rise to about 80-degrees Fahrenheit.
During fall, Rhizoctonia fungi usually hide out in the grass thatch. The cold temperatures and high humidity during this time of the year favors them. As such, once the temperatures drop below 80-degrees Fahrenheit, these fungi start penetrating the grass blades via the stomata, causing stress damage in the process. These fungi are also more likely to appear on your lawn if theres excessive soil moisture due to rainfall or irrigating too frequently. As such, you can make your St. Augustine turf less-vulnerable to brown patch disease by avoiding overwatering and ensuring proper soil drainage.
How To Spot The Fungus
The funny thing about brown patch is that it doesnt start out brown at all. In fact, the first signs of trouble are when a circular or oblong pattern of light-yellow discoloration appears in your grass. Eventually, the affected area will turn from orange to tan. It will continue to spread outward, sometimes leaving small green patches at the center. The discoloration is caused when the fungus infects each leaf, causing them to rot.
Brown patch fungus can affect all cool-season grasses, but it is especially harmful to ryegrass and tall fescue. Brown patch also affects a variety of warm-season grasses, including St. Augustine grass, Bermuda, and zoysiagrass.
One of the most frustrating aspects of brown patch is that once you spot it, the damage is already done and the fungus is thriving. The trick to successfully eradicating brown patch is understanding the fungus lives beyond where the eye can see, in your soil. When the conditions are right, the fungus strikes, making preventive measures all the more important.
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Lawn Treatments For Pythium Blight
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Pythium blight, also known as cottony blight, spot blight or grease spot, affects grass in the summer when the humidity is high. It appears most often when daytime temperatures are above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, with night time temperatures at least 20 degrees cooler. It is separate from pythium root dysfunction, which occurs at similar temperatures but in dry conditions.
Cool-season grasses are more susceptible than warm-season grasses, so if poor drainage and pythium blight are a frequent problem, it may be best to plant a different type of grass. You can usually control pythium blight by changing how you treat your grass, but you may have to use fungicides as a last resort.
What Else Might Be Wrong With My Grass
There are several other reasons your grass might be dying or yellow. A pest infestation, underwatering, iron chlorosis and too much shade also cause your yard to die.
When it comes to lawn pests, chinch bugs are the most common culprit to eat away at your grass. These insects typically start near concrete areas such as driveways, sidewalks or curbs. To test for chinch bugs, cut the hole out of the bottom of a metal can . Push the can into the yard about one inch deep near the dead patch. Fill the can with water. If you have chinch bugs, these pesky pests will float to the top of the water.
Grubs can also damage your lawn by feeding on the roots. These creatures can cause damage to your grassespecially after you resodwhich can result in your being able to lift turf like a carpet, especially if you have St. Augustine. To determine if you have a grub problem, cut a one-foot square piece of sod in your yard where you believe you have a problem. Lift the section up and visibly inspect it to see if you see the grubs in the soil.
If your grass needs more water, the blades will typically curl in. When you walk across a lawn that is water-deficient, you will be typically be able to see your footprints. To avoid lawn damage from insufficient water, try to water deeply and less frequently instead of watering every day.
If your grass has yellow stripes or is completely yellow, you may have iron chlorosis. This condition occurs when you have too much phosphorus in your soil.
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