# Fungus among us. Need a little direction.



## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

I'd love some advice on how to best tackle this today. I put down a preventative rate app of Scotts Disease Ex on 6/1. I don't feel it's done much to prevent anything. We've had nearly no rain the past month either, but every June it seems my lawn ends up looking this way. I irrigate once a week with sprinklers, 1".

The dark green half of my backyard is where it gets more shade from the sun. The front yard is in full sun all day.

I have at my disposal to use:

Scott's Disease Ex granular 
Patch Pro Propicanozole Spray
Scott's Fungus Control granular

It rained a little overnight so the grass is still wet and we are supposed to get more rain later today. Which of these should I use? Any rate suggestions?

I had also thought it could be heat stress or dead poa. I have a hard time diagnosing browning areas.

Close up photos below. Thanks!


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

What rate did you use? Preventative for disease ex is 2lb/M. Curative is 4lb/M.

I would switch to the prop and scotts fungus which I think the active is thiophanate-methyl. Curative is 2.7lb/M. Use the prop at curative, 2oz/M. Use both now for better resistance management. Also, better chance of a fix too.


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## nclawnguy (Jun 27, 2017)

Scotts new active ingredient is Azoxystrobin, maybe there is some old stock with Thiophanate-Methyl floating around. I'm not exactly sure what disease, if any, you have. I do not see any brown patch or other types of lesions on the blades.


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

@nclawnguy scotts disease ex is azoxy. Scotts lawn fungus control is thiophanate-methyl. Both are in stock at my local lowes and home depot.


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

I don't see any fungal lesions. Probably heat/drought stress.


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

Can you take more closeups? In the 1 you took, I'm not sure I see the blades curling; sign of drought stress. They usually would look brown and crispy also. Since the blades look yellow but to me still wide, I suspect fungus. Not all fungus has leaf lesions.

http://turfdiseaseid.ncsu.edu/diseasedetail.aspx?disease=SCLMA

http://turfdiseaseid.ncsu.edu/diseasedetail.aspx?disease=MAGPO

http://turfdiseaseid.ncsu.edu/diseasedetail.aspx?disease=PYSXX

It could be triv or annua die back from heat but since you have been irrigation and it's been warm out, fungus is possible. More close ups and some of the crowns might help. Always a bummer when this happens.


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## Turfguy93 (Aug 30, 2017)

If grass is heat stressed the blades will naturally die, have you applied any seaweed to the lawn? Cytokinin helps to delay senescence


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## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

Suburban Jungle Life said:


> Can you take more closeups? In the 1 you took, I'm not sure I see the blades curling; sign of drought stress. They usually would look brown and crispy also. Since the blades look yellow but to me still wide, I suspect fungus. Not all fungus has leaf lesions.
> 
> http://turfdiseaseid.ncsu.edu/diseasedetail.aspx?disease=SCLMA
> 
> ...


Sorry it took awhile its been raining all day!















So, it only is brown on the side of the lawn that is full sun. The rest of the backyard is lush and dark green (minus a few dog urine spots). 
Could it be that it is just dead poa? Or both that and fungus? If its just dead poa, ..how do I get rid of it and get my green lawn back?


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## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

The more I research, the more I'm learning about Poa Annua. I realize now that most of this is likely Poa due to not putting down any pre-emergents on my lawn, ever. Im still new so..live and learn. So, I know now to use Dithiopyr in early fall. However, still wondering what can I do to get rid of it in the meantime? Will taking it out work? Will I be left with bare areas? And if so, how can I seed of putting down the PreM in fall?

Side note: also explains why so much of my lawn was whitened by my Tenacity apps when I was trying just to kill bentgrass :lol: learning every day..


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Those look like ryegrass seed heads. I think the lawn needs a lower hoc and a sharp blade.


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## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

g-man said:


> Those look like ryegrass seed heads. I think the lawn needs a lower hoc and a sharp blade.


I can't win. Just when I think I figured out it's dead Poa... :lol: I just sharpened the blade a couple weeks ago when I got the new mower. Only left it higher this week due to 90s temps. You don't think its Poa then g-man?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Looking at this image that you posted before; I see the color differences in your lawn all the way back to April. Is it because of the soil ? or the cultivars in that area? I dont know.


