# Recommend checking for bugs when the sod shows up!



## testdepth (Jul 11, 2018)

I had 22 pallets of certified bug free and disease free TIFTUF sod put down. Nobody ever mentioned not one word about army worms or sod webworms and to look out for them as they love new sod like candy. If I had known ahead of time I would have been waiting with buckets of soapy water. On the day the sod was delivered to my yard I would have tested every single pallet of sod by pouring soapy water on it and watching for any worms to emerge. After the first heavy rain the worms emerged by the thousands. My wife called the company as soon as she saw them and when the owner got here his remark was "I have never seen such an infestation". The man has been in this business for 21yrs.

That is my recommendation to anyone having sod delivered and especially several thousands of dollars of sod. Test it before they lay it! If you see any bugs then send it back!


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## Guest (Aug 3, 2018)

Pretty interesting article about them from Super Sod. They give a history on where they lay eggs and what not so you can look for them in the future. It is interesting the article said they are likely on site before new sod is installed just based upon the way they lay they're eggs. Really sucks your bermuda turned out that way but it should respond well to some fertilizer. I have tiftuf as wel and it's doing really well with green trx fertilizer. 
http://blog.supersod.com/fall-armyworms-in-lawns


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## testdepth (Jul 11, 2018)

firefighter11 said:


> Pretty interesting article about them from Super Sod. They give a history on where they lay eggs and what not so you can look for them in the future. It is interesting the article said they are likely on site before new sod is installed just based upon the way they lay they're eggs. Really sucks your bermuda turned out that way but it should respond well to some fertilizer. I have tiftuf as wel and it's doing really well with green trx fertilizer.
> http://blog.supersod.com/fall-armyworms-in-lawns


We have lived here 19 years and never saw one sod webworm or army worm anywhere on the 1 acre of land I own. With the exception of spraying the occasional ant mound I never sprayed the entire yard for insects. DAC/Weedman came in sprayed and killed existing vegetation and 2 weeks later removed the dead material. Pulverized the ground down to 4 inches. Installed an irrigation system. Put down bales of peat moss and raked that in to the soil. Then they laid 22 pallets of TIFTUF sod with each roll of sod having about 1.5 to 2 inches of red clay soil attached to each piece. We watered every day as recommended for 1.5 hours in each of 4 zones. A week after installing DAC/Weedman came in and sprayed insecticide/fertilizer/weed killer mixture. On 6/15 our lawn was a beautiful green and about a week later we started noticing brown spots and then the first heavy deluge of rain fell. The next morning my wife gets up and there are worms everywhere and it has been downhill since that day. When they emerged my wife called me in a panic because there were worms everywhere in our sod. She said "it looks like the lawn is alive". They were crawling across the cement, up my shed walls and up the house walls.

If I had known then what I now know, I would have tested every single pallet of sod as soon as the driver sat it on the ground. Randomly pick rolls of sod and unroll them to expose the grass and then pour the soapy water solution on them to see if any insects come to the surface.


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

I would just treat with Dylox (because I have that on hand) but any foliar or thatch active insecticide should work. Once sod is down, it's not easy to just send it back. If you are convinced and can show the bugs were in the sod, it would be appropriate to backbill whoever supplied it for the insecticide application. Sending it all back might be extreme.

Last Summer I had a around 4,000 square feet of cool season sod erupt with crabgrass and sedges everywhere right after installation. The sedges could in theory at least have been on site in subsoil but the crabgrass was not a chance - it was barely rooted on the surface thatch of the sod and the seeds had to have come with the sod. It germinated once it got plenty of water to root-in the sod. The cost of herbicide application was eaten by the sod supplier (something like $100 bucks total charged back and they basically were like "yeah, hundred bucks, sure whatever") and was effective - sod looks perfect a year later. No harm done. Kill the bugs and your bermuda should be a-ok in a short time.


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## Guest (Aug 3, 2018)

testdepth said:


> firefighter11 said:
> 
> 
> > Pretty interesting article about them from Super Sod. They give a history on where they lay eggs and what not so you can look for them in the future. It is interesting the article said they are likely on site before new sod is installed just based upon the way they lay they're eggs. Really sucks your bermuda turned out that way but it should respond well to some fertilizer. I have tiftuf as wel and it's doing really well with green trx fertilizer.
> ...


https://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/insects/fall-armyworm-in-turf/ 
If you look at that it will tell you the life cycle of the armyworm. I have to agree with what @viva_oldtrafford said in your other thread on this. It's not likely they came in the sod. The life cycle is around 4 weeks which I think you would have seen them before June when you said you first noticed them. You installed in mid April and didn't have an issue till June. Armyworms would have already hatched and been feeding roughly 2-10 days after install if they were in the sod when it was laid.


