Advice Needed on KBG RUST outbreak!
scha1002
7 years ago
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scha1002
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Possible Fungus with Elite KBG blend??? Pics included!
Comments (16)Lutzd79, If it were my own lawn, I wouldn't worry too much at this point. If I recall, you're a bit farther north than me. My own Midnight II backyard only really woke up in the last 10 days. Give it more time. It looks like you have the beginnings of some growth. You have a new lawn, time should improve it. Just be patient. As for powdery mildew, I get some of that every fall in one part of my yard that is more shaded in late autumn. I haven't done a thing to rectify the problem It just goes away when conditions improve. I, of course, could be wrong. But powdery mildew on these grasses seem to be more cosmetic than anything else. Just make sure you do the proper cultural practices (cut high, water deeply and infrequently and fertilize properly) and you will probably be ok. These KBGs seem to be much more disease resistant than the old Turf-type Tall fescue and Rye mix that I used to have in my yard....See More'Bestlawn I need KBG suggestions.'
Comments (29)I was going to slit seed to thicken the lawn up in a few places. Whatever seed you use, you want to do the whole lawn and not just a few places. I just wanted to stipulate that thought it's probably what you're already planning to do. Excellent details, Chris, but ditto what Turf Toes said. You simply are not going to find premium seeds in store-bought packages. Plus, I have never understood Scott's at all. They've poured millions of dollars into seed research only to mass market junk. I have no idea why they purchased Turf-Seed and really hate that they did. The numbers mean they are new varieties that have been submitted for testing. They won't be named until it is determined they will be a viable competitor. They are not yet ready for market and therefore not available for purchase just as you thought. Most new ones are tested 2-5 years before they are named and are available. Concerning your lawn and what seed to use, I will give my purely subjective :) view and some technical to consider. I absolutely hate mixing bluegrass with ryegrass and really don't like it with the fescues either. The only reasons for doing it that I can see are for utility purposes, such as simply to have a creeping variety for filling in when the bunch types thin out. The fact is, you should overseed regularly - every 2-3 years after good establishment - for several reasons. That applies to every lawn no matter the species and would negate that utility purpose altogether. When it comes to pre-mixes, they are often poorly comprised of varieties that do not compliment each other as far as growth habit, genetic color, etc., and selecting varieties among 2 or 3 species poses the same problem. Generally, someone who is familiar with all the species can share their results and varieties they selected, but it otherwise becomes quite the guessing game. Something else to consider is the varieties that were used. Had you told me the lawn is older or has been the same lawn for many years, I would know immediately it is nothing like the ones sold today and could give you a conclusive answer. But, you say it's only three years old, so I don't know if what you have are fairly recent developments or rather long-standing varieties still sold today that are not compatible. One factor is most recent varieties of rye, kbg, and the fescue boast dwarf growth habit, which means they are low/slow growing. They don't have to be mowed as high and they don't have to be mowed as often. Imagine mixing them in with a lawn composed of long-standing varieties that grow faster and taller. What you end up with is uneven, spikey growth between mowings that compromises quality and appearance since obviously you don't want to have to mow the lawn every 3 or 4 days. Ryegrass has been found to express an allelopathic chemical that stunts/reduces/inhibits the growth of bluegrass, so that is something else to think about. One other thing is a lawn seeded over time with kbg into an existing lawn of ryegrass and/or fescue in effort to convert it will eventually make the bunch types look like weeds (an eyesore) once the kbg becomes dominant. Counter-productive in my opinion. My suggestion is to get rid of the lawn you have and start over with a blend of cultivars of whatever species you prefer. They are all perfectly capable of thriving as a mono-culture. My opinion in this regard is both personal and analytical, but you have to decide what is right for your lawn and your growing conditions based on what you want to achieve. For example, shade may be an issue, how much shade, whether there is a disease prevalent in your area, if there are imposed water restrictions, etc. Good luck and I hope I helped a little....See MoreWill It Ever NOT Be There - Lawn Rust
