# Brown stalks



## Richie0320 (Jun 2, 2018)

Good morning! I know it's getting to July and there isn't much I can probably do now but I have noticed that this year I have a lot of brown stalks in the grass. I didn't follow my HOC plan this year as much as I wanted to and started cutting at 4" in early May. Could it be because I didn't keep my HOC low enough to remove the brown stalks from early seed heads or am I missing something? I want to try and avoid this again next year. The grass looks good after I cut it at 4" a couple days after, you can't see the talks as much but when I cut it you can see the brown and it makes the grass look a lot dryer than it really is.


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## CPA Nerd (May 8, 2018)

I have noticed the same thing. I have a ton of them all over the lawn.


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## NewLawnJon (Aug 3, 2018)

It could be the POA dying now that many areas are getting into warmer weather.


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## DTTG13 (Apr 14, 2018)

I think when the grass goes to seed in spring it creates these stalks. Later the stalks die off and leave behind what you're seeing. I have the same thing going on with my PRG lawn.

I was hoping they would eventually decompose, and they might, but it could take a long time. So I dropped the mower down one setting shorter than I normally mow, then fertilized as I was due for an application anyway. I'm hoping that next time I cut at my regular height the stalks won't stick out as they'll be shorter than the rest of the grass.

I don't know if it will work as I just started my plan this week.


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## pwnz (May 24, 2019)

I have the same issue with my lawn this season. It feels like walking on a bed of nails. I definitely see both the KBG and PRG producing these stalks and they turn brown very quickly. 
The grass seems to be having drought stress but it actually is just tons of these brown sticks. I just went to 1,5" for one cut and then returned to 2" after that. Had some minor scalping but it looks a lot better now.


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## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

Curious for those of you that have this issue, when did you plant? I found the 2nd year after my 3 way PRG reno was the worst, like a brown hue to the entire yard that didnt seem to go away until late summer. Now on my 3rd year its much less.


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## Bladerunner (Jun 23, 2019)

I was wondering about this too.

Brown, dead stalks, peppered throughout almost all lawns in the neighbourhood, including mine, after mowing. Just noticed it beginning this week. All the lawns have looked great around until now, because we have had a wet, cool spring, perfect for growing grass, but great for fungal disease as well.

Doesn't look like fungus, not patchy, no lesions on the stalks or leaves. And the patches I planted in the spring show no brown stalks. Now it makes sense - the fresh, new grass has yet to "stalk".

As an aside, just want to add that this is my first year taking interest in the lawn. I was forced into it when a ton of my grass died over the winter and I had to come up with a plan. I now read the forum daily, and have learned a ton. My neighbour has started calling me the lawn doctor. I even got a thumbs up from the guy who looks after a few lawns in the neighbourhood. I owe it all to you guys - you rock!


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Good past discussion on same issue...

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4225


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## Richie0320 (Jun 2, 2018)

DTTG13 said:


> I think when the grass goes to seed in spring it creates these stalks. Later the stalks die off and leave behind what you're seeing. I have the same thing going on with my PRG lawn.
> 
> I was hoping they would eventually decompose, and they might, but it could take a long time. So I dropped the mower down one setting shorter than I normally mow, then fertilized as I was due for an application anyway. I'm hoping that next time I cut at my regular height the stalks won't stick out as they'll be shorter than the rest of the grass.
> 
> I don't know if it will work as I just started my plan this week.


My normal HOC is 4" and I dropped the front section to 3.25 and back section to 3, Definietly noticed a lot of brown clippings in the yard after cutting. Let it grow out and cut back again at my normal HOC of 4. You definitely can still see the brown after cutting but after a couple days it is definitely less noticeable. I don't remember it this bad last year either and I didn't think I had a lot of PRG in my yard but I guess I must have more than I thought.


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## DTTG13 (Apr 14, 2018)

My plan of dropping the HOC for one cut then using a quick release fertilizer (ammonium sulfate) seems to be working out ok. The timing, as far as the weather was concerned, worked in my favor as well. Wednesday of last week I cut one notch lower than I usually do and dropped one pound per k of fertilizer that evening when it started to rain. Rained all that night then off and on over the next few days. I cut today at my regular height and it looked alot better.

Even with trying to stay up on the watering, the lawn was suffering a bit of drought stress which made the brown stalks stick out even more. So the rain not only helped water in the quick release fertilizer but provided some drought relief.

I sprayed some liquid kelp, fish fertilizer, and molasse after cutting today which I'm hoping will help to decompose the brown stalks.

FuzzeWuzze, I think it is related to the age of the the grass stand. This is my third year since I renovated with this prg blend and I don't recall it being this bad last year. The first year I didn't have any issues as it was a young stand and hadn't yet gone to seed.


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## stotea (Jul 31, 2017)

I'm pretty sure the brown stalks are normal for PRG and KBG this time of year. Even my Bewitched KBG monostand has it right now, and it's for sure not poa annua in my case.


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## Jayray (Aug 8, 2018)

My KBG has it too, started going to seed late April so I thought it would be all over with by now. Golf courses around here have a lot of seed heads still too. Most of my seed heads are gone but the stalks are ugly. I don't remember it lasting this long in the past.


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## R2RO (May 27, 2019)

I didn't notice them until after my mow this afternoon. My normal HOC is 4", so I guess I'll take it down a notch or two on Weds. and put down my summer fertilizer, afterwards. 
I'm in the 2nd year of my renovation and this was like "a punch in the gut" b/c I was taking pride in having the nicest lawn in the neighborhood.


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## T-Money (Aug 27, 2018)

I'm having the same issue. I've never had seed heads like I had this year. Very frustrating. I'm reel mowing (~1 in) a small portion of my lawn as a test, and the stalks are minimal in that region. I use the rotary on the rest at about 2 inches, but I dropped another notch on the deck yesterday, and it acted like I was using a dethatcher. About 1/3 of the stalks were ripped out of the ground, and the rest where cut shorter. I then cleaned it up with my manual reel just for "fun". I ran over it with the bagger afterwards because there was so much garbage on it. We'll see how it goes.

In other news, I think some of the dead material showing through is quackgrass. I'm cutting it shorter than I typically would to see if I could get rid of some of it. Initially seems to be working.


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