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## testdepth (Jul 11, 2018)

Understand all about the so called life cycle of the Army Worm and it does state in some articles that they over winter and emerge in May or June. After the sod was installed we did the required normal watering every night for 1.5 hours. The worms did not emerge until we had a nearly week long everyday rain storm dumping inches of water. Like a switch was flipped, they emerged by the thousands all over the place! I had 22 pallets put down and nearly all of it has been affected and turned brown. I maintain there is no way these worms were not in the sod when it was delivered. There were just too many of them all across every area of the sod.


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## crzipilot (Jul 4, 2018)

Got supersod tiff tuff. End of June. Started off great. Now fighting the worms. Think in caught them in time. We will see


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## testdepth (Jul 11, 2018)

crzipilot said:


> Got supersod tiff tuff. End of June. Started off great. Now fighting the worms. Think in caught them in time. We will see


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

I have been following these threads on sod installed then infested with insects. After some incidents with Sod Webworm in Tifgrand, sod growers here use Carbaryl, Bifenthrin, or FMC Triple Crown(Bifenthrin/Cypermethrin/Imidacloprid) regularly.


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## testdepth (Jul 11, 2018)

Greendoc said:


> I have been following these threads on sod installed then infested with insects. After some incidents with Sod Webworm in Tifgrand, sod growers here use Carbaryl, Bifenthrin, or FMC Triple Crown(Bifenthrin/Cypermethrin/Imidacloprid) regularly.


Super Sod recommended spraying Bifenthrin. Super Sod has been making recommendations but so far nothing has helped.


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## crzipilot (Jul 4, 2018)

testdepth said:


> crzipilot said:
> 
> 
> > Got supersod tiff tuff. End of June. Started off great. Now fighting the worms. Think in caught them in time. We will see
> ...


Well not sure if same farm. Think they have a few different ones. But not sure. Mine came from a farm somewhere eastern N. Carolina, towards the coast. I got another delivery of 1500sq ft. or 3 pallets, and have no clue where that one came from.

I've seen your pics, and I'd be devastated, though the guys here seem to know their stuff and everyone is saying bermuda is like a cockroach, can't kill it for nothing. So maybe it will come back. Hopefully come back.

I'm hoping mine is at a stopping pint of decline and will bounce back now. Put down Fert / Insecticide / Fungicide. We'll see what happens


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

testdepth said:


> Greendoc said:
> 
> 
> > I have been following these threads on sod installed then infested with insects. After some incidents with Sod Webworm in Tifgrand, sod growers here use Carbaryl, Bifenthrin, or FMC Triple Crown(Bifenthrin/Cypermethrin/Imidacloprid) regularly.
> ...


I take what sod growers say with a grain of salt. You are not the first person to find out that a pyrethroid like Bifenthrin will not work. For Sod Webworm, my first choice is Dylox 420 SL not the granules. That is applied in 2 or more gallons per 1000 sq ft and not watered in.


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## crzipilot (Jul 4, 2018)

If you can't get the liquid form within reasonable time, would the granules still be ok?


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Don't know. I always used the Liquid and prior to that Dylox came in a soluble powder form. Dangerous to handle because inhalation of the powder was hazardous.


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## crzipilot (Jul 4, 2018)

Guy at fert store convinced to try out the sevin xl. Laid it down the other evening. And birds are gone. So thinking. I may have gotten them. So a round of Clarus screaming green, A round of cross check granular , aoxystroban, And finally sprayed with sevin.

We'll see how it turns out


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## crzipilot (Jul 4, 2018)

Well grass sort of came back, it was still scragley and such so I did a reset on the HOC, and scalped it down. Put down fungicide, and a quick release N. Been just a week now and some green up is occurring, but still places that look bad. Have been doing the soap water test randomly. Saw 2 little tiny black worms come out, thought different type of worm, as last time the babies that came out were green. Went out this morning and poured a few places, and out came a juvenile web worm.

would I be ok waiting until Wed or Thurs to spray. reason I ask is i have a spreader mate showing up on Wed and would be much easier to spray 12,000 sq ft with that than the 2 gallon pump sprayer.


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