Hello,
We have developed a solution that works 100% of the time to solve Fairy Ring problems. It does not involve using any fungicides or chemicals. This is a organic to semi-organic solution.
A little bit about fairy rings. They are almost always hydrophobic. They may or may not have mushrooms. How to tell if you have a Fairy Ring: get a glass of water and a shovel and lift up a flap of soil & sod in the dead zone of the Fairy Ring. Pour water over the edge of that soil you lift up with your shovel. If the water runs off like it is water proof, chances are excellent that you have a Fairy Ring. You will also notice a very musky fungal odor coming out of that soil. You should also see a white mycelium of the fairy ring fungi in the soil. Sometimes it is a thin strip of fungi just under the surface. Sometimes you will see a white strip of fungi about an inch down in the soil. Sometimes you will see whiteish mycelium threads of fungi going down into the soil.
The fungi isolate the turf grass and as the grass roots die there is a nitrogen release and under that release is a darker circle or semi-circle of grass at the surface. There may or may not be a dead zone... but usually is. In some cases where water has been penetrating fairly well, the dead zone might not be there, but the darker green grass will be there.
The size of a fairy ring can go from a foot in diameter to 60 feet or more in diameter.
Another fact: where you have one fairy ring, you probably have several others. There may be several fairy rings all over the lawn and the only way you can find the others is to dig up a flap here and there to see what's in it. They will develop under the surface for quite a while before any sign of them shows up on the surface.
Here's how we treat them:
1. Rake up mushrooms and moss and pull out any weeds.. clean up the area. Bag this stuff and dispose of it. Wash off your tools so you don't carry the spores around to other lawns.
2. Core aereate the turf. Go the extra mile and get a lot of holes in the turf.
3. Apply BioVam Mycorrhiza with a drop spreader. You can overseed the dead zones to speed up truf recovery. BioVam is applied at the rate of one quart by volume (it's a dry powdery product) to 400 square feet of turf grass.
4. Water the application down well so the BioVam is washed into the turf.
5. Use a low phosphate fertilizer... 2 to 3% Phosphorous at the most.
6. Cut the grass when it needs it to a longer length... suitable for the grass species present.
7. Limit the amount of Nitrogen to 3 lbs per 1,000 square feet per year.
Here's what happens: BioVam's mycorrhiza starts up with the turf grass that is still alive and the new seed as it sprouts. The mycorrhiza bring minerals and water into the roots of the grass and prevent the Fairy Ring from isolating and killing any more grass roots. The mycorrhiza and grass roots will penetrate the Fairy Ring mycelium hydrophobic area and will allow water to easily get into the soil every time it is watered or when it rains. As the mycorrhiza and roots penetrate all through the area where the Fairy Ring is present in the soil, the area gets saturated with water.
It's the water that destroys the habitat of the Fairy Ring. It subsides and just goes away. If you follow the procedures above, this will work perfectly every time. With annual applications of BioVam Mycorrhiza, the Fairy Rings do not return or start up again.
By the way... this exact same procedure will also solve Necrotic Ring Spots... BioVam mixed with grass seed is the only modification to the above procedure.
A last word of advice: be sure to clean your equipment.. even wash it down with water with bleech mixed into it. You don't want to be carrying these diseases to other people's lawns!
This solution works and the work is simple. You also don't have to worry about the dangers of using toxic substances. There are none in this procedure.
Best Regards,
Thomas Giannou
