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Brown Patch Fungus In St Augustine Grass

Pillar G Intrinsic Granular Fungicide

How To Control And Treat Fungus In St. Augustine Grass (Brown Patch/Large Patch Fungus)

Active Ingredients: Pyraclostrobin and TriticonazoleTarget Funguses: Over 20 diseases including Brown Patch, Dollar Spot, Melting Out, Pythium Blight, Red Thread, Rust and more.FRAC Group 3 & 11

Pillar G is one of the few granular fungicides that we recommend. Generally speaking, liquid fungicides are much better options for lawn fungus control. Granulars need to be watered into the soil and its ingredients drawn up through the roots where liquids can be sprayed directly onto the grass blades and become more quickly activated into the grass foliarly.

Best used as a prevention. Apply 3 lbs. of Pillar G per 1,000 sq. ft. to control a broad spectrum disease prevention of funguses. Be sure to rotate with other non Group 3 or 11 fungicides every two applications.

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Peak Season For St Augustine Grass

The peak season for St. Augustine grass is during the summer months while temperatures stay between 75 degrees and 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

It has comparatively high drought tolerance and maintains a deep green color longer than other warm-season grasses.

However, St. Augustine does go dormant during drought season. Its tolerance for the cold behaves similarly.

St. Augustine grass maintains its green color longer than other warm season grasses, though it cannot withstand extended cold periods.

Coping With St Augustine

Im a big fan of St. Augustine. Its a handsome grass that many of us love. But, it does have its issues, and as a group they constitute some of the most commonly asked questions I encounter.

Diagnosing St. Augustine woes is extremely difficult without actually being on the lawn looking at it first-hand. Even then, it can be confusing, even to professionals. Several issues may get stirred into the mix enough so that its hard to decide which specific problem caused the grass the biggest challenge. Im going to mention all I can think of, and Ill let you work at diagnosing the problem yourself.

St. Augustine in the shaded Sperry landscape eventually was replaced with shade-tolerant groundcover.

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St Augustine Lawn Fungus Can Be Controlled

If you have lawn fungus in your St. Augustine grass, you might feel like throwing in the towel. Dont panic when you see those thin, brown patches creeping into your yard because as annoying and lawn devastating as lawn fungus can be, it actually can be treated and controlled!

There are several ways you can treat your lawn to inhibit the spread of lawn fungus, as well as stop lawn fungus that is already infecting your grass. The two biggest factors here are having timely applications of a good fungicide and ensuring that your lawn is being properly watered. Seems simple enough, right? It can be! However, it does take some effort and expertise to figure out exactly which fungicide is best for your St Augustine lawn. You need to find the right balance of water to keep your grass green and lush without overdoing it.

When given proper attention, water, and treatments, your lawn will thrive! There are things that you can do yourself to figure out what could be causing the fungus you see affecting your lawn. There are also treatment programs that you can have a professional lawn care company come out and apply for you. Before we look at preventive measures, lets look at common causes of fungus you see in your St. Augustine grass!

How To Treat And Prevent St Augustine Grass Fungus

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The best way to control brown patch disease in St. Augustine grass lawns is by following a proper lawn care program that includes regular mowing, dethatching, core aeration, and a proper watering schedule. In case there are signs of the disease, early treatment using a fungicide is key in managing the damage. You may need to apply fungicides as a prevention measure in turfgrasses and regions that are prone to fungal infections.

Here are 7 ways to treat and prevent fungus in St. Augustine grass:

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Spectracide Immunox Fungus Plus Insect Control For Lawns

Spectracide Immunox Fungus Plus is another effective fungicide for lawns and turfs.

Besides protecting your lawn from dangerous funguses, this product has insecticide properties and will also kill the lawn-harmful insects such as ants, fleas, brown dog ticks, sod webworms, and others.

Another advantage of Spectracide Immunox Fungus Plus is that it cannot be easily washed away by rain once you apply it.

I usually use a garden sprayer to apply the fungicide, but this particular product can be directly connected to the water hose. Theres no need to manually dilute it with water since that will be done automatically once the water reaches the bottle.

While I love its design, the fact that you dont need an additional sprayer and the easiness with which you can apply the liquid fungicide, the recipient can clear fairly quickly.

Thus, if you decide to choose this product, you should probably consider ordering multiple bottles in order to have enough fungicide to repeat the treatment after two weeks as its stated in the instructions.

Spectracide Immunox Fungus Plus can prevent and control a large spectrum of grass diseases caused by fungi.

As this product is intended particularly for lawns, I would not recommend its use for the garden, vine or fruit trees without confirmation from the manufacturer.

How To Revive St Augustine Grass

After applying needed treatments to your yard and eradicating your St. Augustine grass problem entirely, its time to get your grass growing again. By cutting your grass at higher lengths and only cutting it once every ten days, you can make your grass stronger. This practice helps the healthy grass protect the grass that has been damaged, allowing it time to grow and become healthy. When mowing the healthy parts of your lawn, leave your grass clippings instead of bagging them, so that you can bring nutrients back into the soil. Also, to reduce stress on your grass during your restoration efforts, restrict use or even stay off it entirely.

