Brown Spots in Lawn

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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Adam_M
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Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by Adam_M » July 5th, 2019, 11:16 am

Hi,
Can anyone shed some light on what is happening here, other than the fact that I need to sharpen my mower blades? I've got a couple spots that are failing - and in fact these spots failed last year too at almost exactly this time of the year. It was bad. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24177&p=324862#p324862

Last year, I dropped Disease Ex and it stopped the spread, but the damage was done. I'm not entirely sure what the best course of action is and I'm looking for the advice of the forum. I'm seemingly a bit ahead of it this year compared to last year.

I don't think lack of water is an issue, as we've consistently had more than an inch a week all season. My instincts are a curative rate application of disease ex, but would like to confirm before I kill all fungi in those areas, beneficial or otherwise.

Thanks,
Adam


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Adam_M
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by Adam_M » July 5th, 2019, 11:25 am

Hmm - the images didn't seem to show full size - trying again:

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andy10917
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by andy10917 » July 5th, 2019, 12:44 pm

A few questions:

1. What happened after your damage from last year - did the areas recover after the damage was stopped, or did you reseed the areas?
2. When did the disease start to become evident?
3. Last year, did it stay concentrated on the tops of knolls/rises, or spread to all areas?
4. Did it show "frog eye" patterns last year?

Adam_M
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by Adam_M » July 5th, 2019, 1:23 pm

andy10917 wrote:
July 5th, 2019, 12:44 pm
A few questions:

1. What happened after your damage from last year - did the areas recover after the damage was stopped, or did you reseed the areas?
2. When did the disease start to become evident?
3. Last year, did it stay concentrated on the tops of knolls/rises, or spread to all areas?
4. Did it show "frog eye" patterns last year?
1. The epicenters of infection were dead, outside of a plant or 2 inside of each, oddly enough. Roots were basically non-existent and top-growth could be raked away to bare soil with no effort (I was considering re-seeding and took a look at what was there). I re-sodded/plugged the largest areas with material edged from beds. They are actually now (well, not RIGHT now, but within the past month or so) almost closed again after monthly 19-19-19 applications alternated with milo. (I actually picked up some 10-20-20 to get the nutrients down with less N for the summer, but am holding on that until this issue is figured out). The periphery of the infections fared better. There were plenty of dinner-plate dead spots that filled in, but a subset of that grass actually recovered. I should note I had a similar outbreak in August to the photos shown from last July as the grass was starting to recover the first time.

2. Disease started in conjunction with the heat. My initial through was heat/drought stress as we went 4 days without rain and heat in the upper 80's. Grass took on the gray cast that is normally a signal to water, so I put down 1/2" of water. Gray went away, and the brown got slightly worse. Call it roughly a week ago. We've had multiple thunderstorms though since then so it's got well over another inch of water since. Thinking back, the first signs of brown were actually 2 weeks ago, but it was extremely sparse and it just looked like a couple plants thinking about dormancy.

3. The photo from last year shows near-peak infection. I wouldn't say it stayed to knolls/rises though, as one of the infected areas (and the one in this year's photo) is a shallow swale. The areas that see the infection seem to be the poorest soils on the lot though, often not much more than 1/4" flakes of shale barely covered by a couple years of clippings, leaves, and peat moss topdressing. The swale is actually the worst of it regarding soil - as soon as the grass starts to decline, anything resembling soil gets washed out.

4. I'm not quite sure what you mean by frog eye patterns - do you mean the spots on the leaves? If so, no, or I didn't catch it fast enough to notice last year. Last year went from gray and a tiny bit crispy directly to brown and crispy. It is certainly possible that I've learned since then and become more observant, so I wouldn't entirely rule it out.

