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Brown Patch.

4K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  Marine03112 
#1 ·
Well i have had this disease to some extent over the years. Nothing like i have seen it this year. It has actually taken out large sections of my customers yards. I always tell them give me a buzz if something is going on with the lawn. Nope i show up for there six week service and bam large portions of there lawn is gone. To make things worse a few of them were watering thinking the dry spots werent getting enough rain. Ugh. Well has anyone one else had this issue this season? I am in Northern and Southern PA areas.
 
#4 ·
Hottest Summer on record this year in SW Idaho, and unfortunately nearly every lawn has irrigation or you just can't have one. We've had one day of rain in the past 3 months, about 1/4".

Fungus everywhere. Once temps hit 90+ everyone thinks they need to water daily and the real screw ups do it twice for good measure.

It's a mixed bag when I bring it up too, some clients appreciate it when I bring it to their attention and others treat me like I'm an idiot for telling them they are drowning the lawn and it's fungus turning it brown.

I've had some insist that I "just treat it" and flip out when I give them the cost. There is generally no need for it out here so there is a markup for stupidity that comes with the price of that already expensive treatment.
 
#5 ·
I think generic eagle isn’t priced to bad. The problem is doing fungicides right requires a stop two weeks later after the initial treatment. I do know that one company does apply a curative when there out for there round treatment. They don’t do preventative apps. Unless requested by the customer. I put out informantial flyer out when I run into a problem like this and it seems people believe me if it’s on paper with online references so they can look themselves. I can’t wait till Nov. 30th. Last day of work for me.
 
#7 ·
It was a terrible year for fungus all around, I’d say the worst I’ve ever seen and dollar spot is still firing up here and there. Hot humid and we had tropical weather for a few weeks where it rained every afternoon at 2 like clockwork, 2-4 inches a day sometimes. Weeds and nutsedge are outta control to with all the moisture. I agree that it’s mostly from people watering to much and ho’s who never sharpen there mower blades. If I get through this year without a bunch of cancels I’ll be very happy. My non irrigated lawns looked phenomenal this season but as soon as ppl with irrigation saw off color from fungus they stArted watering like crazy. It doesn’t help that most irrigation companies set up the timers to start between midnight and 3 am. I am considering a preventative fungicide on a few lawns that got hit hard this season in May-June of 2019. I usually just spray as needed though.
 
#8 ·
Very little brown patch here compared to last year. Was dry most of July and most of August. Biggest challenge was keeping things green / alive even with irrigation.

For your accounts that had trouble with BP, might be easy to pursuade them that a preventative fungicide program next year is worth the money. Fungal diseases advance relatively quickly and often by the time someone notices something is wrong, the damage is already done. They’ve seen it first hand so they know you’re not just trying to upsell.
 
#10 ·
Very little brown patch here compared to last year. Was dry most of July and most of August. Biggest challenge was keeping things green / alive even with irrigation.

For your accounts that had trouble with BP, might be easy to pursuade them that a preventative fungicide program next year is worth the money. Fungal diseases advance relatively quickly and often by the time someone notices something is wrong, the damage is already done. They've seen it first hand so they know you're not just trying to upsell.
Ya great idea. I will sell preventives next year for sure. In another note I have sold a ton of aerations with overseed. Going to use a disease resistant tttf. With rye.
 
#9 ·
If it were likely to be caused by environmental conditions I'd work fungicides into our program.

I live in a flipping desert though. :laugh:

I haven't tried Eagle yet, used Pillar G to help a couple of lawns recover this year and it worked really well. A lot more expensive though, next year I'll see if our suppliers have any generic Eagle.
 
#11 ·
If it were likely to be caused by environmental conditions I'd work fungicides into our program.

I live in a flipping desert though. :laugh:

I haven't tried Eagle yet, used Pillar G to help a couple of lawns recover this year and it worked really well. A lot more expensive though, next year I'll see if our suppliers have any generic Eagle.
Ya they will have generic eagle. To my benefit I have five suppliers and I play each against each other for the best price. You would be amazed how much they can come down in a product. I actually got 3 .50 knocked off a per bag price. They really try to sell high. Remember no salesman is your buddy. They are out to make the most money they can.
 
#12 ·
Mowing lower during high humidity periods might be a good idea. I normally mow as high as the mower goes but I noticed BP more prevalent in lawns mowed high and much lower in lawns cut shorter this summer in the constant humidity. Even my lawn got blasted. I did a cleansing cut before the monsoon hit this weekend. Hacked it down and let it breath a bit.
 
#16 ·
I also noticed less than previous years. I am close to you. 10 minutes from downtown Philly across the Ben Franklin or Walt Whitman. It's been a little dryer right here, not including this weekends current rain, then the previous couple of years. A lot more rain was just missing us, when it was hitting Bucks, Berks & Montgomery Counties in Pa, & central Jersey.
 
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