New St Augustine Sod turning brown
henrikpfluger
10 years ago
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ronalawn82
10 years agodchall_san_antonio
10 years agoRelated Discussions
St. Augustine Sod turning brown after 3 days
Comments (1)There could be several things going on. St Augustine needs to be applied as soon after it is cut as possible. It can dry out or get a fungal disease when left on the pallet too long. Second, did you roll the sod down when it was laid? You need to have good sod-to-soil contact for the roots. They cannot grow though the air. As an alternative to rolling you can walk on it. What do you mean by watering appropriately? Does that mean 3-4x per day for about 10 minutes each?...See MoreNew St Augustine sod?
Comments (3)Been there done that..I hate SA/Florida lawn care....look out for that take all root problem too...if you spot it when it first hits you might be able to reduce the impact....I did the organic thing too...I sprayed Corn Gluten meal on my yard and it really works well...really greened it up...if you spray that in early March it will reduce the weeds for about 8 weeks..but otherwise..it's a great fert. HD used to sell it but not lately...sprinklers and getting water on everything is the key to survival... The fungus will turn your grass yellow/brown..dies....You can toss corn meal on it to prevent or maybe cure it...but I got better results using the commercial fungus cure from Scotts.... You could toss corn meal on your yard a few times a year..I get it at the local ethnic food store...24 dollars for big bag..50 lbs I think... I'm trying a hybrid commercial and organic lawn care now..have to put down commercial weed preventer...that is what killed me before when I went totally organic and the cost of corn gluten meal was way too expensive...now I use the liquid corn gluten meal..found a different supplier...5 gal for 54 dollars via UPS...I get the soybean meal up in Sanford...actually pretty cheap but 50 miles round trip.... I do think in FL we have to put down a lot of fert. If you go organic you will have to use a lot of SBM or Ringers....the rain and sand wash away the nitrogen...also you can toss down Alfalfa pellets too...helps the roots...I get that at Farm city...15 dollars for 50 lbs... Organic is good for results but those darn weeds...difficult to control.... I have a PH of 8.2 which is high but I don't see how I can lower it much...I'm not keen on tossing sulpher on the yard which is recommended way to do it......See MoreSt Augustine/brown spots
Comments (12)Before dchall replies can you take him a picture from about 3 inches away. Get one of the grass that is still green at the perimeter of the brown area too. Also what is your definition of "water when needed" Debo you do seem to be reading my mind...or any of about 500 posts asking for the same thing. LOL. I've used corn meal successfully in St Augustine since 2002. There was one year when it seemed to be only good enough to stop the spread. This year might be one of those years. It has to do with how much rain we got since October. As Debo started to explain, corn meal works biologically. It attracts the Trichoderma fungus which is predatory on other fungi. It seems to feed on most of the lawn disease fungi, so it is considered to be beneficial. The application rate is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. It can take 3 weeks to see the new blades of grass coming out and not turning brown or getting spots on them. Here's what the spots look like. ...well for some reason GardenWeb is not letting me load a picture. Here's a link to the picture. I get corn meal at a feed store in plain brown, 50-pound, bags but you can also get it in 25 pound bags at grocery stores catering to the Hispanic population. It's something like Masa Maiz. Read the ingredients to see if it has any baking powder in it. You don't want or need that. Just get plain corn meal or corn flour....See MoreNeed help with issues on new st augustine sod
Comments (2)More important than the fuzz are the brown lesions on the grass blades in pictures 2 and 3. Mushrooms mean you have far too much water. At this point it is too late to adjust the water and get rid of the disease. If you have the Floratam variety of St Aug, it will fight back but will take a long time to fully recover. I have had success with this type of fungus by using ordinary corn meal applied at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You can buy corn meal at feed stores in 50 pound sacks for under $10. Call first to be sure they have it. Corn meal works biologically rather than chemically. Corn is decomposed by various fungi. One of the fungi that comes in with the decomposition is a predatory fungus. It feeds on other fungi including the one that causes the disease you are seeing. Apply the corn meal now and in 3 weeks you should see the browning stop and no more lesions. If you cannot find corn meal at a feed store then buy corn flour at a grocery store catering to Hispanic shoppers. Cost should be $7 for a 25-pound bag. Be sure you don't get the stuff with baking powder in it. That's like the Bisquick for making tortillas. You want the plain corn flour, masa de maiz. Maseca is a popular brand. You should back way off on watering frequency. I would give it a week to dry out watching for wilting. In fact I might go until it starts to wilt somewhere just to make sure it is dry enough to water. Then start with deep watering. Start with 1/2 inch of water, twice a week. If it rains, don't water for a week or possibly longer depending on how many inches of rain you got. When this is mature it should easily go a week in the summer heat without watering....See Morehenrikpfluger
10 years agohenrikpfluger
10 years agodchall_san_antonio
10 years agohenrikpfluger
10 years agohenrikpfluger
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10 years agohenrikpfluger
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10 years agoBryan Scott
10 years agohenrikpfluger
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10 years agohenrikpfluger
10 years agohenrikpfluger
10 years agodchall_san_antonio
10 years agohenrikpfluger
10 years agodchall_san_antonio
10 years agohenrikpfluger
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10 years agoValentin Tudose
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