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andy10917
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by andy10917 » July 6th, 2019, 8:39 am

Here is what a fungal "frog's eye" pattern (which acts as a signature for certain diseases) looks like:

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Here come two seemingly contradictory statements and my take on your situation:

1. I'd get Disease Ex down on that ASAP. Your losses last year shouldn't be repeated. I'm not a big fan of synthetic fungicides, but I realize that in large, broad attacks there aren't better curative answers.

2. If you apply Disease Ex again, you will have used it multiple times and the day will come when the fungus develops resistance to the active ingredient. I'm not the best person on the site to discuss alternatives in synthetic fungicides, but there are folks here that will help - just get in gear and don't fall farther behind in beating the current attack.


Adam_M
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by Adam_M » July 6th, 2019, 5:49 pm

Thanks Andy.

No frog eye patterns, thanks for the example. Your comments make perfect sense. Solve the active issue and then ultimately develop the proper cultural practice / plan to handle or eliminate future outbreaks. Once we get through the active issue, we can chase preventatives or different fungicide classes.

One last question - should I hold off on the fertilizer until there's improvement in the disease outbreak? I don't want to unnecessarily miss the opportunity to get more P and K down as part of the soil remediation plan. I have applied N to outgrow things like rust, but given that this isn't diagnosed, I don't want to guess if it'll help or make matters worse.

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andy10917
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by andy10917 » July 7th, 2019, 8:36 am

I don't know what your budget and long-term orientation is, so I'm hesitant to tell you what to do...

If you want to dig to the bottom of what's going on (so a preventative program would be focused and likely successful), you could take samples of the infected areas and have either your state cooperative extension or a top-tier program like Rutgers analyze it and tell you what the exact fungus is. Then you can focus on a program to get ahead of the curve.

KBGkicksazz
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by KBGkicksazz » July 7th, 2019, 9:21 am

Given the cost of chasing fungus issues, it’s worth it to get accurate ID.

Will save you headaches to know what you’re dealing with.

Adam_M
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by Adam_M » July 7th, 2019, 11:00 am

Yep, makes sense. It doesn't seem like Penn State has a fungus test, so I'll get a sample off to Rutgers ASAP. Its a bit soupy today...

Adam_M
Posts: 215
Joined: April 22nd, 2017, 12:29 pm
Location: Southwest PA
Grass Type: Midnight, Bewitched, Prosperity
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by Adam_M » July 7th, 2019, 11:18 am

andy10917 wrote:
July 7th, 2019, 8:36 am
I don't know what your budget and long-term orientation is, so I'm hesitant to tell you what to do...

If you want to dig to the bottom of what's going on (so a preventative program would be focused and likely successful), you could take samples of the infected areas and have either your state cooperative extension or a top-tier program like Rutgers analyze it and tell you what the exact fungus is. Then you can focus on a program to get ahead of the curve.
Regarding budget and long-term goals - I'm not necessarily chasing the last few percent (like Andy, Morph, HLG, and many other fine examples on this site), but I want the proverbial best lawn on the block - so dark green, very dense, and importantly self-repairing with adequate care. Budget is flexible with reason. As an example: If I'm burning through a 1qt bottle or 2 of serenade a month, so be it. If I'm putting down a gallon of companion every couple weeks, that's a different story.

I'm happy to put a fair amount of time into this (and have been) but don't want this to be the only summer hobby. Beyond mowing/watering as needed (multiple mows/week have been in order all year so far) I'm happy to spend a few additional hours a week on a targeted task or 2. As an example, this spring I went after a 2K area that was just covered with Triv (no fungus in that area) in addition to the normal work like pre-m and spring weed kill regimens. The certainty performed exactly as advertised - both good and bad. ...The KBG has since recovered but it was ugly.

I want to avoid spending both weekend days doing nothing but yardwork though.

Hopefully that gives you a better indication of the level of effort, goals, and budget.

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Brown Spots in Lawn

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » July 7th, 2019, 2:33 pm

Hey I had to back off being the top percent before. May have to again in the future. Lawn isn't worth my marriage or family, but it is a joy. Give and take.

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