[tectl]

My gardner contacted me to let me know that some brown spots have appeared on my back lawn. The lawn is St. Augustine and receive full sunlight at mid-day (shaded from early & late day sun). Florida has received alot of rain as of late (but this is not standing water area). Further the lawn receive very early morning irrigation.

Can someone help me determine if this is fungal or pest issues? If it's fungal will the corn meal treatment work? If it is pest... any suggestions?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Ps. I have been away for about 3 months so I can not tell you anymore that what has been provided. Will be onsite this upcoming weekend and can possibly answer further questions at that time.

 

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

If it is fungal, then corn meal should work. If not, then beneficial nematodes might work. If the insects live in the soil the bn should work. If they crawl out of the soil, then they might not work. For example, ticks are out of the soil now. In the winter they are in the soil. So your shot at killing ticks is in the early spring before the soil warms up.

You might try cutting the top and bottom out of a can, pushing the can into the soil near the brown spots, and filling the can with water to see if any bugs float up.

 

[tectl]

Thank you for your help. I will see what the test produces. Having never done this before, do you simply apply corn meal (raw out of the container) to the effected area?

 

[ElephantNest]

I've heard 50lbs. per 1000sqft. Seems high, but that's what I read.

 

[ProMo]

sounds like dollar spot fungus there has been a lot of it around here I dont see many pest companys treating it it usually goes away on its own when the conditions(rain) improve because grass is growing so rapidly

 

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

The application rate for corn meal against fungus is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. If it seems high, organic materials usually weigh a little more than chemicals. But they cost less, so it balances out for most of us.

I get pure, whole ground, corn meal in 50 pound bags at the feed store for $6.50 retail. The worst thing about it is it doesn't go through either of my spreaders very well, so I scoop it out of the bag with a 64 ounce plastic cup and scatter it by hand. You could make a scoop out of a gallon plastic milk container I suppose. If you just use corn meal on your spots, you might end up with dark green spots there in about 3 weeks. You might consider applying it to the entire yard.

Someone mentioned an application rate of 50 pounds per 1,000. That sounds like the application rate of corn GLUTEN meal when used as a preemergent weed seed suppressor. These are two different products with widely differing costs. CGM is usually about a dollar per pound except in Ohio and Kentucky where it is found for $0.10 per pound.

I could also mention that both corn meal and corn GLUTEN meal are great fertilizers at the rates suggested. In fact you can go down to 10 pounds per 1,000 as a fertilizer. Corn meal still wins on cost, though (except in Ohio and Kentucky). The point of this being that you don't need to fertilize again with "conventional" fertilizers if you use corn meal or corn gluten meal. But if you have already fertilized with a conventional fert, the corn meal will not hurt anything. It still helps build beneficial microbial life in the soil which is something the chemcial fert cannot do.

One last thing, if you have already used a chemical fungicide on your disease, the corn meal treatment will not work. The corn meal depends on a different fungus which is easily killed by most chemical fungicides.

 

[ElephantNest]

Found out, it's 20lbs. per 1000sqft

 

[CSRA Landscaping]

Do you have a dog?

 

[Del9175]

It sounds to me like chinch bugs. I was speaking with a guy from a big pesticide company and he said they have had to treat half of their lawns for this. Normally he said one out of five requires a treatment.

 

[lugnut#6]

what does cornmeal do?

and have yall ever heard of useing laundry detergent for yard pest?

 

[Tbarchaser]

Del I think your right, chinch bugs. I have seen a few major outbreaks in orlando the past few weeks.