Drought stress or fungus?

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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schreibdave
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Drought stress or fungus?

Post by schreibdave » June 21st, 2020, 8:10 pm

I have a 9 month old KBG lawn in full sun. We have had a record breaking drought here but I have been irrigating. Mostly at night and mostly 1/4" at a time. Temps are in the 80s/90s and humid.

I know that my night time watering practices and 1/4" increments are not ideal but I am working within the limitations of my lawn's needs and my need for the dog to be outside during the day.

I have an area that's about 30sqft and growing that is "off." It has a different shade than the rest of the lawn and it does not bounce back as quickly when walked on. It gets it's share of irrigation - meaning it's not in a dry spot, however it does seem to have harder soil. My screwdriver only wants to sink in about an inch in this area while 6" is common in other areas.

I am worried that a fungus is brewing. Though I have done 2 apps of serenade this year.

It's 8pm and that area is getting irrigated right now. I will look at it in the morning. If it's still "off" I guess fungus is more likely. If it recovers I guess heat stress is more likely.

I could post pictures but with the lighting now it really doesn't show anything.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. I do have Spectrum Ultra in the tool box and I could hit the area with that if it doesnt look right in the morning.

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andy10917
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Re: Drought stress or fungus?

Post by andy10917 » June 21st, 2020, 8:23 pm

Dave, I'd love to help you, but without more information about what's "off" about the trouble area, we'd be taking random guesses. You'd have to probe around with a 12" screwdriver looking for a shallow rock shelf, or use a sod cutter and find out what's below.

schreibdave
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Re: Drought stress or fungus?

Post by schreibdave » June 22nd, 2020, 9:16 am

Here are some pictures. Watering seems to have helped it bounce back to better match the rest of the lawn. But I wonder if I have 2 things going on - shallow topsoil AND a fungus brewing.

I say "shallow topsoil" because the screwdriver test shows about 2" of depth in this area and 2 or 3x that in other areas.

And I say "fungus brewing" because of the lesions I see on some of the blades.

Here's my thinking - any comments or suggestions are appreciated:

I will be away for 8 days starting on friday so I think I need to be aggressive about treating for the fungus now - since I wont be here to do it next week. I have Spectrum Ultra and I would like to hit the front yard with that. I also have the BL soil conditioner with Kelp Help and I would like to start hitting the area with that today. And then again when I get back from vacation.

Any reason NOT to do these 2 things? Any better ideas? Thanks
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Jackpine
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Re: Drought stress or fungus?

Post by Jackpine » June 23rd, 2020, 8:32 am

Repeated shallow watering can leave the lower depths dry as a bone. I don't see any lesion on the green blades in your pictures so my guess is your roots are starving for H2O. Give that lawn a nice deep watering before you leave. As much as will soak in to replenish the soil to capacity.

schreibdave
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Re: Drought stress or fungus?

Post by schreibdave » June 23rd, 2020, 8:53 am

Thanks. I'll put the soaker hose on it.


schreibdave
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Re: Drought stress or fungus?

Post by schreibdave » July 6th, 2020, 11:29 am

I thought I would report back. Just about 2 weeks later and this section of lawn is back to looking like the rest of the lawn - which is good. All I did was soak it with extra soil conditioner and then put the soaker hose on it for a few hours. Draught seems to have been the problem. Thanks

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