One month old Zoysia dying

8 years ago

Hello all. I am down here in SFLA and just planted fresh Zoysia throughout my complete home. The lawn in the front of the house as well as the east side of the house is thriving. Now the back is a different story. I have several patches dying. I know one area is because of standing water as it does not drain well. Now the back corner does drain well but it appears it is dying. I checked for any kind of bug but not finding anything. I did pull and it appears dead as I pull down to the roots. Any ideas what is going on?

Here are some pictures

Now when can I fertilize the lawn? In the past with my St. Augustine I would use soybean meal and that lawn was thriving year round. Can I use soybean meal as well on the zoysia? If not what other kind of organic fertilizer can I use.
If anyone can provide feedback on these two questions let me know.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (13)

darktower00844
8 years ago
How's the sunlight? How many hours of sunlight? Watering schedule and duration?
hgiljr21
Original Author
8 years ago
This corner faces south and does get a lot of light throughout the day. Watering scheduling has been off as we have been getting a lot of rain in the month of October. I'm still not done with my sprinkler system so watering has been done manually on this days that it does not rain. The issue here is that when done manually I have had to do it after work around 6pm, which I know is not the proposer way but it's a hit or miss with weather forecasts.
Related Discussions
Large irregular yellow/dead one month old Saint Augustine
Q
Comments (3)
Where do you live? (always my first question because it usually is a factor in the solution) The first picture didn't show me anything alarming. Second and third clearly show an advanced fungal disease process going on. How long did the grass sit on the pallet before you put it down? The disease you have usually results from insufficient air movement over the grass. Did you leave a pile of leaves in that spot or maybe other garden clippings? It doesn't take much when left there for a few days. The organic solution would be to apply ordinary whole ground corn meal at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet over the entire lawn (because you don't know where it is and not showing up yet). Then reapply again in 3 weeks. You can get ordinary corn meal in 50-pound bags at a feed store. Call first. You do not want corn gluten meal. That has other uses. You want ordinary corn meal. It should be about $10 per bag. The chemical solution I cannot help you with. In these warmer zones when you read the fungicide labels carefully, they are only good for temps below 75 degrees and no rain for the following week. One of the reasons I went to a full organic program was due to the success I had with corn meal on this fungal disease.
...See More
Old azalea dying
Q
Comments (4)
Good question; hard to tell though. "Come back" would depend on just how dry the plant got when the soil dried out. I always wish I had a soil moisture sensor as good as azalea plants are. Because their tiny fibrous roots are so close to the top of the soil, they dry out quicker than almost anything... faster than most plants show signs of lack of water. At some point, the plants reach a threshold after which the azalea will not recover from and, unfortunately, neither of us can tell if the plant reached that point when it dried out. However, what you could do is prune selected stems off the main stem to see if it still alive. Prune each of those stems at 1" or 2" intervals until you reach the main stem or until you see green. I usually test prune using stems at varying heights and at -think of a clock now- 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions off the main stem. Since your plant is old and large, take your time checking as many stems as you feel are appropriate. If none of those stems has green then go for the main stem itself. Continue pruning at 1-2" intervals until you either hit the bottom or until you get green. Due to the age of your plant, the main stem will be thick so use appropriate cutting tools (do not use a machete to test prune). The tool -for example, an anvil lopper- should be of a type that can cut a main stem as thick as your plant's. If you reach bottom pruning the main stem then the plant needs to be replaced. If you do find green, maintain TLC, mulch (4 inches) protect the wound, spray some fungicide and wait for new growth. Do not apply excess fertilizer during these stressful times and maximize the amount of sunshine that the plant gets (4 hours or less of morning sun or dappled sun). When test pruning like this, cut anywhere you want. Azaleas have hidden dormant growth buds scattered along all of their stems.
...See More
Roses dying- one by one!
Q
Comments (28)
Your roses had a tough time but I think you will be a better gardener after all this is sorted out. Minis root really well off the canes, so I would plant them deeper and see if you can get them to make new roots higher up. I do this with most of my bigger roses anyway. I keep planting them a little deeper in a bigger pot and hopefully, they are making roots just under the soil each time. Trees will stunt roses. You are right about that. Can you make some shade fall on the pots like putting the pot in a larger pot with some bark between or putting some low plants in front to provide some shade? Just in case the hot weather comes back. For right now help your roses to stop dying and then later work on regrowing them into full foliaged plants. I would keep the flowerbuds picked off for now.
...See More
4 Week old Zoysia sod looks tufted and brown
Q
Comments (6)
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.
...See More
reeljake
8 years ago
I think my approach would be daily doses of mother nature, or as often as possible anyway--Compost tea, bacteria & fungus supplements, milorganite, etc. to replace the soil life quickly. Organics like soy meal are great food, but the builders disrupt the soil so much during construction that it seems to take a few years for the biology to show back up to eat it.
hgiljr21
Original Author
8 years ago

