Looks fine to me for being only 6 weeks old.

After poking around and peeling back the thatch layer in a few affected spots I found a tiny black bug with 2 white spots (wings?)

How many did you find?

Can it be something else? Someone mentioned Brown Patch in another thread?

I dont think you even have a chinch bug problem. Your sod is only 6 weeks old, give it time. Also, It's defiantly not brown patch.

What was/is your watering schedule?

Hi SkootKat,

I found 2 Chinch Bugs when I was poking around. After that, I threw them in a ziplock and went to a local nursery.

My watering schedule....

Watered twice a day for 35 minutes each for the first month (4 weeks).
Watered once a day for 35 minutes each for the next 10 days.
I have been skipping a day or two since then.

Advice?

By the way, it seems like its spreading...

Im going to assume you live in Florida and have St.Augustine Floratam.

I found 2 Chinch Bugs when I was poking around.

Thats nothing, Treatment may be necessary if 20 chinch bugs are found per square foot.

The St. Augustine grass varieties Floratam, Floralawn, and Floratine provide various degrees of resistance to chinch bug feeding. Most chinch bugs cannot complete their development when attempting to feed on Floratam and Floralawn

Your watering schedule for new sod was perfect, but now its time to switch to deep and infrequent waterings. Your goal is to shoot for applying 3/4 to 1" of water, once a week. (twice a week at most in the middle of summer) In winter it could be once every 2-3weeks. (Read the link below)

Frequent (daily), light waterings promote shallow root systems that do not result in healthy turf. To develop a deep root system, water your lawn when 30 to 50% of the lawn shows signs of wilt. When the lawn needs water, you'll see spots in the lawn that turn bluish-gray, footprints that remain in the grass long after being made, and many leaf blades folded in half lengthwise. Apply only enough water to wet the soil in the rootzone. For Florida's sandy soils, 3/4 inch of water is generally sufficient. Do not water the lawn again until signs of wilt occur again. This technique works regardless of turfgrass species, soil type, season, or other environmental conditions. It may take up to 6 weeks to condition your turf to survive several days or more without wilting between irrigations or rainfall. During this time the root system is developing and growing deeper into the soil. In time, your lawn will establish a more uniform appearance with less thatch and a deeper root system.

Your NEW grass looks perfectly normal to me. Give it time.

Have you put any fertilizer down?

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Calibrate Your Sprinkler System

Thanks!

Well, it looks like it was getting worse. Why is i spreading if it's normal?

How much is 1" of water? An hour? I have 3 heads covering 2,000 SF.

I haven't fertilized yet. Still too hot they say.

"How much is 1" of water? An hour? I have 3 heads covering 2,000 SF."

The time it takes to provide an inch of water varies depending on the sprinkler system, the amount of water pressure and a variety of other factors. The only way to tell for sure is to place something like tuna cans around the lawn, water for a set amount of time and then measure how much water is in each can. Then multiply or divide to determine how long you need to water to get an inch.

How much is 1" of water? An hour? I have 3 heads covering 2,000 SF.

read the link on my above post: how to calibrate you sprinkler, it gives full instructions. I still use this test on my lawn from time to time, just to make sure everything is functioning properly.

You might need to add more heads, or another zone if you dont have enough pressure. I also have 2000sqft of lawn with 4 hunter rotor heads and 3 rain bird pop ups and I get fairly uniform coverage. I cant urge you enough to do the above test.

Why is i spreading if it's normal?
Sod goes through a transition period or shock after it's installed. It will recover. Or its not receiving enough water. Even if it was chinch bugs you should have killed them with the pesticide you applied.

You really need to fertilize NOW. I would suggest something mild, like:
1.Bradfield Organics Luscious Lawn(google it), or
2. Milorganite (available at any big box store).

We can help more if you can tell us:

Where you live? (State/general location)

and What type of sod/grass do you have?

I am in the Tampa Bay area and have St. Augustine.

I also live in Florida (largo) and have S.A. Floratam.

St.Augustine is a warm season grass that should be fertilized from spring - early fall when the grass is actively growing. Never Fertilize warm season grass in late fall thru winter.

The above (Bradfield or Milorganite fertilizer) would be perfect for your new grass. Apply it ASAP according to the directions. Then wait until after your second spring mowing to apply any more fertilizer. I feed my lawn Organically 4x per year. If you want more info on Organics let me know.

