Tag: Lawn Treatment

Throughout each season in Florida, environmental factors play a huge role in retaining a lush, green lawn year-round. In the month we are in now, August, with humidity at its height and rainfall expected on a daily basis, Grey Leaf Spot Fungus is naturally flaring up all over lawns we treat in Daytona, Ormond Beach, New Smyrna, Deland, Palm Coast, Edgewater, and the rest of our customer’s lawns in other areas of Volusia, Flagler, and part of Brevard. Grey Leaf Spot Fungus can devastate a lawn, killing the entire blade of grass, and if left untreated, it can make its way all the to the runner, killing off sections of grass.

Grey Leaf Spot thrives in conditions of high humidity above 95%, extended wet periods, including rainfall, and temperatures exceeding 80-90 degrees consistently. This fungus is one of the most aesthetically unpleasing fungi that appear on a lawn because it makes the lawn dingy and brown. The reason Grey Leaf Spot is so devastating to a lawn is that lesions start from the bottom of the grass blade and work up, making it incredibly difficult for the average technician to identify.

After identification, it is not possible to save affected blades. All that can be done is a fungicide application and then wait for new growth. As Dollar Spot Fungus is corrected with a nitrogen application, the opposite is true for Grey Leaf Spot fungus. Applying nitrogen to active leaf spot fungus will literally melt a lawn down to the runner. Most lawn fungi react poorly to nitrogen. Melting out the fungus, in some cases, can be beneficial because new healthy blades will be promoted as long as a fungicide is included in the treatment mix. This method is obviously not the best way to go about treating Grey Leaf Spot fungus because the lawn will take a couple of weeks to recover and will look brown until it does so. The best way to keep Leaf Spot Fungus to a minimum is through early identification and following the instructions on the label of the chosen fungicide.

Understanding label rates of fungicides for application, proper follow-up time, and communicating with customers is the best way to keep these nuisance funguses from causing severe damage to St Augustine lawns. The technicians at Dave’s Pest Control are highly skilled and are able to identify and treat problems to keep your grass green.

With summer in full swing, there are many concerns with managing a healthy and vibrant St. Augustine lawn. Even though temperatures are soaring above the 90-degree mark in Florida, the wetness from rain showers is not drying because humidity is staying at high levels, 85% and above on a consistent basis all day and through the night. This process ensures that lawns will stay wet for extended periods of time. Because of this, fungus can wreak havoc on a lawn.

Identification of Dollar Spot Fungus

Dollar Spot Fungus is still present from the spring time because it has become resistant to many fungicides. Dollar Spot Fungus is predominantly present in lawns from fall through spring, but can still linger into early summer. It is identified by its circular dead spot pattern. Affected areas of damage can range from 1 inch in diameter to 6 inches in diameter, but connected spots can often make damage patterns larger.

Treatment of Dollar Spot Fungi

The main cause is primarily related to two issues: (1) nitrogen deficient grass, and (2) consecutive days of infrequent rain combined with heavy morning dew.  The most effective way to treat Dollar Spot Fungus is through applying nitrogen. However, the nitrogen blackout in Volusia county, which is from June 1st through September 30th each year, prevents lawn spraying companies from applying nitrogen to treat this fungus.

Therefore, technicians must rotate fungicides with each application to lessen the resistance of one particular fungicide, follow proper label rates, and schedule follow ups with customers to inspect progress. In addition to lawn spraying companies like Dave’s Pest Control correcting fungus issues, the customer plays an important role in their yard as well.

For example, customers should implement proper watering habits. This is necessary to combat many nuisance fungi. Water only when needed (e.g. ¾- 1 inch of water per each watering cycle). Also, only watering in the mornings before first daylight (i.e. not at night) will allow the grass and soil to not stay too wet for extended periods of time, which prevents the fungus from spreading and further damaging the lawn.

Improper watering habits and overwatering will only aggravate the fungus issue; thereby, promoting more fungus and stress to the lawn.

Reach our Professional Lawn Care Experts:  

The technicians at Dave’s Pest Control inspect for potential problems that can arise from these conditions that are favorable to fungus, and are experts at lessening the impact of fungus and preventing it from devastating a lawn.