# Bermuda Help Fertilizer Burn?



## lrw_3 (May 9, 2018)

I think I have over fertilized my Bermuda. I was putting 1/2# N/k per week for most of the summer since i was trying to grow it in. Well I was going out of town so I decided to put down 1# n/1k per week for the two weeks before i left. I think I over did it. I just want to confirm that this is burn and not something else that I am missing. Is there anything i can do to save it? We have been getting a ton of rain so more water is not going to help I dont think. I was going to put down my fall pre emergent this weekend should I wait or is it ok to put it down with the grass in this state?

This is before



After





The doveweed does not seem to be affected which makes me think it might not be a fertilizer issue


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

@lrw_3 I don't think that the fertilizer is the issue. It looks like it could be an insect damage issue or possibly fungal. I would start with a soapy water test. Pour a gallon or two of soapy water in an area and see what insects come to the surface. Fall Armyworms have been bad recently, and it looks like you may have been hit too.


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## viva_oldtrafford (Apr 4, 2018)

How much N would you estimate you used during the entire summer? 6-7#N/M? If so, I'd say that, yeah, you went well overboard on the N - especially given the amount of shade that your pics seem to show. The turf in the last two pics appear to show definite signs of shade - thin canopy that appears leggy and reaching up for sun. What type of bermuda do you have? Is the shade in the pictures indicative of the average day in your yard? Shaded areas need far...FAR less N than a sward that is in full sun.

There's still a lot of green in the pics (sans pic 2) so I'm not sure worms are an issue (check the area in pic 2). Too much N - especially in a shaded area - will thin out a canopy in no time. You also have to contend with limited airflow in the backyard due to the fence and the house.


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## lrw_3 (May 9, 2018)

viva_oldtrafford said:


> How much N would you estimate you used during the entire summer? 6-7#N/M? If so, I'd say that, yeah, you went well overboard on the N - especially given the amount of shade that your pics seem to show. The turf in the last two pics appear to show definite signs of shade - thin canopy that appears leggy and reaching up for sun. What type of bermuda do you have? Is the shade in the pictures indicative of the average day in your yard? Shaded areas need far...FAR less N than a sward that is in full sun.
> 
> There's still a lot of green in the pics (sans pic 2) so I'm not sure worms are an issue (check the area in pic 2). Too much N - especially in a shaded area - will thin out a canopy in no time. You also have to contend with limited airflow in the backyard due to the fence and the house.


It gets about 5-6 hours of sunlight. I have put a lot of N to it this year probably between 6-7lbs/m. I pretty sure that is the issue since it looked really good and then just all of a sudden started turning brown and thinning 3 days after i fertilized it. It is Celebration Bermuda. I was hoping that it would grow with even with my shade problems. It has come a long way since June 1st


@Spammage I will mix some Bifen with my pre-m this weekend to try to kill the army worms or bugs if that is the issue.


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

My first thought was army worms, but with that much damage I would assume you would've already noticed the worms everywhere.

If you put that much N down then was away from home for a while, did you unintentionally scalp it when you returned?


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## lrw_3 (May 9, 2018)

Redtenchu said:


> My first thought was army worms, but with that much damage I would assume you would've already noticed the worms everywhere.
> 
> If you put that much N down then was away from home for a while, did you unintentionally scalp it when you returned?


It was all brown when i returned. It didnt look like it had grown all that much. I mowed it and it has been looking like this for a week or so now...


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## Iriasj2009 (Feb 15, 2017)

Let's hope it's just army worms. Those critters ate up my Celebration Bermuda 2 years ago but the lawn bounced back up once I took care of them. As for the fertilizer, I would cut back since Celebration doesn't need it as much. Perform the soap test first. If no army worms are present, it could be fertilizer burn. I say just give it some time and let it heal itself. You do have a lot of shade so it will take the Bermuda a bit longer to heal it self but it WILL bounce back. Celebration is very aggressive and should be very hard to kill. Keep us updated on what u find.


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## lrw_3 (May 9, 2018)

It looks like it is army worms. I looked yesterday and didn't see any. Today I did the soapy water test and I couldn't believe how many there were. Thanks for the help guy!


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## lrw_3 (May 9, 2018)

It looks like it is army worms. I looked yesterday and didn't see any. Today I did the soapy water test and I couldn't believe how many there were. Thanks for the help guy!


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

lrw_3 said:


> It looks like it is army worms. I looked yesterday and didn't see any. Today I did the soapy water test and I couldn't believe how many there were. Thanks for the help guy!


 :thumbup: Get that bifenthrin down asap, and put another dose down in two weeks. Hopefully the grass will repair quickly with the fertilizer you have put down.


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## BenC (Mar 27, 2018)

Army worms are heavy in SE Ga right now too. To answer one of your first questions: in the event of over applied N, yes, water it real good to get the salts and nitrogen out (and into the groundwater)and away from your roots.


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## 985arrowhead (Jul 15, 2018)

I am in Covington also.

My tif 419 is beginning to thin as well and my celebration I sodded on the sides with more shade are really thin as well. I think it looks just sun or lack there of as we head in to fall and the sun being lower in the souther sky.


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

1lb of N per week won't hurt bermuda.

Glad to hear you found the cause of the discoloration.


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## lrw_3 (May 9, 2018)

I plan on pruning all of my trees big time this winter to try to get the grass to grow in a little thicker.

Here is a video of the army worms and the soapy water.
https://youtu.be/DAnQOnaP8Vs

I put down my fall application of prodiamine with some bifen xts on Sunday. We got about 2" of rain on Monday do you all think that it washed it all away with that much rain?


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

I think you will be ok unless you had flooding with water just standing in your yard. But do another soap test and see.
In another 7-10 days treat agin with bifen and add imidiapro to kill the bugs below the surface.

by the way 1 pound a week is alot for centipede grass


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## viva_oldtrafford (Apr 4, 2018)

lrw_3 said:


> I plan on pruning all of my trees big time this winter to try to get the grass to grow in a little thicker.
> 
> Here is a video of the army worms and the soapy water.
> 
> ...


Pro tip: by getting down on your hands and knees and surveying the canopy this way, we can look for clues, such as scat, that can further help identify the pest in question. Armyworms and sod webworms can look similar, but the presence of green scat is used as a means of identifying sod webworms - different worms have different rates of certain products. What kills the armyworm might need to be applied at a stronger rate to kill the webworm.


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## N LA Hacker (Aug 17, 2018)

Bastards.


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## lrw_3 (May 9, 2018)

Tellycoleman said:


> I think you will be ok unless you had flooding with water just standing in your yard. But do another soap test and see.
> In another 7-10 days treat agin with bifen and add imidiapro to kill the bugs below the surface.
> 
> by the way 1 pound a week is alot for centipede grass


I wasn't putting that much fertilizer on my centipede just the section of Bermuda I have.


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