Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » July 29th, 2019, 9:02 pm

Any idea what might be taking over this time of year? Is it somehow more poa triv despite the heat/dryness? Doesn't pull up like bentgrass. Is all over; front/back/sun/shade/wetter (back)/drier(front)...

I'll try to pull some good samples tomorrow, but something is taking over many areas of my lawn all of a sudden.

I had mowed on 7/19 before going away. Came back on 7/25 and the lawn looked good, but I noticed that many areas were a bit lighter green, flopping over and growing much taller than other darker/nicer green areas. I mowed on 7/25 and within 2 days the light green areas were growing like crazy and were even lighter.


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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » July 29th, 2019, 9:12 pm

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by Green » July 29th, 2019, 9:25 pm

Have you looked at it closely yet? I bet if you use your developing grass ID skills, you can tell whether it's Triv or not. Remember, boat-shaped tip, light green, stolons likely, long/likely pointed ligule (near where the blade comes out of the stem). The good news is that the chance of new Triv popping up this time of year with the weather we've had (almost a month straight of highs at 90) is low. But on the flipside, there are so many other weedy grass types it could be.

I've noticed a few light green/yellow KBG blades here and there lately, which I'm blaming on heat stress. That could be it, too.

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » July 30th, 2019, 2:42 pm

Thanks and yes, I finally got a chance this afternoon to look at it. I'm still not sure what it is though. The one I pulled has no tip, but you can see in the other photo the blades that are lighter and flopping over do appear to have a canoe tip, I think.


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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by Green » July 30th, 2019, 10:11 pm

southern-ct-4 wrote:
July 30th, 2019, 2:42 pm
Thanks and yes, I finally got a chance this afternoon to look at it. I'm still not sure what it is though. The one I pulled has no tip, but you can see in the other photo the blades that are lighter and flopping over do appear to have a canoe tip, I think.
Ok, so the next thing is to look at the ligule. Search for photos online so you know what to look for. Most likely you're now down to KBG or Triv.


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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » July 31st, 2019, 9:55 am

Do these help identify it: https://www.dropbox.com/sc/j0w4z5zg2iks ... 3WFJBQbl5a

I'll try to grab some better pics of the ligule as well, but I think it comes up ok in these pics. What exactly am I looking for to differentiate between kbg and triv?

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » July 31st, 2019, 9:56 am

Have you fertilized recently? Sometimes new shoots look dramatically different and a lighter green, especially in a struggling lawn.

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » July 31st, 2019, 10:19 am

On 7/6 I put down milo at bag rate and SOP at 2lbs/k.

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by napper » August 1st, 2019, 1:49 pm

My guess is it needs iron. I looked at your soil test and your iron levels are bad like mine.

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » August 6th, 2019, 4:13 pm

Here's a couple more pics. Within 2 days of mowing you can see how much taller the lighter green grass is (not the best line I drew but I think it gives you the idea). It grows like crazy! I still can't figure out what it is :(


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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » August 6th, 2019, 4:15 pm

Also, does this help anyone identify it? My skills are still not the best :(


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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » August 6th, 2019, 4:19 pm

And just lastly, here's just one more showing how tall it grows, and one showing how floppy/wavy it is


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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by Green » August 8th, 2019, 2:36 pm

Can't tell unfortunately...it's either KBG or Poa Triv, and the only thing that's going to tell you for sure which of the two, is if you look at several ligules, or photograph and post them for us here. If I had photos showing the difference, I would post them to show you what to look for, but I don't think I do. Look up Poa Trivialis ligule online and look at photos. Then compare to KBG.

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » August 9th, 2019, 11:57 am

UConn plant analysis confirmed it's poa triv.

I may have to now give up on the battle.

I killed off so much of my lawn (the big spot in the front, some smaller spots here and there, and probably 20% of my backyard, which now looks like sand traps in a golf course), that I'm not sure I can bear to do more.

Perhaps, given that I'm reseeding in a week or so, and given that the triv is clearly not dormant, perhaps I can glyphosate some of it now and reseed in a week or so. However, there is SO MUCH and it's in so many areas.

I can't believe it spread so far and wide, especially since I killed off so much of it and it spread in the heat of summer.

These were nice parts of my yard where I didn't notice any triv all year, then it suddenly goes crazy in late July? Ugh!

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by andy10917 » August 9th, 2019, 1:07 pm

I had it happen to me a decade ago. I had similar small spots that the camera didn't render well, and then in 3 months it exploded to 3,000 sq ft of it. That was one of the biggest reasons for me abandoning core aeration - the risk/reward isn't favorable.

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by southern-ct-4 » August 9th, 2019, 1:41 pm

andy10917 wrote:
August 9th, 2019, 1:07 pm
I had it happen to me a decade ago. I had similar small spots that the camera didn't render well, and then in 3 months it exploded to 3,000 sq ft of it. That was one of the biggest reasons for me abandoning core aeration - the risk/reward isn't favorable.
Well, I may try and kill the few patches that I think I see in the front yard, but will probably just leave the back yard alone as there's too much more for me to deal with right now.

Since joining this forum I no longer do core aeration, though I did it each and every year prior to joining.

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by Green » August 9th, 2019, 9:51 pm

southern-ct-4 wrote:
August 9th, 2019, 11:57 am
UConn plant analysis confirmed it's poa triv.
I'm sorry. I hate to say this in a public place. But I can't trust their results anymore, since they bungled mine and ID'd Triv as Orchard grass. Please consider sending some to the CT Ag. Exp. station as well for a second opinion. There is no fee, except the mailing fee.

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by TimmyG » August 9th, 2019, 10:02 pm

southern-ct-4 wrote:
July 31st, 2019, 9:55 am
Do these help identify it: https://www.dropbox.com/sc/j0w4z5zg2iks ... 3WFJBQbl5a

I'll try to grab some better pics of the ligule as well, but I think it comes up ok in these pics. What exactly am I looking for to differentiate between kbg and triv?
If there was a long ligule somewhere in those dropbox pics, I didn't see it.

How to ID poa trivialis vs kentucky bluegrass

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by Green » August 9th, 2019, 10:04 pm

Oh, and if you get to talk with the same scientist at the Ag. Station I did (part of this person's name rhymes with "leg"), make sure you say that "the guy who sent you the Triv samples with the brown stems back in April" referred you.

------

TimmyG: I didn't see any ligules...they're just not apparent in his photos, so I can't confirm their length.

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Re: Light green grass popping up everywhere :(

Post by Green » August 9th, 2019, 10:24 pm

In the dropbox photos, I zoomed all the way in, and I'm not seeing the ligules to be able to tell how long they are, but I'm also not seeing anything that overtly screams "Triv" to me. Are these the same plants that UConn said was Triv? If so, I'm starting to wonder if they're wrong.

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