What Does Lawn Fungus Look Like

Quit Worrying About Lawn Fungus

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How To Spot Fungal Diseases In Your Lawn

From highly-obvious spots, rings, threads to dead-looking patches brown patches, fungal diseases can take many forms. Examine your grass for signs of dampness, squishy roots and stems or fine white threads in your soil.

Others signs your lawn may have a fungal disease include:

• A wet-looking, slimy or greasy-looking lawn
• Patches or rings, usually white, yellow, or brown, that grow in diameter.
• Discolouration, frayed or distorted-looking blades of grass.
• Spots on the stems or blades of your lawn, often gray, black, red or orange.
• Powdery or threadlike coatings around and on grass blades

Fact: Mowing your grass too low can encourage fungal diseases.

What Is Black Spot

Black Spot is characterised by black spots on the upper side of your lawns leaves and occurs due to fungal diseases such as Leaf Spot, Pythium Blight, Leaf Smut and Slime Mould.

These black spots not only look unattractive and serve as an eyesore, they sabotage the health and vigour of the lawn and weaken its structure.

During warmer weather, massive deluges combined with the heat and humidity create the ideal conditions for Black Spot.

General symptoms include, leaf blades with reddish-black to purplish-black spots, mould-like masses on the lawn and cobweb-like growths of fungi usually apparent during humid, wet mornings or evenings.

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How To Control Dollar Spot

The best approach to control Dollar Spot in your lawn is through proper lawn care maintenance.

Proper lawn care maintenance ensures a healthy lawn and includes adequate fertiliser, reduction of thatch levels, aeration, morning watering that is deep and infrequent and mowing at regular intervals.

Alternately if the above lawn care maintenance procedures do not work, fungicides with the Common Active Ingredient Propiconazole should be used.

myhomeTURF recommends using Bumper an effective fungicide that can be purchased through our myhomeTURF online store.

Is That Brown Spot A Sign Of Lawn Disease

Kelly Burke is a professional turf manager for a manicured corporate campus in New England. He is accredited in organic land care and is a licensed pesticide applicator. He formerly managed the turfgrass as a golf course superintendent and has held several senior management positions at private country clubs overseeing high maintenance lawns.

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Lawn diseases are not usually a threat to a homeowner’s lawn. Occasionally an outbreak will occur after an extended period of heat and humidity but for the most part, a lawn will remain relatively disease-free as long as it is maintained properly. Sports fields and golf courses are more susceptible to turf diseases due to their extensive use and intense conditioning but rarely will a homeowner need to apply a fungicide to the lawn either as a preventative measure or even as a treatment.

However, if there is a dead or dying spot on your lawn, it is beneficial to know if it might be a disease or simply the neighbor taking the dog to its favorite spot. Identifying a lawn disease may also give you clues as to what is causing its presence and if there is anything you can do about it.

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What Causes Lawn Fungus

Excessive heat and humidity are the leading causes of fungus. As mentioned above, fungus often occurs in times of stress, such as drought, long rainy seasons, and overwatering.

Fungus often develops because water stays on the leaf surface far too long. Mycelia use the water as a highway to travel from leaf-to-leaf. This allows the fungus to spread to other parts of the lawn.

This is also the reason that you should not walk through your lawn when it is battling fungus. If there is moisture on the lawn you can spread the fungus across the grass.

Another cause of fungus is undernourishment. When grass does not have the right amount of nutrients it is more susceptible to disease.

After it rains, theres typically more water available in the soil for the grass plants. When plants take up that water, they are also taking up nutrients thats in the soil. The more it rains, the faster that nitrogen is used up. If the nitrogen is not replenished, the problem will continue.

Water The Lawn Routinely

Grass flourishes when they receive a sufficient amount of water regularly. Overwatering or underwatering the lawn can result in a serious decline in its health. For the lawn to have lush green grass without any fungal attacks, the time of watering also matters.

As a matter of fact, early morning is the best time to hydrate the lawn. This way, there is ample time for the grass to dry. Since fungi thrive in damp and dark spots, it is crucial that the gardeners give enough time for the water to evaporate away. Remember, allowing the moisture to stay in all night long increases the chance of fungal attacks.