Here are a few other important things to keep your grass healthy:

1. Mow at the highest height for your grass species. For St. Augustine, this is 3.5 to 4+ inches. If you have St. Augustine cultivars Delmar or Seville, mow at 2 to 2.5 inches. (I mow my S.A. Floratam at 4.25" all year)

2. Never remove more than one third of the leaf blade at any one time.

3. Mulch mow/leave grass clippings on the ground - they do not contribute to thatch and actually return a small amount of fertility back to the lawn.

4. Keep your mower blades sharp

5. Irrigate infrequently with 3/4 to 1" of water. (I water every 5-7 days in the middle of summer and every 1 to 3 weeks in winter.)

If your interested, check out the link below to a previous post of mine w/pics. It explains how I maintain my S.A. Organically.

Here is a link that might be useful: Renovation to Current! All Organic w/Pics

Skoot_Kat,

Thanks for the info. Largo is not far from Tampa so you're pretty close by.

I have been mowing at the highest height my ower will allow and yes, I have been mulching. After my first mow (which was 3 weeks after the sod was layed) I have pretty much been mowing every week. Should I wait longer to mow?

Anyway, the sod guys did apply fertilizer and said to hold off now since it's already been done and it is still too hot. The guys at the nursery said the same thing. Are you saying now is a good time to do it?

OK, so I need to check out the tuna can idea. For 3 rotating hunter heads, how long would you estimate I should have them on for? 45 minutes?

This still doesn't explain the dead spots. The sod guys said the roots are still live and I can see that. However, why is it spreading? Fungus? How can I test for this?

Thanks again!

Should I wait longer to mow?

No, the more frequent you mow, the better/healthier your grass will be. I've been mowing every 5 days.

Anyway, the sod guys did apply fertilizer and said to hold off now since it's already been done and it is still too hot. The guys at the nursery said the same thing.

Since the sod guys already put fertilizer down, DO NOT put any more fertilizer down until spring.

Are you saying now is a good time to do it?

The reason I suggested fertilizing is that you said no fertilizer has been put down yet. September or October at the latest would be the last fertilization of the year.

All grasses should be fertilized when they are actively growing. For S.A. that is spring through early fall. You should not apply fertilizer if your grass is drought or heat stressed.

A moderate fertilizer plan would be:

March: complete fertilizer application

May: Slow Release Nitrogen

July: iron application only

August: complete fertilizer application

Early October: complete fertilizer application with higher amounts of potassium (the last number on the bag)

For 3 rotating hunter heads, how long would you estimate I should have them on for? 45 minutes?

I have no idea, do the tuna can test. I run my 4 rotor head zone for 80mins to achieve 3/4 inch.

This still doesn't explain the dead spots. The sod guys said the roots are still live and I can see that. However, why is it spreading? Fungus? How can I test for this?

I really think its transplant shock. (very normal) S.A. spreads very rapidly by runners, so those spots will fill back in. Give it time.
If your really concerned, take a 1-sqft section of the troubled area to your local extension office. They will be able to determine if any thing is wrong with it.

Do you have anymore pics. Possibly some really close ups and full views of your yard you can post?

Here are some pictures that I took this morning. The first one (mushrooms) was taken before I mowed today. This area is at the very end of the driveway so that could be due to too much moisture.

The others were all taken after I mowed.

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By the way, I am not sure if the sod guys fertilzied after the sod was layed. I do know they treated the soil (fertilized?) and told me not to do anything for 60 days.

Would a weed n feed product be good now? Or should I still hold off? I have heard good things about WinterGuard S.

Either way, I would like to know what is going on with my Sod. Hopefully, the above pics will help.

Your problem is lack of water.

Do the test and then come back and tell me the results. Be sure to put the cans at random, bad spots, as well as good spots.

Find out what the sod company put down before applying anything.

It also looks like your mowing too low?

Skoot_Kat,

I am mowing at the highest level my mower will allow.

I do not think it is lack of water as we have had off-and-on showers for the past few weeks. Even before then, I was watering 40 minutes twice per day and then 30 minutes once per day the week before last... Someone mentioned too much water, can it be fungus?

I will do the tuna can test tomorrow evening. How long should I leave the sprinkler on for? How do I measure the water in the can?

Honestly, I really do not think it could be lack of water since I watered the crap out of it and still had the problem. Not to mention I saw the bugs. Also, why do I have mushrooms if it's a lack of water? I thought it was caused by too much moisture?

"How long should I leave the sprinkler on for? How do I measure the water in the can?"

