New Zoysia Sod yellowing at 3 weeks. (Photos)

14 years ago

On 4/1 we brought in 10 pallets of Palisades Zoysia sod and layed it over a period of 24 hours. We had rocky soil due to the fact that we had been in the new house a year and the existing top soil had eroded quite a bit. We brought in 45 yds of chocolate loam and had it spread around the 4500 sqft area. By the time this was spread out and therefore compacted, we ended up with between an inch and two inches of loose soil. We laid the sod and have been watering via irrigation in front, hand watering in back. For 2 weeks we did 2 sessions of 30-40 minutes, totaling about an inch per day. For the third week we have been doing about 60 minutes in one session, for about an inch per day. The sod is typically kind of squishy, but not muddy.

It looked pretty good the first 2 weeks, but the last couple days had started showing up with yellowing patches in random spots (see photos here: http://yfrog.com/bf0421001047j). Now I don't know if it's due to overwatering, underwatering, fungus, bad soil, bad sod, bugs, or what. Please help! We spent our savings on this and I can't afford to lose it! Thanks and please ask if you have any questions.

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Comments (8)

dchall_san_antonio
14 years ago
Got bad news for you. You have watered it to death. What you have now is a fungal disease. It could be brown patch (if you want to look it up) or something else. The grass that is yellowish or brown now is dead and will not come back. You'll have to rely on the rest of the grass coming back to fill in. I'm not sure how fast Palisades will return. Is Palisades the shade tolerant one??? If so I have something similar. If that's what we're talking about, it is probably gone for the season and will return in 2011. If it is not the shade tolerant one, then you have too much shade and it might be gone forever. Most zoysias like full sun.

I have taken an organic approach to this disease since 2002 and have had superb results. Prior to that I had a terrible problem every spring. Now I apply ordinary ground corn meal at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet and wait 3 full weeks. My turf is St Augustine, though, and it responds much MUCH faster than zoysia.

For anyone else reading this, zoysia is not all it is cracked up to be in the magazines. If you are in zone 8, the predominant turf grasses are bermuda and St Augustine. Most of the zoysia lawns I have seen in my neighborhood have converted to St Augustine within the first year due to disease issues. We have one zoysia lawn around the corner that is starting its 3rd year with no issues. I watch it very closely.
neutralmilk
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I was told Palisades is the most shade tolerant, and only requires 3-4 hours sun a day. I was also told to give it extra water initially due to the fact that we had pretty rocky soil underneath. Is 1 inch a day really too much for new sod installations in any case? We have had very little rain during the last 3 weeks.

Also, I've noticed that even in the really green areas there is a layer of yellow underneath, on the sod surface.