As weve already mentioned, the single most important thing you can do, whether your grass is healthy or showing signs of a problem, is to create a lawn care maintenance schedule. You shouldnt just be concerned about how to keep your lawn green in summer heatthese fungi, weeds and bugs all have different seasons where they are most active so your lawn care should take these seasonal considerations into account.

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How To Get Rid Of Brown Patch Grass Fungus

Kelly Burke is a professional turf manager for a manicured corporate campus in New England. He is accredited in organic land care and is a licensed pesticide applicator. He formerly managed the turfgrass as a golf course superintendent and has held several senior management positions at private country clubs overseeing high maintenance lawns.

The Spruce / K. Dave

  • Working Time: 1 – 3 hrs
  • Total Time: 1 hr – 1 day
  • Skill Level: Intermediate
  • Estimated Cost: $10 to $200

Many conditions can cause patches of brown, dead grass on your lawn, but only one gets the official name”brown patch.” Brown patch disease is a condition caused by a Rhizoctonia fungus, usually Rhizoctonia solani. The fungus often appears in mid- to late-summer when the weather is hot and humid. Brown patch is a foliar disease, meaning that it harms the blades of grass but not the crown of the plant or the root system. Grass plants affected by brown patch may recover on their own, without chemical intervention.

Rhizoctonia can affect all cool-season lawn grasses, but it is especially harmful to ryegrass and tall fescue. Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescues can occasionally be affected, but the damage is usually minimal in these species. Brown patch can also affect a variety of warm-season grasses, including St. Augustine grass and zoysiagrass.

Will Fungicide Kill Grass

How To Prevent Brown Patch Fungus in St. Augustine Grass

First of all, lets figure out what a fungus is. It is nothing more than the outdoor mushroom that can have different colors: white, yellow, brown. What are fungicides? They are the remedies that were specially designed to fight against those outdoors mushrooms. There are two types of such lawn fungicides: those that act like a treatment and those preventing the fungus appearance. In the vast majority of cases, one product combines both functions. On the other hand, organic fungicide for lawns does not use any toxic ingredients that can damage your lawn. Moreover, it contains the minerals and vitamins that nourish the lawn and make it free from various diseases and pests.

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Large Patch In Florida Lawns

Large patch is sometimes called brown patch, but that name more accurately refers to a separate turfgrass infection that occurs in the summer. Credit: Philip Harmon, UF/IFAS

Large patch, also known as rhizoctonia blight, is a fungal disease that affects lawns throughout the Southeast. It attacks all warm-season turfgrasses but is especially problematic in St. Augustinegrass and zoysiagrass.

Fungicides can stop the spread of large patch in the short term but to avoid yearly battles with the disease, we suggest adjusting your lawn care practices. Seasonally appropriate lawn management will improve the overall health of your lawn and make it less susceptible to large patch and other fungal diseases.

Mushrooms In The Lawn

The presence of mushrooms in your lawn is a sign of a type of fungus called fairy rings. The disease is categorized as fairy rings type I, II, and III with the first one not showing any mushrooms in the turfgrass.

This disease is common in summer and may indicate improper lawn top dressing techniques or the presence of a large quantity of dead organic matter in your lawn. You might want to check for any tree stumps, logs, or such material buried beneath the turf.

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Types Of Sod For Your Lawn

Choosing the ideal types of sod for your lawn can change your landscape. Sod, also known as turf, is a patch of grown grass that you roll out and plant. Sod is a quick fix for a healthy and green lawn. Its much faster than using grass seed.

This guide will compare different types of sod. Itll also cover warm- and cool-season sod, as well as sun tolerance. Considering the sunlight and climate of your home helps narrow your choices. Find the best sod for your lawn and youre well on your way to lush grass.

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Brown Patch Fungus St Augustine Grass

If a St.Augustine lawn has developed circular patches of dead, brown areas of turf, then the most likely cause for these brown patches will be a lawn fungus disease called Brown Patch, or Large Patch Fungus.

Brown Patch lawn disease is triggered in a consistent time of year as the weather transitions from Summer to Winter or Winter to Summer .

Brown Patch will be identified by circular browning patches of lawn which will continue to grow in size from the size of a dinner plate up to a few feet in diameter. Multiple circles of Brown Patch are common on St Augustine lawns infected by the disease.

The browning leaf of the Saint Augustine grass will also pull away from the grass stem very easily. On inspection, the lower part of the dead leaf will appear as a rotting dark brown color.

Treating Brown Patch Disease in Saint Augustine GrassPrevention is the key to stopping all lawn diseases in a Saint Augustine lawn, and many of the same preventative measures which stop Brown Patch from taking hold in a lawn will also be the cure.