Comments (4)quite a bit of good info in previous posts. In my experience, mostly a severe pest of common ryegrasses. Can also be a problem on some bluegrasses, but is always a complaint on certain Rye only lawns. Also seemed to be worse on newer lawns on rotten soil (surprise, surprise...) lots of Rye and rotten growing conditions. N does help but also one needs to apply it and irrigate heavily prior to severe onset to keep the grass growing aggressively. Bagging may help somewhat but the spores are everywhere in the fall (even on your neighbors lawn--he just has a non-susceptible or less susceptible variety). In central PA, Southern NJ, RI and eastern CT (my personal realm of turfcare experience), I NEVER saw rust on a lawn in the Spring or Summer. It was exclusively a Fall disease. What I was told by various academics was that it did not overwinter in the 'North', but rather arrived annually on large storms that come up from down south where it can survive year round. That always made some sense when I thought of Hurricane seasons onset and the arrival of rust in lawns. If you have a Rye lawn, don't worry as Spring will allow for you to get 'red thread' infestations. I almost always saw it on the same lawns in the Spring that had been rusted up in the Fall. Though red thread will also affect other grasses as well. Same cultural practices apply (N + H20) to 'grow' that out although bagging clippings always seemed more effective at limiting the spread. I never recommended fungicides on home lawns (too expensive, needed too often and only effective preventatively). A recipe for failure at high cost if ever I saw one. It always made much more sense to either overseed with resistant varieties (in cases of mild disease infestations) or Glyphosphate and switch to a different turf (Tall Fescue or Kentucky Bluegrass). So the answer is : It will be there every Fall. You can chose to give it something different to try to grow on by renovation with a better type of turf. There are three things necessary for any disease to be active. You need a 'Host', a 'Pathogen' and Environment(advantageous environmental conditions). Remove any of those three things and the disease will not occur. Fungicides, in one way or another, modify (though temporarily) the environment. This principal actually relates to ANY disease scenario...from mildew on your shower curtain (Bathroom fans,and windows are also attempts to modify that micro environment) to bread mold. Since Pathogens are generally thought of as omnipresent...you can change the host or modify the environment. One caveat: Changing hosts often just changes which diseases are possible. The problem can change with the host. But, I never thought losing rye for either TF or KY blue was a bad trade....See MoreRose beginner needs advice on container roses
Comments (19)I have 18 roses in containers. My climber is in a 15 gallon plastic container and the rest are hybrid tea roses in 5 and 6 gallon containers (5 gallon plastic and what I am calling 6 gallon are terra cotta pots that are bigger than 5 gallons but not by much - they could be 7 gallons). My roses started bare root (with 2 exceptions - 1 pulled from the ground and 1 purchased already potted) 6 years ago. Obviously it's better to have a bigger pot, but I haven't had major problems with this size pot. I have changed the soil once so far just to keep it fresh. I fertilize every other week at 1/2 strength with liquid fertilizer similar to Miracle Gro and once per month I fertilize with fish emulsion and an organic slow-acting fertilizer like alfalfa meal, blood meal, or Grow More. I never apply all of this on the same day, so that usually means a schedule similar to: Wednesday Week 1 Organic granular fertilizer Saturday Week 1 Weak liquid fertilizer Saturday Week 2 Weak liquid fertilizer Wednesday Week 2 Spray fungicide Saturday Week 3 Weak liquid fertilizer Wednesday Week 3 Fish emulsion Saturday Week 4 Weak liquid fertilizer Wednesday Week 4 Spray fungicide (I try to do the nasty things like spray chemicals and smelly fish emulsion during the week so that my neighbors and I don't have to deal with it when we are BBQing and the like on the weekends.) I spray for insects when they become a problem, except that I do proactively spray all of my buds with spinosad because thrips are the bane of my existence. For instance, I don't think I sprayed an insecticide at all last year. Most years I end up spraying maybe twice. I don't want to kill the praying mantis and hover flies that I get. Fungicide is a different story and I spray every other week (the week I do not fertilize). I use Immunox alternated with Mancozeb/Banner Maxx. When I do use an insecticide I use one mixed with yet a different fungicide just to switch it up. That's about it. Here in CA I usually prune in January, although I pruned in February this year. We usually get 3 flushes per year, although I had 4 this year with the mild weather. The biggest challenge I face growing roses in containers is keeping them watered. A rose in the ground can withstand even the fiercest heat for a few days between waterings. My container roses need to be watered every day when the temperature is above 90 degrees and when it's 100+ sometimes I water them twice if they look sad when I get home from work. If I miss a day the roses don't die, but the new growth gets crispy and the flowers I work so hard for burn up. Luckily, this is usually just for a couple of weeks in July or August. Otherwise, I water 2-3x per week. Right now with the rain I am watering just 1x to supplement Mother Nature....See MoreUser
7 years agoJulian 6A
7 years ago
dchall_san_antonio
7 years agoscha1002
7 years ago
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