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Common Types Of Lawn Fungus

Are brown patches starting to pop up in your yard? You could be dealing with one of many types of lawn fungus that naturally occur in your lawn. Your lawn naturally contains millions of fungi spores, many of which never cause problems. However, things like long rainy seasons, over watering, too many cloud days, droughts, and subpar lawn care can cause the fungi can spread out of control.

How To Control Brown Patch

The best approach to control Brown Patch in your lawn is through proper lawn care maintenance.

Proper lawn care maintenance ensures a healthy lawn and includes adequate fertiliser, reduction of thatch levels, aeration, morning watering that is deep and infrequent and mowing at regular intervals.

Alternately if the above lawn care maintenance procedures do not work, fungicides with the Common Active Ingredient Prodione should be used.

myhomeTURF recommends using Indigo Voltar an effective Broad Spectrum Fungicide that can be purchased through our myhomeTURF online store.

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The Most Common Way It Can Spread Is Through Your Very Own Footsteps And Lawn Maintenance Habits

Your footsteps and lawnmowers can easily be vehicles in which the lawn fungus can spread across your yard. So you see, it is not such a bad idea to avoid stepping on your lawn even in winter. When you mow, be sure to remove all grass clippings afterwards.

Choosing the right fungicide is also a must. It an be tough, so if you dont have a selected brand in your shelf, it is best to approach a lawn care expert to weigh the pros and cons for you. After all, you need to have the right fungicide or treatment that addresses the specific lawn fungus problems you have in your yard.

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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Maximize Proper Turf Care

To keep turf disease at bay, target that list above. Put these action items on your to-do list:

• Dont mow your lawn below 3 inches at a time or remove more than of the total height of the grass blade in one mowing.
• Dont water at night or every day.
• Dont water more than 1.5 inches a week.
• Dont ignore fertilization or pile on extra fertilization. More is never better.
• Dont skip annual aeration.
• Dont ignore weather conditions that could lead to lawn fungus growth.

Keeping your lawn health at its best will help it survive the peak of turf disease growth.

Large Patches Thrive Best In Warm And Humid Environments Making Warm Season Grasses Susceptible To Its Harm

The brown patch attacks the roots of the grass. The early symptoms are yellow circular patches on your lawn. A circular new growth may appear at the center of the circle. You will notice your grass blades eventually turn brown and if you look closely, you will see small circular brown spots on the blades. You will also see that you can easily pull out your grass from the ground as the fungus causes the plant stems to rot. In effect, the stems may be slimy or dark at the base because of the rot from the patch.

With these two and all the rest of the lawn fungus that can potentially take over your lawn early in the start of the year, you will do well to know how to prevent them and cure any signs that may make room for them. The best way to identify lawn fungus in your lawn is by its symptoms. You already know that snow molds appear as straw- colored patches, while brown patches appear as yellow circular patches on your lawn at their earliest state. What you can do is make sure the fungus does not spread all over your lawn.

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How To Treat Lawn Fungus

Choose the Correct Product

Some lawn fungicides are broad spectrum, meaning they can control the spread of many diseases while others are narrow spectrum, meaning they only affect a few disease.

Choosing the right product is where disease identification is important. Using the wrong product for a disease that was misidentified may have no effect on the disease at all.

Carefully read the product label to make sure you are choosing the right fungicide for your needs.

Apply Fungicide

Lawn Fungus can be tricky to cure and may need more than one application of fungicide. Most fungicides can be reapplied every 14 28 days, but be sure to read the product label.

If you apply the same fungicide many times, your lawn can build up a resistance to the active ingredients. Due to this resistance, fungus may appear in your lawn even if you put down a preventative treatment.

Abc Can Keep Your Yard Healthy

Yard fungus is unsightly and hard to diagnose and treat on your own. The professionals at ABC Home & Commercial Services can help you determine what is affecting your yard and the best methods to treat any kind of condition so you not only protect your beautiful lawn from dying but also protect your investment of time and money. Well cut out the guesswork for you so you can focus on enjoying your outdoor spaces.

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Nail Fungal Infection Treatment

Prescription medicines can treat a fungal nail infection. Oral antifungal medicines help a new nail grow. This will replace the infected nail. You may need to take antifungal medicine for 6 to 12 weeks. Some oral medicines are not safe for people who have liver problems. They are not safe for people who have a history of congestive heart failure. Tell your doctor if you have one of these conditions. Your doctor will decide which medicine is right for you.

