# My St Augustine lawn journal



## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

I have 8500sf of st augustine lawn. Unsure of what type of st aug. Two summers back my lawn looked great, lush and green. I was watering 3x week at 40 min/zone.

Winter came and it was slower than everyone else's to green up this past spring. And really never has been as good as it was before since then. I was cutting at the 3rd highest setting on my Toro self propelled mulching 22" mower. Leaving grass clippings on. About a month ago, I didn't think my lawn was healthy. Looked like it had this hay mixed with the green. bare in some areas. I dont know what it was exactly but I came on here and some folks thought it might be a fungus. Others thought it was drought stress. So I cranked up the water to 2.5". I have an ongoing battle with doveweed, spurge, virginia buttonweed, crabgrass, dallis grass, and someother fern like weed

This was april, I had put down prodiamine sometime around here. I didn't log it then.



Spring came and I didn't do any fertilization but I did a post emergent with Speedzone southern lawn which worked well for the most part. Some weeds didn't die.

I got busy in the summer and didn't stay on top of the lawn and around August I started paying attention.

So here is the lawn in august. This is when I cranked up my water after it being suggested by my neighbor and someone on the this forum



This is what I put down within days of one another:

Early August: 
1.3oz/k of Eagle 20ew
Scotts turf builder southern (32-10-2)
Insecticide (bayer advanced) 3 oz/gallon in sprayer

Late august
Image southern broadleaf
1/2" Peatmoss on the bare spots

The image did help with that dove weed, it killed alot of it. Although I didn't realize til after that it wasn't to be laid down in temps higher than 85. Luckily it was a cool spell around the time I laid it, which was closer to september.

Well, this is what the lawn looked like yesterday



So seeing as how it looks worse now than before, I'm guessing I was overwatering. That is weird to me because its the parts that get full sun that are the least healthy. The partial shady areas are pretty thick and lush with fewer weeds, front and back.

So today, I reduced the water to two days a week (back to back days), 75 min/zone. that will give me 1.5 inches per week split up into two waterings due to my sandy florida soil. But I just set the timer again and it will be monday before they go off again. They have been shut off since day before yesterday. Hopefully it will dry out a bit before being watered (if thats the right answer, which at this point I'm just guessing and trial and error)

Laid down another treatment of Eagle

Oct:
1.3 oz/k of Eagle20 ew

Some people on the board have given me advice @CenlaLowell has recommended I start a treating with Celsius+MSM+NIS.

I'll look into getting those items. I'll post more pics in a couple weeks to see if there is any improvement (or it gets any worse)


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Laid down some Disease ex over the weekend. Lawn looks pretty awful. Friday I contacted the UF ag extension office and sent the folks some pictures of the lawn. Hopefully theyll tell me what 's going on with it and I can get a plan for recovery.

Lawn looks great in the shaded areas but once you reach the sun it looks pretty stressed, gapped, and weedy.

That's why I'm thinking its not a fungus. Logically if it were fungus it would be in the shaded areas too right?


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

UF Ag extension folks say I have gray leaf spot, and signs of sod web worms. They suggested I back watering to 3/4" once per week, mowing at the highest setting, and apply a fungicide. Got those three so that's progress.


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Get a group 3 and 11 fungicide Preferably propiconazle and azoxystrobin. Yeah you definitely have glf, but keep in mind St Augustine is sensitive to getting GLF so you need to get on a program where your spraying one or twice a month.


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

Thinking the N P K ratio was out of whack for buffalo/st aug.

Most of the buffalo and lawn fertilizers are around 14:0.5:8 all very low in "P" or none at all.

The use of a long term or controlled release at the end of summer is needed for a single winter application of a higher "P" "K"
With a low "N" which you dont need growth when its dormant.

Before it starts to slow down where you are do a test strip of a high "N" or just urea granules.
See if it greens up.

Halve the watering time will help.

All that watering may have created root rot


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Appreciate the feedback.

Today, it looks a little better from a week ago. I think.

This is one week post application of asoxystrobin. Im ordering some propiconazle today.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Laid down 1tbsp of Prodiamine yesterday in teh front. Going to try to do the back today.

I mixed some fungicide (eagle20) with the prodiamine. I watered it in after.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Buffalolawny said:


> Thinking the N P K ratio was out of whack for buffalo/st aug.
> 
> Most of the buffalo and lawn fertilizers are around 14:0.5:8 all very low in "P" or none at all.
> 
> ...


