brown spots

[bobbygedd]

i have a customer whos lawn is driving me nuts. it started with 2 brown spots, these were areas that just seemed to die overnight. dont think its any type of fungus. the rest of the lawn is very green, weed free and looks great. i am starting to see other brown spots apear, again, it seems these r spots that the grass just died overnight. i find no grubs, or cinch bugs. most funguses that ive seen, discolor the grass b 4 it kills it, this isnt like that, just patches of dead, no more roots, grass. looks like drought damage, but like i said, the rest of the lawn is great, she waters like i tell her, one and a half hrs a day, every 3 days. it almost seems like someone is spraying roundup on these spots, starting to think someone is screwing with me. any help would make me very happy. im in central new jersey. thanx

[KirbysLawn]

No roots? Sounds like grubs. Could be brown patch, what time does she water?

If the lawn is being water 1.5 hours 3 times a week, how many inches of water is it getting? Depending on water pressure it will vary, I would suggest checking to see. I always suggest watering once a week with watering until run-off, water another zone and then coming back until the lawn gets an 1" of water at one time.

Here is a good link: http://www.turfgrasssod.org/trc/water.html

[bobbygedd]

yes kirby, seems like grubs, but ive checked and there r none. could it be not enough water? im baffled

[JJOHN22042]

CHECK FOR ARMY WORMS THEY COME OUT AT NIGHT AND EAT THE BLADE OF GRASS.

[KirbysLawn]

look like this:

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/TURF/brown%20patch%20circular%20patches%20on%20fescue.jpg

[David Haggerty]

Female dog?

[bobbygedd]

oh god no kirby, it doesnt look like that, is that dog pee?

[KirbysLawn]

No, brown patch.

[John DiMartino]

Wow,Ray,that is bad.Talk about active brown patch.It almost looks like snow mold in the picture.Bobby,is there any chance its fertilizer burn,is there a thick ,healthy ring right around it?

[bobbygedd]

the reason i dont think its fert burn(and god knows i know what that looks like), is because the first spots did start to apear about 2 months ago, i did do a tri and fert app about 6 weeks ago, but i did 10 that day, and no one else has a problem. could this be the result of bad soil? perhaps maybe even the lawn was seeded with crappy seed that is not heat and drought tolerant? what makes this a real pain in the butt is it is my first year at this customers property, i dont know whats been happening the other years. i did speak with a neighbor who said everyone in the neighborhood seems to have a problem with thier lawn in the summer. im stumped

[bassngrasser13]

i don't know much about this but it sounds like chinch bugs. You can get a spray for them and charge a little more

[JJOHN22042]

Looks like Army Worms we got hit hard here in New England they can be seen at night during the day they Dig in. Try so soap and water in a Sprayer that will make them come out its worth a try and it cost nothing. Good Luck.:blob3: :blob3: :blob3:

[jandmlandscaping]

ever heard of IPM?
scouting would allow corrrect pest id instead of asking people in other states that have different problems.
ps grubs are NOT in the ground now the are dling around as beetles and eating your trees and shrubs!!
my area got hit pretty bad with army worms however i used dylox 2 weeks before the symptoms started and have a thick dark green lawn even with the lack of rain maybe the 0-0-50 helped also !!
keep reading all you can find knowledge is power!!

[EJK2352]

bobbygedd,
Could it be shallow buried debris? I have a couple of lawns w/ that problem & it shows up when it starts gettting hot & dry. Take a soil sampling probe and check those areas out. ED

[bobbygedd]

thanks so much for all the help guys

[growingreen]

sometimes when i get baffeled by isolated spots i'll use a soil probe and see if any rocks, stumps or any other thing my be underneath restricting root development.
also what type of grass is affected. diseases need three things present to be active:
1) host (grass type)
2) disease pathogen
3) enviorment (weather)
one is missing it's usually not a disease problem.

rule of thumb: temperature and humidity at night equal 150 or more could be brown patch if the above are present

good luck

[bobbygedd]

EJK, thou art a genious! so we were there today to cut, and i was so mad at the brown stuff, i stuck a shovel in, about 4-5 inches to check a little deeper, guess what i found? the whole front yard seems to be on top of a bed of stone, that grey/blue stuff that they use for driveways. i dont know what it looked like last year cus its my first season there. do u think that is the problem?

[BRL]

You don't have what part of NJ you're at in your profile, but many parts have had a real bad problem with the Army worm invasion. Look around the neighborhood and see if any of the other lawns have similar looking damage, & if so do the soap & water test to see if they're doing it. It looks just like fungus damage but the conditions weren't right for fungus when the Army worms started their death march. I've seen a whole lot of it around here. Some lawns are totaled & the people don't even have a clue.

[bobbygedd]

brl, i am in east brunswick area. what r u using for army worms? dursban work? thats what i applied to some of my lawns. if u dig in a few spots, wouldnt u see them?

[BRL]

I have used Talstar & Dursban & they both seemed to work. I'm guessing that they are getting ready to transfer to their next part of their life cycle, because I've seen that their damage is slowing on untreated lawns, and I tried the soap & water trick last night on a friends lawn that had the same damage, but the only thing that came out was an Earth worm. I don't know if digging will find them. They may already be moths at this point, laying 2,000 eggs each to produce the next batch of worms that is supposed to happen in August. More $$, hopefully!!

[bobbygedd]

are u big river, by any chance?