Ok to treat fungus on St Augustine now? Blanco area

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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Texaslawngrrl
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Joined: January 10th, 2023, 11:26 am
Location: TX
Grass Type: St. Augustine
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Ok to treat fungus on St Augustine now? Blanco area

Post by Texaslawngrrl » January 11th, 2023, 10:43 am

My sons St Augustine has brown circles appearing. Bought Scott’s Disease Ex. Planned on applying the curative rate today? Ok in Texas now?

Many thanks!
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turf_toes
Posts: 6042
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 8:46 pm
Location: Central NJ
Grass Type: 77% Blueberry/23% Midnight Star KBG in front. Bewitched KBG monostand in back.
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Re: Ok to treat fungus on St Augustine now? Blanco area

Post by turf_toes » January 11th, 2023, 5:47 pm

Take this for what it is worth.

(I’m not a warm-season grass guy). What makes you think you have a fungal problem?

Your lawn looks dormant to me. If you •have* to apply a fungicide, a granular product like disease-ex won’t cut it. You’re going to need to look for a liquid fungicide.

if it were my lawn, I’d step away from the bag of disease-ex and ensure I know exactly what I’m dealing with.

Texaslawngrrl
Posts: 3
Joined: January 10th, 2023, 11:26 am
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Grass Type: St. Augustine
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Re: Ok to treat fungus on St Augustine now? Blanco area

Post by Texaslawngrrl » January 11th, 2023, 11:18 pm

Thanks for the reply!

Yes it is dormant for the most part, but winters in Central Texas can be very warm. The brown circle does not stand out well in the photo and there are others elsewhere. My son had seen the same thing on his Dad's lawn when his dad was treating it.

Definitely looking for input.

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turf_toes
Posts: 6042
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 8:46 pm
Location: Central NJ
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Re: Ok to treat fungus on St Augustine now? Blanco area

Post by turf_toes » January 12th, 2023, 12:07 am

I know this. Granular fungicide won’t do the job on dormant grass. If you actually have fungus (looking at the blades of individual grass plants is the best way to know), you will need a liquid fungicide.

Texaslawngrrl
Posts: 3
Joined: January 10th, 2023, 11:26 am
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Re: Ok to treat fungus on St Augustine now? Blanco area

Post by Texaslawngrrl » January 12th, 2023, 9:32 am

Thanks!


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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Grass Type: St Augustine
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Re: Ok to treat fungus on St Augustine now? Blanco area

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » January 22nd, 2023, 3:16 pm

Winter is fairly restorative to St Augustine in Texas. I would not do anything until at least April, which should give the grass ample time to awaken from dormancy. If you feel like you cannot wait, then I would suggest calling your local feed stores to find a 50-pound bag of ordinary corn meal (NOT corn GLUTEN meal). Cost should be under $10 and it covers 2500 square feet. Apply that on or about Washington's Birthday next month to get a head start of your soil health. The application rate is 15 to 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Water that down so it's not stuck in the tops of the grass. You'll see birds come to eat it, but they won't eat enough to make a difference. Besides they leave behind as much as they might take away. Treat the entire lawn with the corn meal, because guessing where the fungus is doesn't work. Just because you see one circle doesn't mean it's not growing outside that circle or elsewhere entirely.

Corn meal feeds the soil biome and promotes the population growth of a particular fungus which feeds on other fungi. In particular, in St Augustine, the Trichoderma fungus feeds on the fungi which cause the problems you are seeing. Spring is the best time of year to handle the problem, so now is the time to be thinking about it. The problem with using commercial fungicides is that they kill the beneficial fungi living in the soil. If you apply a chemical fungicide first, you cannot use cornmeal, because the Trichoderma fungus is killed off.

The reason I turned to organic lawn care is entirely because I had such good results using corn meal on my lawn and roses. Please try it and report back here in April as to how it looks.

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