Your watering sounds perfect, but that sure looks like it's dry. Are you sure your sprinkler provides an inch in the dead looking area? There is a very nice looking circular shaped area on the upper left in your picture. Then it appears to look worse and worse as you get away from that central green area. If you are sure it is getting an inch right there, then the alternative is a fungus is cutting off the moisture either at the roots or up the stem of the grass. Usually a fungus grows in a circle shape; however, in your case everything but the dead area is a circle shape. I suppose it could still be a disease. My experience with zoysia is that once it turns brown it will remain brown until the following spring no matter what you do to it. It doesn't matter whether it turns brown in November or in May, it remains brown the rest of the season until spring whether you throw the kitchen sink at it or ignore it completely. If this is a fungus, your only approach is to use an organic product. Chemical fungicides are not supposed to be applied if the temps are going to get above 80 degrees F in the next 48 hours. In San Antonio the last day for applying that sort of chemical is sometime in March or April. The organic approach is to apply ordinary corn meal at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You can find it at your local feed store - or you can tell me what side of town you are on and I can direct you to a source nearby. But even if it is a fungus and you do kill it, I still don't have much hope for a green lawn this season. If you have the same variety of zoysia as your neighbor, then you should probably listen to him. If not, you either need to find someone who does or look for other options. One option is to change to a grass that can recover from simple goofs or natural disasters. That list includes all the other grasses plus, possibly, whatever zoysia variety your neighbor has.

Calshaye - I think to identify the problem we need to see the pics of your algae and Powdery Mildew. Something doesn't ring right. Powdery mildew on perlite? I can imagine some fuzzy mold on perlite, but not PM. PM looks like somebody sprinkled your leaves with fine white powder. You will not be able to see it on perlite no matter what. If it is a fuzzy mold, not PM - it is harmless - and replacing the soil on the surface is probably the max you need to do. Algae - if you have it - no reasonable amount of Physan is going to kill it. Very concentrated Physan probably will - but your plants will be killed first. It is mostly harmless, it consumes the fertilizer to some extent and it is absolutely bad if you are trying to grow something from seeds.It will choke them. otherwise - replacing the top layer of the soil is probably the most you need to do - or just leave it alone. How much fertilizer you put in your water? What is the brand of your 7:7:7? It would be really helpful if you take pics, if you have trouble posting them here - send them directly to me - if you click on my name - Gardenweb will give an option to send an email. Good Luck and so far do not do anything. Irina

I'm not sure you can get your mom to care about your relationship. If I were in your shoes, I'm not sure I'd keep trying. Sometimes we just have to accept people the way they are, and that's what I'd do in this case (as far as your own relationship with your mom). I'm also not sure you can get her to understand the need for your husband and you to make requests for your child's care. Again, I think I'd give up trying to get her to understand and agree with you. It seems to me that all you can really do is stand your ground on the safety rules. Stay calm, don't get angry, but just have consequences for when she breaks your rules. If she is letting your daughter get in situations where she is truly in danger (playing on the stairs, taking her to a home where things are stacked high and could fall and hurt her, etc.), then sounds like you just need to make sure your mom has supervised visits only with your daughter. In that situation I would just pay for a sitter and not use my mom to babysit unless I was there. The situation with your soon-to-be baby is sad, and I'm so sorry your mom can't see how hurtful her actions will be. That situation will probably take care of itself, though. I'd think your daughter will love her baby sister/brother and when she gets older your daughter will realize how wrong that kind of statement is. If I was dealing with this with my own mom, then I'd let my mom know that kind of statement is harmful to my kids' relationship with one another and that wasn't acceptable to me. Then, every time my mom made a comment like that, we'd calmly get our things together and leave. Your mom doesn't have to understand, she doesn't have to agree, she just has to stop making that kind of comment. So I wouldn't argue, I wouldn't explain, I'd just calmly say, "It's time for us to go now" or whatever works for the situation, and leave. I would try to enforce my rules in a calm, consistent, firm manner. If my mom wanted to see my daughter alone, then I'd tell her she'll have to go through counseling with the therapist and then later with me and a therapist. No therapy, no keeping my daughter alone. Hopefully her love for your daughter will be the impetus your mom needs to get counseling and change her life for the better. This could be what gets the ball rolling on a much better and healthier life for your mom.

Heated floors would have been the first and best solution, but that's difficult to retrofit on a concrete floor. Second best is to plumb in a couple of powered circulation ducts, even if you have to encase them in soffits. They will pull the heat down from the ceiling through the ductwork and exhaust it at floor level. Third best option is to put back the ceiling fans. The fourth option is to use the portable fans, which as you've discovered, is noisy and unattractive. Fifth best option is heated slippers and an extra sweater.