Im finding these brown bug all over the area that dying. Any idea what it is and can they be the cause?
newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years ago
So infestation seems to be happening, have you tried a locally recommended insecticide? I would, ASAP.
hgiljr21
Original Author
8 years ago
Good day. I have not. If I can find out what bug this is, I can treat accordingly. I can always use a grub killer insecticide which includes Dylox and kills several types of bugs. Any idea what this insect is?
newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years ago
No clue I'm a Yankee, but your scenario sure sounds like this one Read this
hgiljr21
Original Author
8 years ago
Newtolawncare I think your right. I looked for them but never found them but the eggs do sure look like the picture above. Gonna treat asap. Thanks
botanical_bill
8 years ago
Where in South Florida are you, Im in fort myers and have zoysia (empire). I had some issues and cured them up. Im looking to move to a more organic way now.
dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
Chinch bugs are much smaller than that beetle in the picture. You might have a bug problem, and that might be the bug, or chinch bugs might be the problem, but I would take the bug to an entomologist or to the local county extension agent to find out what that one is before dropping insecticide. The problem with overuse of insecticide is a large portion of the beneficial microbes in your soil are microscopic insects. The soil needs them to be healthy.

If you are getting problems with poor drainage, then that's the problem that needs to be addressed. Who knew you could have drainage problems in southern Fla? The solution to that is often to bring in more sand/soil to form a level surface or even crown it up a half inch or so.

Zoysia is way oversold in my opinion. Maybe we've already discussed it, but why did you change from St Augustine?
botanical_bill
8 years ago
Im not saying to buy this and use this, but this is a systematic insecticide. That means it will absorb into the plant and whatever eats it will get some poison into it. Do some research, find out what will kill this bug and look at some solutions, such as this, search for it on amazon.

Dominion 2l, it should be 20-30 bucks/quart and put it down at 1-2 tsp (teaspoon) per gallon. A quart should last a few years or more. Remember, if your spraying, wear rubber boots, long pants, long sleeve shirt, a hat, gloves and eye protection, ya never know when a gust of wind will blow the stuff back at you.
hgiljr21
Original Author
8 years ago
Botanicalbill I'm down here in Miami near Kendall. I do have dominion as I used it for white flies at my old house.

Dcall-San-Antonio been a while seen we chatted. You helped me immensely with the St Augustine at my old house. The was the lawn of the block fertilizing with soybean meal. Why did I change? Excellent question. I've always love Bermuda grass. At the new house since I had to lay down new turf, in researching several nurseries told me to go with Empire zoysia instead of Bermuda and St. Augustine. Hopefully I do not regret the investment. I did spread 1 ton of 50/50 soil before laying the grass. As for drainage what I did was make three drains into the ground 5 ft deep to assist. This is a new home and the developer used crappy fill from what it seems as drainage is bad.

i plan on continuing with soybean for fertilizer. Hopefully Zoysia likes it...
botanical_bill
8 years ago
when I first put my emprie down I had areas die off. This continued to happen for a few years. I think it was from me over watering in january and february and getting a funtgus, the organic fert should curb this. I did get an infestation with little black bugs, I think they were bill bugs, they were about the size of this " (on normal print). I found that spraying insecticide in the late fall and then again in the the early spring stopped this die off.

One month old Zoysia dying

Comments (13)

darktower00844

hgiljr21
Original Author

Related Discussions

reeljake

hgiljr21
Original Author

newtolawncare Scranton 6a

hgiljr21
Original Author

newtolawncare Scranton 6a

hgiljr21
Original Author

botanical_bill

dchall_san_antonio

botanical_bill

hgiljr21
Original Author

botanical_bill

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

One month old Zoysia dying

Comments (13)

hgiljr21Original Author

Related Discussions

hgiljr21Original Author

hgiljr21Original Author

hgiljr21Original Author

hgiljr21Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

hgiljr21
Original Author

hgiljr21
Original Author

hgiljr21
Original Author

hgiljr21
Original Author

hgiljr21
Original Author