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So what is eating/killing St. Augustine Lawns right now

8,835 Views | 19 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by waporembski
water turkey
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Neighbor has developed dead patches (no fungus looking rings) in their grass. Is that most likely a bug of some kind? It is headed toward my grass.


LSB_2002
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AG
Pics would be helpful.
Marvin_Zindler
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AG
Are you seeing any large swarms of moths hovering low over your grass or finding little patches of white fuzz that look likes the stuffy from a teddy bear? If so, you have sod web worms (although seems a little early for them).

Agree that pics would be very helpful.
water turkey
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Pics added
jay040
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Might be grub worms?
water turkey
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I definitely have grubs but I read you have to have 10 a shovel load before it's a problem. I was finding about 3 a shovel load. I also read there is really not much that can be done to grubs at this time a year.
ftworthag02
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AG
Where are you located?
When did it show up?
Grub infestation is considered at least 5 in a 1x1x1 hole, otherwise its nothing to worry about.
Did you apply a pre emergent this spring?
water turkey
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In the Woodlands. Following the Randy Lemmon schedule, so to pre-emergent.
ftworthag02
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AG
when did it show up?
aggiedent
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AG
Problem: Maintaining healthy St. Augustine is like keeping an 85 year old man with diabetes, COPD, and heart disease healthy. Way too many things to go wrong and it ends up looking like crap.

Solution: Dig up and plant something else. So many better options.
The Collective
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AG
I'm pretty damn tired of my St. Aug lawn. I'm not sure why I even planted it in the country. Waste of time and water.
TKEAg04
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AG
Look for chinch bugs down by the roots. Could also be brown patch fungus.
water turkey
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I thought chinch bugs only occur in the heat of the summer and move from the concrete into the yard?
schwack schwack
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AG
Quote:

Could also be brown patch fungus.

Our St. Aug looks similar to yours. It started out yellow-y then died like in your pic. No rings or pattern. I did put out some of that Bayer 3 stuff for the first time ever this spring & thought that was maybe it, but my lawn cutting guy said he's seeing it all over & thinks all the rain we've had is causing the brown patch fungus (that & probably his mowers are distributing it....). We just spent too much on a fungicide & according to directions have to do it again in a month, so we'll see.

I'm looking around at neighbors weedy yards & when cut they don't look too bad and they do nothing. Starting to think this is way too much hassle at this point in my life. I live in the country so maybe I should just stop caring so much.
schwack schwack
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AG
Quote:

Solution: Dig up and plant something else. So many better options.

We used to have a house outside of Waxahachie. We planted buffalo grass. It was a pain to get started from seed, but it hated extra water & needed way less mowing. We'd often let it go to it's maximum height and it looked pretty in the breeze. I don't imagine you'd want to let it go like that in a neighborhood, but in the country it was nice. I'd do it again but now we are in a sandy soil area.

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/turf/publications/buffalo.html
ftworthag02
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AG
Brown patch is a fall fungal disease that has a distinct circular pattern
Gray Leaf spot is a summer fungal disease with yellow & tan spots on the blades
Take all root rot (tarr) is a soil born fungal disease that usually shows up in spring/early summer but is around most of the year. A&M researchers recommend applying peat moss to the areas after raking out the areas.

Chinch bugs attack the hottest/sunniest part of the lawn in the summer. You can run your hand through the turf where green meets brown and you will see tiny black chinch bugs that have a gray diamond on their back

Grub symptoms show up in spring and turf will pull up easily since most of the roots have been eaten. Grub infestation is defined as more than 5-6 per 1x1x1' hole.

Can you remove a couple stolons and post pics of them?
C ROC N
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Mole crickets, take a large coffee that has both ends removed, hammer it at least half way into the ground, then fill it with water until it is standing, finally look for bugs floating to the top. Then identify the culprit!
Brad_97
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AG
If wet recently my guess is take all root rot. We sent a sample off to A&M to identify. This was last year and yard still looks like crap. Had a couple lawn companies say you usually have to re-sod. Was all through our neighborhood. We had finally got a deep full lawn but didn't tailor back watering with the fullness of coverage and caused ours by overwatering. Did apply peat moss but it's a process. Will see if grows back or has enough active runners as it affected significant sections.
buddybee
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I can tell you if you listen to Randy Lemmon that is what the problem is. Follow Neil Sperry and aggie turf, they will solve your problem for less. Remember Randy Lemmon was a communicaitons major and gets paid for all the products he mentions each time he says it.



http://neilsperry.com/faq/my-st-augustine-looks-like-it-is-fading-away-5142/
waporembski
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We're seeing what my Leaf App describes as Mushrooms, Bracket Fungi, Puffballs and Allies on our St. Augustine lawn, but it can't identify the specific species. Any ideas for control.
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