So anyway, I guess i need to spread the corn meal, cut back on watering (any recommendations?), and hope it doesn't get much worse over the next 3 weeks. Are you saying the yellow patches will grow back next year? or are they dead for good and will only grow back if the rest of it fills in?
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Sorry to disagree with you weed. That is fungal disease. How long did your grass sit on the pallet before you put it down. St Aug is very prone to disease when it does not get good air circulation. Here is a picture of iron chlorosis in otherwise healthy St Aug... Only the grass in the very center of the photo is affected and only barely affected. I happened to catch it right before the entire lawn turned yellow. I have a much better picture of St Aug chlorosis but on a different computer. Your instinct to spray with a fungicide was correct. I would not have used a spray because I have excellent experience using ordinary corn meal on St Augustine. If the spray does not work, you can still use corn meal but you will have to use a little compost first. Corn meal is a biological solution and your spray has upset the natural biology of the soil. Compost will restore that biology and then you can use corn meal. Yes, this is the corn meal you eat. As a comment on your previous die-offs: the first one was not due to a major freeze. I don't know what it was, but if St Aug survives almost every winter in Dallas, it is much more likely to survive absolutely EVERY winter in Florida. Second one was chinch bugs...or was it lack of water and mowing too low? Established St Aug must be watered at least monthly to remain alive. It needs to be watered weekly during the heat of summer to thrive. If you have sandy soil yours might need it more frequently. And most St Aug should be mowed at your mower's highest setting. Mow too low and you need to use more water...and you get weeds.
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@texas weed I am in Austin. Apparently the first pallet was even worse, this was the better one! We are getting a lot of rain today and tomorrow so I will see what it looks like in the next couple of days As to watering more often I cannot for two reasons, first I work as does my wife, second and more importantly Austin is in a sever drought right now with insane water restrictions. With new sod I get some exceptions but not a lot! As it stands I can only water every other day for 1 more week then it is 2x a week for a couple of weeks then I am on full restriction. Every Sunday before 10am OR after 7:00pm. That is why Bermuda is now the only grass to code. No more st. Augustine.
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1. Yes be concerned. This is what happens when sod stays on the pallet for too long. It has smothered or gotten a disease. For smothering all you can do is work it back to life. The underlying roots are probably not dead, but the tops are. Zoysia does not bounce back quickly so be patient. If it was a disease, it will probably not live through the winter, so just watch it carefully now. With winter dormancy coming quickly, there is not much you can do that will really help. You could apply a fungicide but you'll not know if it worked because the lawn will go dormant about the time it starts to look better. 2. This happens all the time but it should not. Maybe Lone Star Grass is not the place to buy sod. 3. Not correct. At that rate you'll flood the grass and soil underneath. Let's hope and assume they rolled the sod down. What you are doing by watering is trying to get the roots to knit into the underlying soil. That only requires moisture, not mud. Instead water it for 10 minutes 3x per day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are perfect times. Then back way off. In the winter you will not need to water more than once a month. In the summer you will ramp back up to watering an inch (or so) per week. How much you water in the summer depends on shade, wind, humidity, soil type, grass height, density and maybe something else. I watered no more than 5/8 of an inch per week this past summer. 4. Keep an eye on zoysia. At the first sign of the grass not looking right, watch it like a hawk. As I mentioned above, zoysia does not rebound quickly from a disease or insect experience. Why did you decide on zoysia rather St Augustine or bermuda, which account for 99.99% of the turf in Texas?
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You definitely did not water too much. A more normal schedule for new sod would be 5-10 minutes but 3x per day for 2-3 weeks or until the roots knit into the soil. Did the installer roll the sod down? I suspect not., and I say that because he rototilled first. Someone who knew about the need for rolling would also know about the issues with rototilling. Before I get ugly with you, why zoysia and not St Augustine? At this point, I assume the grass knit down anyway despite the not rolling and the slightly imperfect water. There are several reasons why the grass might look like that. One is not rolling. Rolling is necessary to ensure the bottom of the sod contacts the top of the soil. Roots won't grow through the air to reach the soil. Another reason is the grass might have been stressed on the pallet. Did the grass sit on the pallet longer than a day before he put it down? But no matter the cause, it will have repaired itself and look normal next April when it comes out of winter dormancy. Zoysia does not fix itself quickly, but some sort of magic happens over the winter. I had some get damaged by fungus in May, and it remained dead looking for the entire season until the following April. It came back very normal looking; however, by that time it had to compete with the bermuda grass that came in for 9 months while the zoysia sat it out. I have seen many zoysia installations in San Antonio do the same thing. Once damaged during the growing season, bermuda comes in and it's all over. You have the advantage of it being late in the year with cooler soils, so the bermuda may not get a foothold on yours. Those other zoysia lawns I saw converted to St Augustine after the first bout with disease. With the shade you have I never would have considered anything but St Augustine, but hang in there and give this grass a good try next season. Here's what to do until the grass stops growing. Watering: You'll have to ease into this with new sod, but it is important. Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall. Mulch mow at the mower's highest setting. This helps to develop deep roots as well as fight off weeds. Fertilizer: I assume you're going organic since you already used the Dillo Dirt. For readers who are not from Austin, Dillo Dirt is Austin's answer to Milorganite. DD is more of a compost product than a baked microbe product. You can use the Dillo Dirt as often as you can afford it. Apply at a rate of 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet. As an alternative you can use corn meal, corn gluten meal, or alfalfa pellets from any feed store. App rate is 15 pounds per 1,000. After the grass stops growing but is still green, make one last fertilizer app. Then do not fertilize again until Washington's Birthday. If you are not going with organics, then skip the Feb fertilizer application. But in either case, fertilize again in late May (Memorial Day is good). The grass should awaken in late March. Spot spray for weeds in mid April.
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neutralmilk
Original Author
14 years ago
Just a follow up if anyone is interested...

I took a sample in to the Natural Gardiner in Austin and they said this looked predominantly like transfer strain and is typical. They also found some Take All Root Rot fungus. They recommended treating with Actinovate (organic fungicide), which I did apply. It also treats brown patch, so hopefully this will take care of the problem either way.

I'm still not sure how I should proceed with watering. I have cut back quite a bit in hopes that it will help deter the fungus. Any tips?
dchall_san_antonio
14 years ago
Where did you find Palisades in Texas? And was it expensive?

The Actinovate might work for you. Typically it requires a long term organic program prior to use, but lets all keep our fingers crossed for you. Between that and the corn meal you should be covered.

An inch of water a day is probably twice as much as you needed. With that much water, you should wean it back to a more normal pattern. A mature turf would be watered for an hour, once a week in hot weather to allow the soil to dry out at the surface. In cooler weather it could go 2-4 weeks between watering. So that is where you are headed, but I would caution you to not go cold turkey. It should be a weaning process. Zoysia is not the kind of grass that will give you any warning that it is drying out, so you have to be careful. Once it looks dry, it is gone. So if you are watering now every other day for an hour, try skipping two full days for a week and then stretch to three days for a week or so. At that point you should have a good idea of how things are going and how to proceed with going further.
texas_weed
14 years ago
Have not read the responses, but from your OP I can tell you that you are drowning the sod. You only want it lightly moist, not soggy and squishy.
neutralmilk
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the follow up guys. I got the Palisades from the Grass Outlet. They claim they've been going through 100 pallets a week recently. The sod soil was pretty heavily clayed but otherwise I guess it looked OK. I payed $160/pallet for 10 pallets.

I have cut back to watering every 2 or 3 days, depending on if we get any rain. The brown patches seem to have subsided, and in some areas the grass looks really healthy. When should I make the first cut? and to what length?

thanks
texas_weed
14 years ago
Make the first cut when it needs it. So if you want to maintain it at 1-1/2 inches, mow when it gets to 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 inches. Do not maintain it over 2 inches. Keep it between 1 and 2 inches.
dchall_san_antonio
13 years ago
Go with what TW says on mowing height. That would be the lowest settings on your mower. My zoysia would be much better looking if it were mowed regularly, but it is more of a specimen plant in a poor location for mowing. Nice experiment, though.

New Zoysia Sod yellowing at 3 weeks. (Photos)

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New Zoysia Sod yellowing at 3 weeks. (Photos)

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dchall_san_antonio

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