How do I know if its fungus, grubs, soil, or water problem? (pic)

16 years ago

I try all summer to save the lawn but it turns yellowish and dies.

Type of grass? I have no idea, its the sharp edged playground grass that feels smooth when you run your finger from tip to root and feels like sandpaper when you run your finger from root to tip.

We water 3 times a week during the heat of the summer, 2 times a night, 20 minutes each. The soil is quite clayish. It's HOT here in summer, consistant temps over 105 from end of June to end of August. Many days in July are over 110.

HOW can I find out WHAT I'm doing wrong? I'm willing to change anything I'm doing but I don't know how to begin finding that out.

I have some people tell me I need to water more often because the roots are shallow from the clay soil. I have others tell me I need to water less frequently to train the roots to grow deeper.

Here's a pic of the two WORST spots although much of the lawn needs help.

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Comments (5)

rlembke
16 years ago
Your best bet is probably to get a soil test and start there. See what kind of shape the soil is in. Since it appears you have problem areas, I would test those areas independent of the rest of the lawn so that if it a localized problem, the rest of the yard won't dilute the problem.

I don't think watering could cause that big of a problem relative to the rest of the lawn.

Grubs - pull up some of the grass and check the root around for the bugs. If you can't see em, it isn't a problem.
dougt
16 years ago
I agree with the soil test. But also you should not water at night. This breeds fungus especially in hot summer months. If you don't want to do a soil test you can put down some corn meal or cracked corn approx 10 lbs per 1000 ft. This should take care of any fungal problems in approx 3 weeks.
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Good question! Roots need both water and air to mix with the nutrients for plant health. What is going on a foot from the roots of a small plant is not as important as whats going on at the roots-- If too wet-- it needs air; If real dry-- it needs water. Ideally the container solution moisture is fairly balanced throughout the container, but it does not happen. The roots use moisture, wicking causes upward water movement, gravity downward, hard black plastic walls are hot in the sun, holes in the pot cause evaporation as does the top of the pot mix. If there is a drastic range of moisture in odd places in the pot, that is indicative of other problems such as incomplete mix blending, poor mix blending, etc. Al is THE Expert on all this, but he has lots of demands, so some of us try to pitch in. I am pretty new at this and trying to help where I can without making too many mistakes. AS mentioned above, when things just start to droop in the MORNING (NOT the afternoon 102F heat) its time to water. Maybe stick your finger in the soil at root level and learn that moisture level for that plant before watering. d
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The above statement is just wrong, fungus gnats do cause harm. If there is root damage they will eat the rotting flesh much like any maggot. I don't know how many times I've had to completely remove a plant and wash it in a bleach solution to kill the little buggers because they have gotten into a small cut in the stem of a plant or root tips. First off do not use any organic stuff like peat, second use lots of chunky stuff like pumice or perlite, and pot it in a clay pot which is just large enough to take the root ball, no bigger. Do not let it sit in water ever. Invest in wooden bbq skewers. Use one to go into the soil about three inches, if it comes back wet or with soil on it, give it a couple of days before watering again. You can also tell by the color of the clay pot, if it's darker, it doesn't need water, if it lightens up and the soil is dry, water. Top dressing will be the death of your plant especially if you don't know the ups and downs of watering yet. It should only be used if you plan on showing your plant, or you really know what you're doing water wise. I'll tell you why, top dressing is used to keep the soil from caking, but also to retain moisture in the soil. Unless you live in a really dry hot area, I would not advise it for a Dief.
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Corn meal, yes the stuff you cook with, is an excellent treatment for several garden diseases. Texas A&M started to study, or at least notice, the phenomenon in the 1990s on peanut crops. Prior to the use of corn meal, peanut fields had to be rotated into another crop to let the diseases die out. After they started using corn meal they could repeat the peanuts in the same fields season after season. Not sure why, but the research was never competed. Nowadays the TAMU profs are on a campaign to disavow all knowledge of the project, but it lived for over 10 years on their website. During that time the organic community in Texas took off and ran with the idea. I am living proof that it has worked in my garden every year since 2002 when I first tried it. In fact it worked so well that I converted to all organic that year. For a lawn we apply at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Not sure how that would convert to a potted plant. I'd say a "light dusting" with corn meal and repeat in 3 weeks. I have used a heaping handful under my roses as a fertilizer confident that it is protecting the roses from the typical powdery mildew and black spot. Corn meal works by attracting the predatory Trichoderma (try koh DER mah) fungus. If there are any mushroom growers on this forum they will testify as to the devastation caused by a trichoderma "infection" in their mushroom crop. The fungus that directly decomposes corn meal initially attracts the trichoderma. The population of trichoderma builds on those other fungi. When the first fungus species are gone, the trichoderma latches onto all the other fungi at the surface to munch on. Those would include the disease. Corn meal is the most reliable and effective organic solution to fungal disease. I would go farther to say it is more reliable than chemical fungicides and certainly much more organic. Being a biological process, it takes 3 weeks to see the results from corn meal. The disease is stopped fairly quickly, but sustained new growth is really where you see the result.
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Yes, I added bark mulch just before this week of all rain. Maybe it was the combination of the bark mulch and all the rain. Hopefully they will recover. I'll move some bark mulch away to see if it improves. Thanks.
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skoot_cat
16 years ago
As for watering, you need to do the tuna can test. Its the only way to show you how much water your actually applying per zone/time. Read the link below.