Appreciate the feedback. I put down Turf builder in the final days of august. The extension folks said I should hold off on any more nitrogen til spring.

Their guide to St augustine says I should apply muriate of potash one month from the first frost. That's 0-0-60


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Put down another treatment of Asoxystrobin (Scotts Disease Ex) yesterday.


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## cnicholas3 (Nov 11, 2019)

I've been alternating DiseaseEx and Fungus Control (until Scott's apparently discontinued it) so I just sprayed Eagle 20 for the first time. I'm interested to see how our lawns turn around with the Azox


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Had my soil tested from UF Ag extension. They tell me my ph is low in the front and back. 5.7 in the front and 6.0 in the back. They recommended adding lime to both. I picked up 7 40lb bags of peletized dolomitic lime that I plan on putting down this week.

I also received MSM, Dismiss, and propiconzole in the mail. I already have like a lifetime supply of

Soil temperatures here are hovering about 55 degrees on most days.

I've seen people here mix msm and 24d. I was thinking of mixing msm with dismiss.

The current weeds I have are nutsedge, clover, and some ones I havent identified. I plan on treating with prodiamine in march before spring.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Put down .38 oz/k of prodiamine and 40lb/k of lime in the front yard today


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Put down .38oz/k prodiamine and 40lb/k lime in the backyard today.

Spot treatments of nutsedge with dismiss


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

So figured I would post some early pics of the lawn to track what happens to it over the growing season.

If you look back in the journal, you can see how that dove weed and fungus did a hit job on that part of my lawn.

I don't know how much it will fill in in the spring when temps warm up, or if i should just resod that area.

Fungus seems to be better though. I'm now doing preventative apps of propiconozole and diseasex.

It really bugs me everytime i come home and see this part of my lawn.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)




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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Applied Bayer Complete insect killer mixed with Eagle 20 EW in the front yard today.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Tracking the lawn in pics, here it is today. Hoping these brown areas recover as the season moves along. Haven't put any N yet but plan to this week.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Laid down scotts turfuilder in the front and back yards

Last weekend I did a spot treatment of dismiss and 24d on spurge, nutsedge, dollarweed, and clover.

Nutsedge is dying, clover is dying, spurge is dying, some of the dollar weed is dying but not like it used to. I used to put down 24d and the dollar weed would be dead in 3 days.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Generally speaking front yard is weed free

leveled with sand in gapped side of the yard where alot of the grass died off.

Today applied 1 oz/k Propicanozole


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## LawnRat (Mar 22, 2019)

sabanist said:


> ... I was cutting at the 3rd highest setting on my Toro self propelled mulching 22" mower. ...


Are you still doing this?

I was cutting too short for years, problems first showed in the sunny areas. Cutting too short is what slowly kills everyone's StA around here. Looks great for a while but then can't handle the sun and eventually weakens enough to let weeds and disease win the battle. My mower only goes up to 4" HOC, but if it went to 5" I'd be using that, especially in the sunny areas. Cutting that high looks tall and straggely at first, but it will quickly fill itself in and seem "shorter", look healthier, and it will block out most weeds.

If you have already been cutting at your mower's highest setting this year I think your problem spots will slowly go away. Good luck!


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Im at like 4" now. Hope you are right. Half my front lawn looks like hell and it bothers the crap out of me.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

1 oz/k sf of propiconozole in the front yard. Hoping some of these dead patches fill in. If I havent seen significant progress by end of may, i'm going to resod those areas.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Figured out 2 things today, the first thing is the part of my lawn that sucks isnt'getting hit with my sprinkler, the stream was going right over it and hitting mostly my drive way. This would explain why the strip along the drive is green and then 2' inside that it is dead, dying, gapped and generally crappy. All i had to do was turn the little screw a couple turns and now the water is hitting the grass, not the driveway.

The other thing i figured out is that i have chinch bugs in that area. I have dug down a couple times looking for them and never did find any. Believing it to be pest free. I called the sod farm and they told me to pour dish soap on the green area next to the dead area and then see what comes up. Sure enough, chinch bugs. I sprayed the lawn with insect killer, bayer advanced. I was advised to do it again next week,

Then i'll replant some sod. I'm switching to zoysia in the bare areas. Sod farm told me that its generally just better for full sun areas and will eventually just take over the whole lawn.


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

Just documenting the lawn in photos

First pic is March27, next one is May 2. Between that time i put down 1lb N/k sf, fungicide, topdressed with sand, and now insect killer


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