Here are the key steps to treating Brown Patch:- Water only in the morning- Reduce irrigation as much as possible until the disease is gone- Stop fertilization until the lawn is recovered- Apply a lawn fungicide if necessary

To learn more about our Gainesville, Fl lawn pest control service, visit our website at

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The Best Time To Plant St Augustine Grass

As a warm season grass, St. Augustine is best planted during the spring or early summer. It prefers warmer weather and grows best when temperatures are at least 75-degrees Fahrenheit.

Its best to plant it during warm weather. Make sure to plant your St. Augustine lawn when the weather is warm but before the dry season sets in and at least 3 months before the years first frost.

St. Augustine grows quickly and takes usually 1 to 2 weeks for the roots to establish in your yard.

Youll probably have to use plugs or sod if you want to plant a St. Augustine lawn. Most cultivars of St. Augustine arent available as seed.

I dont recommend overseeding with this grass. Overseeding is simply unnecessary in most cases, as it grows so aggressively, and will self-repair through stolons.

Scotts Diseaseex Lawn Fungicide

This is a fungicide that works on brown patch disease as quickly as 24 hours after application. It contains 0.31% azoxystrobin as an active ingredient that inhibits the germination of spores and is safe for St. Augustine grass. It comes ready to be broadcasted on your lawn, followed by a light watering up to half an inch of water.

If your turf has a lot of fungi, you might need to continue applying the Scotts DiseaseEx Lawn Fungicide until results show. It lasts up to four weeks after application and works by curing your turf and preventing fungi growth.

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Reseed With Resistant Grass Varieties

Where all other efforts fail you may need to reseed with a turfgrass variety that has known resistance to this fungus. A variety of grasses are available with moderate resistance to the Rhizoctonia fungus. If a brown patch is an annual occurrence, consider top-seeding your lawn with resistant grasses. Check with your local university extension service on recommendations for resistant grass species.

tab1962/Getty Images

Types Of Lawn Diseases And Fungi And How They Spread

Brown Patch Disease – St Augustine Grass

As if it wasnât nuisance enough, there are various lawn fungus types to look out for. Many of the symptoms are similar, and weâll discuss how to tell if your lawn has fungus in the next section, but itâs important to be aware that there is more than one kind of lawn fungus or lawn disease.

One grass fungal disease will specifically target grass and leaves, while others infect the soil and prevent grass from growing. Others present themselves as dots throughout the lawn, and perhaps one of the most identifiable fungi appears as a fairy ring in turfgrass.

Fungi are spread primarily by wind and rain, but can even be spread with a lawnmower. If youâre unaware of a fungus problem on your lawn and use a lawnmower on infected parts of the grass, fungal spores can easily be spread to other parts of the land, speeding up the spread of the problem.

Youâll typically notice fungi growing in the dampest environments, so that may be under trees or in lower parts of the ground where water gathers.

The trouble with fungus is that it only presents itself once the disease has taken hold, and tackling those patches requires a good understanding of how the infection works. There are steps you can take to prevent lawn fungus problems, but it always starts with identifying symptoms.

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Gray Leaf Spot On St Augustinegrass

Factsheet | HGIC 2151 | Aug 1, 2022 | |

Gray leaf spot of St. Augustinegrass caused by Pyricularia grisea. Photo by Lane P. Tredway, University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Gray leaf spot is a fungal disease that occurs most commonly on St. Augustinegrass , but occasionally may also be found infecting tall fescue, bermudagrass, centipedegrass, and ryegrass in home lawns. On St. Augustinegrass, the initial leaf spots are small and brown, but they expand rapidly into large, oval or elongate, tan to gray leaf spots, which are surrounded by purple or brown borders. A yellow halo may surround some of the spots, or a general leaf yellowing may occur.

During warm, humid weather, the fungus produces a grayish mycelium and numerous spores on dying foliage, which gives a grayish appearance to the spots. Blades of grass will wither and die if leaf spots are numerous. Under favorable conditions for disease development, large areas of turf may appear to be scorched, resembling extreme drought stress.

Common Issues With St Augustine Grass

St. Augustine grass requires water and regular fertilizer to grow to its potential. It needs moderate maintenance throughout the season and will turn brown during the colder months.

While St. Augustine can handle an average level of foot traffic, it cannot withstand heavy traffic. That is why its inappropriate for sports fields and well-trodden walkways.

St. Augustine is also highly vulnerable to pests. The southern chinch bug is its biggest threat, as this insect can quickly destroy a St. Augustine lawn.

Fortunately, the southern chinch bug can be easily controlled when caught early. They do not fly, which makes infestations easier to control.

St. Augustine is also susceptible to diseases, such as leaf spot or lawn patch. However, its thick, coarse texture allows it to withstand diseases better than other warm season grasses.

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How Do I Treat Brown Patch

To rid your turf of Brown Patch Fungus, you can apply a fungicide yourself or hire an expert. If you plan to do it yourself, check out an online tutorial to ensure efficacy:

  • Inspect your application equipment prior to use
  • Follow product application procedures to avoid an improper distribution rate
  • Time the application just right, again following the instructions closely, for maximum optimization
  • Water exactly as described

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