Black Lawn Death

[toddco]

Okay, I need some help on this. The whole lawn here was brown just a week ago. We had nearly no rain all summer. Now that the rain came there are huge patches of black but everything else greened up.

These were the first spots to turn brown in the summer. Any ideas?

[toddco]

closeup

[tiedeman]

if you can, get a close up of a couple blades of grass

[TRex]

Weird kind of looks rusty.

[John Gamba]

Thats what are crabgrass looks like when it gets cooled and dies.
John

[toddco]

It would surprise me if it was crabgrass. The blades are finer, and I've got plenty of healthy crabgrass still elsewhere. :(

These patches were the first spots to brown up when the weather started getting dry - if that gives any clue.

Thanks for any ideas.

[NickN]

Is there a septic tank buried there?

[pcnservices]

What do the other lawns in the neighborhood look like? Were'nt there some aerial pollution from a plant nearby that washed down with the rain and deposited on these lawns? I dont know, I'm just thinking maybe it's something worse than the usual disease or whatever????

[toddco]

The other lawns in the neighborhood look good.

There isn't a septic buried there but I was suspicious if rocks or other poor soil conditions caused it since it was the first area to turn brown as the summer temps and dry weather came earlier this year.

It just surprised me how it turned black once the rains came last week. Everything else went from brown to green.

[NCSULandscaper]

Perhaps pythium blight????

Description of pythium blight is as followed:
disease is first seen as small, irregularly-shaped, watersoaked, greasy patches 1 to 4 inches in diameter. A cottony growth may be visible early in the morning. Diseased areas spread rapidly and may eventually range from 1 to 10 feet in diameter. Pythuim blights develop best in warm, wet weather. The disease is most severe on grass grown under high nitrogen fertilization and excess moisture.

[Grassmechanic]

Smut. It was dormant until the rains came.

[John Gamba]

It ain't that. I think he mentioned dry conditions.

[toddco]

So I just did a search on Smut and (Stripe Smut - Ustilago Strilformis) and it sounds like I'm really screwed. Looks like your diagnosis may be right on.

What solutions do I have? Any? This is a big section of lawn (2/3 acre) that has symptoms scattered throughout.

[Mikes Lawn Landscape]

If I am right I sure hope my answer wins the respect and admiration of every one on this forum.

Does it create a dust or smoke when you disturb it.
Is the color dark gray to black.

If so it is Slime Mold.

Which is completely harmless the rains would have triggered it remove it by mowing,raking or water hose.

If I'm wrong sorry.

[Team Gopher]

Here is a pic of pythium blight.

http://www.sportsturf.it/pythium.jpg

"1 to 6 inch diameter patches of irregular shape or even streaks; leaves initially water-soaked to greasy, then turn tan; white to gray, cotony mycelial growth my be evident in early morning on green leaves"

[toddco]

Well close-up inspection revealed that it has all the symptoms of smut. Frayed ends, curling back, black stripes, etc.

Cures? Suggestions for fixing it?

I've found that 2.5 gal of 3336F costs about $550 here. It would provide about 3 applications on this property. Other ideas?

[AztlanLC]

I think summer fried it, seems like there is new grow coming in, that means the soil is ok, but poor quality or maybe some shale underneat, try to find out before you do anything, could be mites too.

[GroundKprs]

Dormant grass is blonde/tan colored. Dead grass is a gray or blackish color. Ift hese were the first spots to go dormant, they may now be just dead. Grass cannot live indefinitely without water. Depending on grass type, general health, location and exposure, grass can die if no water at all for 5 to 8 weeks. Talking cool season here, not familiar with warm season.

[KirbysLawn]

What kind of grass is it? What have the temps been day & night?