Fungicide woes [Archive] - LawnSite.com™ - Lawn Care & Landscaping Business Forum

Rayholio

07-06-2006, 05:57 PM

Allright, I just got off the phone with my distributer, he quoted me a few different fungicides, they were all pretty expencive.. a granular that costs over $30 a bag and only covers 5000 at the curative rate... a liquid that was something like $100 per 10,000 sq ft.. etc..

What is the weapon of choice against brown patch, and powery mildew? It sure would be nice if I could find something that is a little more affordable.. and as usual, I don't want to neglect effectivness!

Tim Johnson

07-06-2006, 07:19 PM

Allright, I just got off the phone with my distributer, he quoted me a few different fungicides, they were all pretty expencive.. a granular that costs over $30 a bag and only covers 5000 at the curative rate... a liquid that was something like $100 per 10,000 sq ft.. etc..

What is the weapon of choice against brown patch, and powery mildew? It sure would be nice if I could find something that is a little more affordable.. and as usual, I don't want to neglect effectivness!

Fungicides are expensive, Eagle works well, I think it around $65 per pint.

Grassmechanic

07-06-2006, 07:46 PM

What is the weapon of choice against brown patch, and powery mildew?
Proper cultural practices to reduce the likelihood that those diseases will occur.

kappa915

07-06-2006, 08:16 PM

Armada is a preventative that is made by bayer. I think it has some curative action also. It provides 21-30 days preventative for diseases like brown patch and dollar spot. It will help you get through the summer. It runs around $60 for WP. If I remember correctly it covers around 15-20,000 sq ft. Kind of expensive, but if your customers want a premium product, charge a premium price.

olive123

07-06-2006, 08:19 PM

t-storm at lesco best price for best product. 40 bucks for a bag containing 4 or 6 water soluble bags. mix them at the rates you want.
Your gonna get away cheaper with this. Eagle is also good but not sure what strains of fungi its good against.

Rayholio

07-06-2006, 11:54 PM

I just looked at the labeling for armada 50 WP.. it isn't specifically labeled with a curative rate for brown patch.. I believe this means that it's prevenative only... It does have a curative rate for leaf spot.... Havn't looked at eagle yet.. but I've read that it has reapp timing of 4-7 days... I charge a lot for a fungicide treatment ($150 per 10,000) but not enough to do 2 trips! :)

dcgreenspro

07-07-2006, 12:20 AM

Mancozeb..if that not good enough there's always good old daconil..both are liquid

dcgreenspro

07-07-2006, 12:23 AM

what variety of bentgrass are we talking about here???

Rayholio

07-07-2006, 12:33 AM

Homeowners with fescue

TurfProSTL

07-07-2006, 02:31 AM

Homeowners with fescue
You can't use Daconil then. Mancozeb will give you 10-14 days tops.

With Eagle or Armada, you can get 28 days control. I like to figure costs in terms of cost/1000 sqft PER DAY of control.

I was mixing Protect (mancozeb) with Eagle at the low rates of each. Good results for the price. Cleary's changed the formulation of the Protect this year though and it clogged my sprayer. So, we're using Armada this year.

dcgreenspro

07-07-2006, 10:43 AM

first of all, why can't you use daconil to control brown patch???:confused: Secondly why do you have brown patch on a home lawn of fescue?;) Change your cultural practices! Raise the height, back of the fert and turn off the water...If you are getting brown patch in your LAWN, some thing is way outta wack.

Rayholio

07-07-2006, 11:51 AM

hmmm... dunno about the fert. (waiting on soil test results) but they mow properly... about 4.5-5 inches... and the watering is about 30 min a day on my lawns that are suffering from this... Is it possible I've misdiagnosed this?

I can post some pics... how do I do that? LOL

dcgreenspro

07-07-2006, 02:46 PM

stop watering, wet conditions + high heat and humidity during the day = disease pressure. Brown patch thrives in cool wet nights bwt 60 and 80 degrees.

Rayholio

07-07-2006, 03:57 PM

It's too hot here to not water.. most of these lawns have little or no shade, and when they cut back the watering cycle just ten minutes per zone, the thing turns brown.. we're in the 90s during the day and I'm sure high 70s at night... thats just how our summers are here..

kappa915

07-07-2006, 10:22 PM

Don't know about MO or PA, but brown patch is very common on Fescue in N. Georgia.

TurfProSTL

07-07-2006, 10:26 PM

first of all, why can't you use daconil to control brown patch???:confused: Secondly why do you have brown patch on a home lawn of fescue?;) Change your cultural practices! Raise the height, back of the fert and turn off the water...If you are getting brown patch in your LAWN, some thing is way outta wack.1) Daconil isn't labelled for residential turf. 2) Brown Patch loves tall fescue here in Zone 7. 3) I agree with backing off the fertilizer and excessive water, but not necessarily the raised mowing height. A lawn cut at 4" or more would probably be more prone to Brown Patch than at 3".....

dcgreenspro

07-07-2006, 11:45 PM

i didn't know that daconil wasn't labeled for residential use, i only spoke of golf course experience...if you must water, time it with the sunrise, do not let water sit in the darkness!!! I would begin a cycle when a dry period is coming. Pound the water for a half hour or so and then back off a day or two until your hot spots begin showing up. Then, pound it again. DEEP and INFREQUENT. now when it really gets hot you may be watering almost every morning until the heat stops but you are in a southern climate so that might not be for some time.
The higher cutting height will definitely help with the heat, need less water and not put the plant into too much stress. your 70 degree temps at night are ideal for brown patch. For a disease such as brown patch you need three things present: the host, pathogen and environment. Take away any one of the three and you will not get infected with disease. As for the problem with the lawns browning out from lack of water PROMATE SOAKER. Used on hot spots on greens and surrounds for years, works like a charm. Spraying mancozeb is all we ever did for our fairways on a preventative program. The promate is a little pricey, you can also buy a granular form the you could incorporate into the soil after aerifying.
If all else fails, change the grass and put in a warm season type grass, the newer varieties of bermuda were around when i was in school in SC. Hope this helps:dancing:

rider

07-08-2006, 12:02 AM

t-storm plus mancozeb, spectator plus mancozeb, manhandle(need to read label for residental) bayleton
mancozeb is your contact, the others are systemic, manhandle is both(contains mancozeb)
you should only spray each combo twice then switch if you are going with a third app.
eagle will work but it is only a systemic, you will still need a contact fungicide to "cure" patch and mildew