You want to shoot for 3/4-1" per week.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Calibrate Your Sprinkler System
dchall_san_antonio
16 years ago
I'm interested in this one. It looks to me like watering was the obvious problem. I wish you had mentioned where you live, but if your temps are over 105 from June through Aug, that pretty much narrows it down to a band from Las Vegas south through Indio to Calexico and east to New Mexico. I grew up in temps like that (before the SoCal smog cooled things off).

Your problem area is on a slope. Slopes, hills, and mounds drain water fast. With your low humidity, high temp, and on a slope; your grass is not getting enough water. The only way to really keep moisture on that would be with a soaker hose running continuously at a trickle. Rather than do that, I would let the grass die out and do something else.

It also looks like you have the wrong grass for your zone. It looks like fescue in the pictures. It should be bermuda if you absolutely have to have a grass. At this point I would plant xeriscape plants on the slope. I don't think you can water it enough under your conditions. If you don't want xeriscape plants, then you could mulch heavily in there and plant pretty much whatever you want that is adapted to your area. Keep the mulch on, though.

When people come here and report a "clay" soil, they usually have clay but without a healthy population of microbes, especially fungi. The people with healthy soil don't usually report having clay. The fungi will help your soil retain moisture, but you have to have moisture for the fungi to survive. That's where the mulch comes in.

As for the rest of the lawn (not on slopes), you should water deeply and infrequently. In your case, twice a week is probably infrequently but three times is pushing the limit. The idea is for the surface of the soil to dry out between waterings so weed seeds will not germinate. No problem with twice a week in your area. As for duration, 20 minutes is not nearly long enough. I water from 1-3 hours per zone. Last night I watered 6 hours because I've been away for 3 weeks and my wife doesn't water that long. Once you have a healthy population of microbes, your soil will not allow runoff, so even with 6 hours, it all soaked in. As for your yard, unless your sprinkler pours out the water, I would start moving up toward 1 hour (from 20 minutes). Watch your grass for signs of wilting. If it wilts, water immediately but water more heavily (longer) until you can go from one watering to the next without wilting. With a clay base, once you get the microbes going, you might be able to stretch it out to once a week watering, even with your heat.

Watering at night is probably not a problem in your area. Our water restrictions in San Antonio require night time watering year round. I've been doing it for a couple years and have not had any more problems than when I watered in the day - and I was expecting problems. Then again I'm on an 100% organic program and fungus diseases are not much of a problem, so your mileage may vary.
texas_weed
16 years ago
I agree it looks like you have the wrong grass type for your climate. No cool season grass like fescue, rye of KBG can take that amount of heat for that long. Only Bermuda can take that with minimal water.

How do I know if its fungus, grubs, soil, or water problem? (pic)

Comments (5)

rlembke

dougt

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