# I hate my zeon



## Rydarr (Oct 22, 2019)

This is definitely a love/hate grass. I'm committed though with 53 pallets of it so I've got to figure it out. I'm trying to get some areas recovered after it didn't winter very well (fungus, grubs, or winter damage, who knows), and I felt like we were making some progress, but recently I have this generalized browning of new growth on the tips of the blades.

I have soil samples off to the lab to check for nutrient levels, but am considering getting some headway G tomorrow in case this is a fungal issue. Problem is that it isn't looking like any of the fungal pictures I see online, but I'm new to this.

Zeon was sold to me with the expectation that it was low maintenance and low propensity to diseases. I find both far from the truth in my one year of ownership.

early stage: 


late stage:


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

We've had a very mild spring. Check back in a month and see if it still looks bad. It would not be a bad idea however to put a preventative fungicide treatment down such as headway G like you noted above.


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## tigertailbell (Mar 13, 2017)

It doesn't look bad, overall . I'm not sure about where you are in TX, but in SC we have had a bad spring for warm season turf (great for fescue and great overall weather ). We had a week in mid March with temps in the mid 80s, followed by 6 weeks in the 60s/70s with several nights into the mid 30s. My grass was 80 % green by April 1, then went into this strange limbo mode that still hasnt passed .


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## tigertailbell (Mar 13, 2017)

By the way, I have ~12k feet of zeon


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## lambert (Sep 12, 2018)

Probably just the cool temperatures, but a preventative fungicide is a good idea. Headway is good on zoysia, but I feel like I get better control spraying liquids versus granular -- plus it's cheaper.


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## ZeonJNix (Dec 13, 2019)

This is my 2nd season with Zeon. I didn't put down any fungicide in the fall and I should have. Two rounds - one in October and one in November. This will help in the spring.

Everyone is right though on the crazy spring temps. I developed some large patch in mine so I hit it with a round of fungicide and it's seems to be recovering now with the warmer temps.


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## bigmks (May 22, 2018)

For sure it been crazy here in SC with the weather lately. Hopefully we are making a turn for the better !


tigertailbell said:


> It doesn't look bad, overall . I'm not sure about where you are in TX, but in SC we have had a bad spring for warm season turf (great for fescue and great overall weather ). We had a week in mid March with temps in the mid 80s, followed by 6 weeks in the 60s/70s with several nights into the mid 30s. My grass was 80 % green by April 1, then went into this strange limbo mode that still hasnt passed .


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## McDiddles (Feb 24, 2020)

tigertailbell said:


> It doesn't look bad, overall . I'm not sure about where you are in TX, but in SC we have had a bad spring for warm season turf (great for fescue and great overall weather ). We had a week in mid March with temps in the mid 80s, followed by 6 weeks in the 60s/70s with several nights into the mid 30s. My grass was 80 % green by April 1, then went into this strange limbo mode that still hasnt passed .


This.... Fungicide isn't going to hurt. Looks like there could be some large patch there. Then apply based on your soil analysis results. Probably going to need a little N soon, after your sure any disease pressure has passed. I'll likely perk up in a few weeks.


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## Rydarr (Oct 22, 2019)

I just put down a bag of headway g on the concerning areas, and I have soil samples at the lab. Hopefully it'll shape up quickly after that. Thanks for the input...


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## drewwitt (Jun 25, 2018)

Zeon is low maintained AFTER it's been established after two years.

If you fertilize it like Bermuda you will get disease.

I haven't fertilized since September and people ask me twice a week if my grass is fake.

Keep N very low. Don't over water. Don't water in the evening. Mow at 1"-2". The taller it gets the more thatchy it gets and can't dry out.

Invest in doing some fungicide preventive apps during the transition times for a few years. You'll be set.

The trick with Zeon is unlearning the common cultivation practices associated with Bermuda.


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## drewwitt (Jun 25, 2018)

From the close up of those pics, you might consider scalping and doing a dethatch. The new growth will be healthy. I did just that when my new Zeon had fungus issues and was tall and thick like yours.


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## drewwitt (Jun 25, 2018)

Two years ago:


Now:




[dfw: Edit for photo rotations]


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## Cdub5_ (Jun 12, 2019)

Whoa, those picks just fried my brain lol


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## Rydarr (Oct 22, 2019)

Beautiful yard, @drewwitt !
I'm hoping for this grass to be less maintenance after a few years like you mentioned.


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## JollyGreen (May 12, 2018)

Mow low, do one app of N at 1 lb /M now to kick start it into summer if you haven't already. Then spoon feed for the rest of the summer. I had large patch all over my yard last spring and it looked horrible. By July it was completely filled in and looked great. Stay on top of fungicide treatments. All it takes is one bad week to ruin all the hard work.


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## Rydarr (Oct 22, 2019)

@JollyGreen i feel like that's what happened to me last year. Yard was perfect, I was gone for 10 days, and fungus had set in by the time I got back. What is your fungicide regimen?


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## JollyGreen (May 12, 2018)

I do an app of Propiconizol once every month to 6 weeks throughout the spring thru fall. However, there are plenty of smarter people on here that probably have a better method. That has just worked for me. It worked last fall and over the winter so I didn't have a bunch of dead patch this spring that needed to grow back.

This picture is what it looks like today. I did my first fertilizer app about 2 weeks ago. Up until then it was still slow to come out of dormancy and take off. You can see at the top I had a little fungus early spring that it killed off and is growing back in.

If I can get a dry time after this rain, I plan to do a level on it. It's really bumpy right now.


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## Rydarr (Oct 22, 2019)

@JollyGreen it looks great. I have a big jug of tebuconazole, I may get some prop and rotate the two. I think in my area the most important time to have it treated is March/April and September/October, but it's so time consuming to spray even with a backpack sprayer. But considering the cost of granular I guess it is worth the extra effort.


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## lambert (Sep 12, 2018)

Tebuconazole and propiconazole are both FRAC Group 3 fungicides so there is no benefit from rotating them.


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## drewwitt (Jun 25, 2018)

I'll try to find what I have, but I rotate between three groups.

The easiest at big box is prop. (Usually a Bayer spray) and then azoxy (DiseaseEX)


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## Rydarr (Oct 22, 2019)

@lambert thanks for that, I don't know much about fungicides. Would it make more sense to spray tebuconazole then spread heritage g or headway g a month later? I think 2 treatments in spring and 2 in fall should be enough to keep it suppressed.


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