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## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

g-man said:


> Looking at this image that you posted before; I see the color differences in your lawn all the way back to April. Is it because of the soil ? or the cultivars in that area? I dont know.


The only difference I can think for the color difference is shade vs full sun. The lighter area is full sun whereas the dark green gets much more shade from the house. It was all nice and uniform last fall.



Thanks for helping me get til the bottom of this. Having a hard time getting control of my lawn. Loved much better last year. The more I learn the worse its getting. :?


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## Alpine (Mar 15, 2018)

I cant win either. It's a losing battle with the heat and humity. Lawn is looking heat stressed and forecast is for the mid 90's later is week. I can't keep up with the watering. My front lawn is almost dormant. Back looks OK where there is some shade. Can't wait until the fall.


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

It looks like a lot of stems. Did you have a lot of seed heads recently? As for poa control, the best time is to use a preemergent before it germinates in early fall. Granted, you can't overseed... You could try 2oz/M of molasses to help the microbes digest the stems.

It just seems so widespread. Did you see tons of poa seeds heads?


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## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

Suburban Jungle Life said:


> It looks like a lot of stems. Did you have a lot of seed heads recently? As for poa control, the best time is to use a preemergent before it germinates in early fall. Granted, you can't overseed... You could try 2oz/M of molasses to help the microbes digest the stems.
> 
> It just seems so widespread. Did you see tons of poa seeds heads?


I did see a lot of Poa stems and they all died off when I used Tenacity. So I think this is what my problem is, not fungus like I had thought. Its just all dead poa. So niw that the poa is dead, can I rake it out? What would you suggest I do in the present? I'd love a green lawn sometime this year :lol:. I know now that I have to put down pre-emergent in early fall. :thumbup:


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

You can put down .25lb/M of N. Something quick release. Keep up the watering. It'll grow out. The drawback now is the grass won't be happy in the heat and using N to get it to grow may stress it more. Perhaps a shot of liquid iron to assist with color if you haven't done that. Some spots do look like you might have fungus but its very little. I would probably hold off on the fungicide. Closely monitor after you use the N and see if you get more yellow. If so, then I would use the fungicide. In the meantime, you can rake it out or wait a few weeks and it should break down anyway.

Since you have a mix, hopefully there is enough KBG and then use a preemergent and fert to get it to spread. If you overseed tttf or rye, use tenacity and ethofumesate to get you a couple months of supression to keep annua at bay giving you time for growth before putting down prem. Annua needs prem in early fall and early spring. I use the rate to get me through early spring and another rate to get mostly through summer. I seed tttf every fall though. If you have KBG, keep the prem year round. Rain and use by kids/walking does decrease prem efficacy so I prefer to use 4mo type rates vs 8mo rates. Just time the reapplication.


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## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

Suburban Jungle Life said:


> You can put down .25lb/M of N. Something quick release. Keep up the watering. It'll grow out. The drawback now is the grass won't be happy in the heat and using N to get it to grow may stress it more. Perhaps a shot of liquid iron to assist with color if you haven't done that. Some spots do look like you might have fungus but its very little. I would probably hold off on the fungicide. Closely monitor after you use the N and see if you get more yellow. If so, then I would use the fungicide. In the meantime, you can rake it out or wait a few weeks and it should break down anyway.
> 
> Since you have a mix, hopefully there is enough KBG and then use a preemergent and fert to get it to spread. If you overseed tttf or rye, use tenacity and ethofumesate to get you a couple months of supression to keep annua at bay giving you time for growth before putting down prem. Annua needs prem in early fall and early spring. I use the rate to get me through early spring and another rate to get mostly through summer. I seed tttf every fall though. If you have KBG, keep the prem year round. Rain and use by kids/walking does decrease prem efficacy so I prefer to use 4mo type rates vs 8mo rates. Just time the reapplication.


Great direction. I overseeded last fall with TTTF but I believe I have a mix of all 3 KBG, PRG and Fescues. Im going to start using preemergents now. It's something I've never done but have now learned the importance and reasons behind it. Thanks so much for your input and direction!!!


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## LawnNeighborSam (Aug 14, 2018)

MarkAguglia said:


> The more I learn the worse its getting. :?


😂😂😂😂


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