Leave the sprinklers on long enough that there's a measurable amount in the cans. Measure the water in the can by putting a ruler inside to the bottom and checking how far on the ruler the water goes.

OK. I did the tuna can test this evening. I ran the sprinklers for 45 minutes but the numbers seem low. See the 'quick and easy' paintshop diagram below.

Everything in the green is the lawn. The red spots represent the sprinkler heads. The yellow spots represent the tuna cans in the bad areas. The blue spots represent the tuna cans in the good areas. The measurements (in inches) are listed below the cans.

By the way, I left the 2 small palm trees out of my diagram. :-)

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You ran the test for 3/4 of an hour and got 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch. So if you are shooting for 1 inch, you would run the sprinklers for 4 to 8 times longer than you did, or 3 to 6 hours.

You could get a more accurate reading by running the test longer. 1/8 of an inch is not much to try to measure accurately. Also keep in mind that the results may vary at different times of day if the water pressure varies in your neighborhood, so try to run the test at about the same time you would usually water.

OK. That seems like a long time to run the sprinkler for. Honestly, running it for 45 minutes drenched the yard!

I am not sure if the morning would make that much of a difference either.

It also doesn't explain why one of my problem areas received more water. If the problem was not enough water, it should be receiving less, right?

It seems to be getting better (is it my head?) since I put the Bug Blaster down. However, we have also received some rain the past few days so I don't know now....

What makes you think it's not enough water? The roots in the probelm areas still appear to be green. Can it be fungus? Chinch Bugs?

Too many posibilities... LOL

If 45 minutes drenched the yard and you're only putting down between 1/8 and 1/4 inch, you've probably got some heavy clay soil that doesn't absorb water very well.

It's possible that you've got a lot of water right near the surface and nothing going very deep. That could cause the fungi in the one picture and also could cause some browning.

If the lawn is drenched with that little water, you may want to water in cycles to get the water to penetrate more deeply. Water as long as you can before it starts to run off. Wait an hour or so to give the first watering a chance to soak in, then water again for as long as you can. Wait another hour and do it again. Then wait until the soil dries out several inches deep (you can check with a screwdriver) before watering again. Since your grass has been getting frequent shallow water, you may need to monitor the grass for signs of stress to determine when to water. Also, adjust your watering schedule if you get any rain.

Eventually, you want to try to get to the point where you're watering once a week and giving it an inch during that one watering. Note that when I saw once a week, that if you're doing the cycling thing, and cycling through three times, I consider that one time.

OK. So is the problem too much water (fungus), too little water, or chinch bugs now?

By the way, I don't think we have too much clay soild down here in FL. Not to mention we had part of the front yard dug up over the summer for plumbing issues and it seemed pretty normal...

It sounds like too much water, too little water and possibly bugs.

The too much water is because there is too much water at the surface. The too little water is because it's better to water deeply and infrequently.

When you say the soil seems pretty normal, what do you mean by that?

Have you had a soil test?

If it's not clay but 1/8-1/4 inch of water saturates it, it may need to be aerated.

The problem is lack of water Period.

OK. That seems like a long time to run the sprinkler for.

You need to achieve 3/4 to 1" of water no matter how long it takes. Try a different rotor head that will throw more water, or change the nozzle in your current heads if you can.

Honestly, running it for 45 minutes drenched the yard!

Thats because we just received 3 days of soaking rain.

It also doesn't explain why one of my problem areas received more water. If the problem was not enough water, it should be receiving less, right?

Your talking about an 1/8" difference. If it would have been 1/2" or more difference then you might have an argument.

What makes you think it's not enough water?

Because you only applied an average of 3/16" of water.

Can it be fungus? Chinch Bugs?
No and once again, even if it was chinch bugs, you already treated for them.

We have sandy soil in the Tampa Bay area.

The problem areas you have are DEAD and are not going to get better over night. The good thing is that S.A. spreads by runners fairly rapdily. You could/should apply some compost to the dead areas to help/speed the process up.

I strongly advise you read this whole thread again and follow the advise. By spring/early summer your problems should be much much better.

OK. Thanks for the great advice!

I'll start the 'deep watering' this weekend after I check out the sprinkler heads/nozzles. Should I continue watering normally for 30 minutes until then?

Also, should I replace the dead spots with some new sod or just wait for it to spread? What would be best in the long run?

Also, what type of compost should I apply? Any recs from Home Depot or a garden shop?

Are you still accepting commnets on this thread. I have a ver similar problem on my newly laid lawn and would appreciate any advise.