Brown spots may not be watering issues

29 May Brown spots may not be watering issues

In the summer time when the weather is fine you can reach right up and touch the sky… wait, that’s not right!

In the summer time when the weather is humid, hot, and in general sticky- that is when a fungus can be brewing underneath that beautiful bright grass in your soil.  Treating a fungus is tuff stuff and that’s why it is recommended that you use a general fungicide as a preventative measure.  Once a fungicide has established itself in your turf grass one application will not strike it down dead.  It will be tedious monitoring and multiple pricy applications of fungicide and can take months to completely rid your turf of those brown patches.  Now on to the brown patches…

People see a brown spot or patches during the hottest part of our season and assume that the turf is drying up and dying.  While it is possible if you have not watered or we are experiencing a drought, but do not forget about funguses.  T The most common lawn fungus in our area is a disease commonly called “brown patch.” There are two main types of “brown patch” fungus that attack lawns – large brown patch and dollar spot.  You will most likely find either one or both of these fungus types strike during the spring and summer during exceptionally rainy periods. Depending on the severity of the fungus attack, there may be only a few brown patches or a necrotic ring spot in the lawn.

Frequent watering in the late afternoon or early evening provides ideal conditions for fungus growth with subsequent browning and dying of turf grasses.  Fungus thrive and multiply with moisture.  When grass is left dry consistently a fungus will have a difficult time spreading.  Take control of the irrigation you are running and be mindful of weather conditions.  Rain is out of our hands but do not double up on water intake by running sprinklers.  That will only result in a win that day for the disease.  Only run irrigation in the morning time so the sun can have all day to dry up what is left on the blades of grass before night time.  We are only trying to get those roots a drink anyways.  Also, do not mow your grass as low as you normally would.  The older, tougher grass is a better competitor for this battle.  If you are on our Turf & Plant Pro Plus program then you receive two fungicides a year as a preventative measure.  We live in a hot and humid climate so it’s best to stay ahead and expect that failure to provide the best care to your lawn will result in a sickly-looking sight. Take heed my words or their will be fungus among us!