# Fungus or something else?



## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Assuming fungus as we had a rainy week and then muggy nights. Treated with curative rate of Headway G about 3 days ago. Getting scared at this point as it appears to be getting worse. Any expert weigh-in would be most appreciated.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Can you describe the weather and what have you applied in the last 30days?

Did you apply Certainty to this area?


MikeConroy said:


> Applied Quinclorac & Certainty on 3 Feb. 30 days later and this weed has taken a fatal hit!! Thanks for the suggestions.


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

This front lawn is tall fescue. The back yard is where I applied certainty and Quin. I threw down .25N milo and 4 lbs elemental sulfur 1 week apart. Past 30 days have been warm days w/ cool
Nights. 2 weeks ago we had a stretch of heavy rain that left the grass drenched 24 hrs for nearly a week. Thx


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

@MikeConroy I know you had some leaf blade pictures in another thread, maybe post them here with some root samples to help with your ID. With your climate fescue should be pretty vigorous right now. What are the other fescue lawns looking like in your neighborhood?


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Blade pics of tall fescue browning with no growth x 2 weeks.

In addition, weeds, likely sedge are everywhere!!

I'm in 100% panic mode of losing the lawn at this point. In my area of San Diego, you would be hard pressed to find anyone else crazy enough to have tall fescue. Most use hardscape.


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

As a follow up, the below pic looks eerily familiar to my lawn.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

2 weeks without grow, i would be concerned. I don't see a fungus. It looks like drought. Can you describe the actual temps and how much rain/irrigation in the last 5 days?


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

SD is around 900 GDD year to date so again growth should be occuring. Just to confirm the only applications made recently were milo and elemental sulfur?


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Correct, only milo and elemental sulfur


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

In the last week, the grass took off growing and filling in in most areas. The brown areas appear to be getting smaller, but much worse in their confined areas. Through down another curative of Headway and praying for the best. Any insight or suggestions would be greatly accepted. Thanks in advance.


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Selfish bump


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> 2 weeks without grow, i would be concerned. I don't see a fungus. It looks like drought. Can you describe the actual temps and how much rain/irrigation in the last 5 days?


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## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

Looks like it may have been a disease. If so, the Headway stopped it from spreading and helped to cure the diseased turf - those are the areas that are now growing. Some areas were too damaged by the disease to recover by the time the Headway was applied - those are the areas that are not growing or dying. At this point, patience is your friend. The grass needs time to recover. Light nitrogen spoon feeding at 0.15 lbs/M every week can help with recovery and shouldn't push too much growth or worsen disease. If you can figure out what it was and Nitrogen does not worsen the disease, you can go with higher rates of Nitrogen at 0.25 lbs/M. As a general rule, ~1 inch/week of growth is a good target to minimize disease.


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Starting to seriously panic as it's getting worse. Hoping someone has the magic elixir. So far:
Headway - prop/azoxy
Clearys - Thiophanate-methyl

Browning getting worse. Checked for insects/grubs was negative.

Watering 1 in per week
Local temps: L55-H70


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Any ideas or is it a goner?


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## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

Headway and Cleary's should cover most things, but I'm not a TTTF guy so wait for input from one of them.

Can you post some close ups of the damaged turf as it looks now?


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Close ups of current status as requested. Getting worse daily😢


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## Lawn Noob (Jul 26, 2020)

Pic above looks black and greasy. Pythium blight?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Do you have an irrigation audit of your lawn? in those areas, how much water in inches and how frequent are you irrigating?

I dont see a clear sign of fungus, but I do see dead grass. You might need to send a sample to a turf pathology lab for fungus or pest (sod worms, grubs, etc) id.


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## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

Is it just the pictures or is the perimeter/corners of your lawn much healthier? The area down at the bottom of the triangular section looks healthier. Looks like fungus to me.


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Yes, the 4 corners of the lawn are fine and growing nicely, although the damage is growing outward and it won't be long until the damage spreads.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Do you have an irrigation audit of your lawn? in those areas, how much water in inches and how frequent are you irrigating?


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Irrigation was 1 in per week. At the first sign of damage, I went to 3/4 as my research found moisture would make it worse. About 1.5 weeks prior to first signs, we had 4 straight days of downpour with 50-60 deg temps. I found "net blotch" was prone to this environment, but unsure. Local extension thought maybe drought stress or insects from pics I checked both with negative results thus far.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

1in/week is not enough for you area. Closer to 1.5in/week when I checked last week. You will need to do around 0.5in every 3 days.

You did not answer around the irrigation audit or frequency. You need to do one to know if the areas are all getting the same amount of water. An irrigation audit involves placing multiple straight wall containers (eg tuna cans) in the lawn and measuring the inches of water after 30min of irrigation.


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## MikeConroy (Jun 8, 2020)

Whatever fungus it was, it did extensive damage but does not appear to be spreading anymore. Any chances to reseed after pre-m in March?


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