Apply topical treatments to the top of your nail. Topical medicines usually do not cure fungal nail infections.

In severe cases, a doctor might remove the nail completely. It can take several months to a year for the infection to go away.

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What Is The White Fuzzy Stuff On My Grass

Powdery mildew disease in lawns is usually the result of trying to grow grass in a poor location. Caused by a fungus, the first symptoms are light spots on the blades of grass that may go unnoticed. As the disease progresses, youll see white patches that look as though they have been sprinkled with talcum powder.

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How To Treat Fungal Disease In Your Lawn

If youre prefer organic options, you can pour or sprinkle compost tea, baking soda solutions or neem oil its plant-based and non-toxic. This option is best for small areas. You can also try thinning out trees and shrubs surrounding your lawn to increase the air circulation, because lawn fungi develop in moist, still conditions.

A sure-fire way to sort out fungal diseases is a fungicide thats targeted to your specific problem. These are available at all hardware stores. Keep in mind it wont help your grass regrow but itll sort out spores.

Tip: If your lawn has diseased patches, be sure to wash and disinfect the underside of your mower after each use.

Lawn Fungus Treatment And Prevention

There are several things homeowners can do to help treat the fungus and to prevent lawn disease. You might consider taking some of the following steps:

• If you have grass clippings, fall leaves or other debris sitting in your yard, make sure to remove them so that your yard isnt vulnerable to fungal growth. When you mow, bag your clippings so that you dont spread possibly diseased grass all over your yard.
• Lawns with high nitrogen levels promote fungus growth, so test your lawns pH before adding fertilizer and add any amendments judiciously.
• Water deep and infrequently in the mornings so that the grass and soil have time to dry.
• Aerate your yard annually.
• When mowing, dont take more than inch off at each time. Raise the mowing height to allow more surface area for your grass blades to take in sunlight.
• Fungicides will help treat the diseased grass, while pesticides can help get rid of insects that are destroying your yard.
• Avoid urea-based fungicides when treating take-all patch and take-all root rot.
• If you have take-all root rot, lowering the pH levels in your yard can sometimes help.
• Avoid walking through or mowing the diseased area when conditions are wet because there is a greater change you will accidentally spread the fungus to unaffected areas.

The best treatment for lawn diseases is a combination of turfgrass management and application of the right fungicide at the right times.

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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.

Common Lawn Fungal Diseases

There are quite a few fungal diseases that can impact lawns, but theyre usually pretty specialized, targeting specific lawn types, at certain times of year, under certain conditions. For example:

• Brown patch strikes during hot, humid weather.
• Fusarium blight prefers hot, drought conditions.
• Dollar spot tends to spring up when nights are cool and dew is heavy.

Before treating your lawn, its important to identify not only whether your lawn indeed has a fungal disease, but to identify the fungus itself. All fungicides arent the same, and some diseases can be easily treated by making changes in your lawn care.

Knowing your grass type and recent weather conditions can make it easier to narrow down, but you may need help in figuring out exactly whats going on. Your local cooperative extension center is your best resource for determining which diseases are most common in your area, or you can take a small baggie of the infected grass to your local garden center for help.

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How Do I Kill Algae In My Lawn

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Things like excessive shade, acid soil, poor drainage, compaction, poor air circulation, and low fertility levels may all contribute. Acid soil is most often blamed for moss or algae invasion of the turf, but any factor that leads to poor grass growth can encourage the development of moss or algae in the lawn.

is algae good for grass? When algae grow, your lawn needs some care. Generally, algae will not kill your turf, but they can cause it to turn yellow or lose its green colour. Often when algae develop in your turf, you can also find them on pavements, walls, and even the trunks of trees.

Correspondingly, will baking soda kill algae?

Bicarbonate, the active ingredient in the baking soda, is an effective spot treatment to help to kill the algae and loosen it from the wall. But with enough scrubbing, you can banish the black algae for good.

What is the best lawn fungus control?

Our top recommendation for most lawn fungus and diseases is Patch Pro or Systemic Fungicide RTS. These products contain the active ingredient propiconazole and can control a broad spectrum of common lawn diseases cost-effectively.