How To Prevent Lawn Fungus & Disease
This is part 3 of a 3-part series on preventing lawn fungus and disease in your lawn.
Part 1 is a podcast/video segment here.
Part 2 is a video explaining the products used in the “Bullet Proof Lawn Disease Strategy”.
Part 3 is this page going over the products and their costs (all products found at Home Depot - not sponsored)
Let’s go:
Lawn fungus and disease, they are going to be talked about quite a bit over the next several weeks, I can already feel it.
Here in the air just today in Florida I can feel the humidity rising and the heat along with it. There is also cloud cover which is holding the humidity low. It’s thick to breathe.
As I look further to the north up into the transition zone where there is Zoysia and Turf Type Tall Fescue, even some Centipede, I am seeing similar conditions.
Then I keep going north and east and come to Newark, New Jersey.
They’ve been living through lots and lots of days on end of rain.
It’s still cold there as I type this but look at what is coming!
It’s going to be great for the humans, but stressful for the lawns.
That’s because those night temps are staying higher too. Humidity will be on the rise and while there will not be rain, there will be those clouds there to hold in the humidity.
People this year will say “we went from wet spring to dead of summer.” - you watch, you’ll hear that.
What does that mean?
Well it means that the disease triangle is going to be coming together for a lot of you.
If you have St Augustinegrass, Centipede, Zoysia, or Turf Type Tall Fescue, then brown patch is a definite threat this time of year and preventing with my strategy may be in order.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of the “disease triangle,” I explained it in a recent podcast and talked through the signs to watch for. Here is that podcast segment.
Also, if you have not already picked it up, it’s not too late to jump right into my fully detailed lawn application plans.
No matter where you are, start right in with Step 3 coming up on Memorial Day weekend. It’s that easy to get started, and it’s never too late.
Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, Turf Type Tall Fescue lawns (you guys where it snows)
This is your Guide start with Step 3, throw down on Memorial Day, May 27. St Augustinegrass, Bermuda, Centipede, Zoysia, and Bahia lawns, you also start on Memorial Day with Step 3 and this is your plan here.
Both plans talk more about the disease control strategy and you can add that in right along with Step 3 in either plan to get you started.
It’s NEVER too late to start working towards a nice lawn.
How Much Does This Fungicide Application Cost?
That said we need to cost out the applications of this fungicide for you now.
I picked these up at my local Home Depot, you’ll find these too, pretty much anywhere in the US.
I paid $19.97 in store but silly Scotts sells it $1 cheaper with Prime Shipping on Amazon
Size: 10 lbs
Active ingredient: Azoxystrobin 0.31%
Application Rate: 2 lbs/1,000 sq ft (preventative rate)
Bag Covers: 5,000 sq ft
Cost: $19.97 in store
Cost per 1,000 sq ft: $3.99
Cost for a 5,000 sq ft lawn: $19.97
Bio-Advanced Ready To Spray Fungus Control for Lawns
Size: 32 oz
Active ingredient: Propiconazole
Application Rate: 6.4 oz/1,000 sq ft (in this formulation)
Bottle Covers: 5,000 sq ft
Cost: $19.97 in store
Cost per 1,000 sq ft: $3.99
Cost for a 5,000 sq ft lawn: $19.97
So with my strategy to prevent disease, the cost for a 5,000 sq ft lawn is about $40 if you do one application leading from spring into summer as humidity rises.
If you have to do a second application because humidity is lingering longer and things are not drying out, then choose one or the other for your second application 20-30 days later.
If you still feel that you are having issues, then in another 20-30 days switch back to the one you did not use for your second application.
In this manner, you are now going back and forth, although I do not think most of you will need to go that far.
In most cases, this one application is all you will need, maybe a touch up for good measure 20-30 days later.
A good majority of you (especially Zoysia and Tall Fescue) will have an application schedule that looks something like this:
Late May/Early June
Bullet Proof Preventative Application
Scotts DiseaseEx
Bio-Advanced Fungus Control
Later June
If conditions still favor disease (humidity/rain or both)
Choose one:
Scotts Disease Ex -or- Bio-Advanced Fungus Control
Only in extreme cases...
Mid/Late July
If conditions still favor disease (humidity/rain or both)
Choose the one:
Scotts Disease Ex -or- Bio-Advanced Fungus Control
Switch them up if you can but use the one easiest for you.
I don’t think most of you will need to go further than this, especially if you are bagging your clippings if disease does manifest itself, as well as when you can control your irrigation you only water in the mornings and keep the waterings deep (½” each time) and infrequent (let soil dry out for 2-3 days between irrigation cycles.)
Dollar Spot Disease
Note for Correction:
In the podcast and video I mentioned dollar spot disease hitting Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Rye, and Tall Fescue lawns in later spring.
I also mentioned that Scotts DiseaseEX would control it and that was WRONG!
Here is a video I made way back in 2013 showing dollar spot in our church project lawn:
Dollar Spot is not on the label for prevention or cure of Scotts DiseaseEX so if you have had issues with dollar spot in the past, or ID it this year in your lawn, use the BioAdvanced Fungus Control with propiconazole every 14 days until it’s gone.
When I worked for TruGreen we’d see some big outbreaks in NW Indiana some years and Banner Maxx (here is the generic for it) was the professional product we used back then.
It’s the same active ingredient you can get in the Bio-Advanced product, just in a much higher concentration and made to be applied via pump sprayer or professional spray equipment.
For dollar spot, propiconazole works!
Fun New Sponsorship
Nope, I’m not being sponsored, rather, I AM THE SPONSOR this time!
Many of you will remember the fun project lawn I did a couple years ago in Bluffton, SC on a lawn that was a mix of centipede and Palmetto St Augustinegrass. That was at the home of my friends Doug and Amanda Stewart.
Well guess what? It’s no surprise, but since then, Doug has become a real Lawn Care Nut!
His lawn is looking beautiful there in the Low Country.
But more than that, he is also a race car driver and has just entered a new race series with a new car.
He built this car himself, and I have decided to be a sponsor of that car! (and Doug).
He is following his dreams and I want to support that.
I like being around people who are achievers; who seek out new challenges; and who charge ahead, especially in a sport like auto racing where it’s not easy to break into as an independent!
Here is the racing series Doug is in if you want to follow along: Southern Formula Car Series.
(note, in 2018 he was the 1600 series champion)
Here is his Instagram: Doug Stewart Jr Racing
I hope this is the start to a long-standing, and growing partnership and that you guys who are into open wheel racing will give him a follow!
I’ll see you in the lawn!
AL
