Question
QUESTION: Hello!

We have a nasty fungus in our new Zoisia. After lots of research we have decided to treat with baking soda and are excited about the new organic adventure!

Our Quetions are: Do we have to dilute in water?

Can we scatter it with our green seed/fertilizer scatterer set on the very lowerst setting and then water it really well?

Can we just add a few saop flakes to the baking soda?

At this time can we also feed with corn meal?????

Please advise.

Thanks!

Jason & Eshanne

Trying to Keep our Zoisia Green!

ANSWER: Tell me please my friends WHERE you are fighting Fungus attack?  Zipcode would help -- at least a state -- please!  You could be writing from anywhere on the planet, seriously.  I have to know where your Grass is.

That said, do not add Baking Soda... yet.  Inquiring minds need to know where your Grass is (my next door neighbor is growing Zoysia) so I can see climactic conditions, season, typical outbreaks etc.  rsvp,

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


Our Poor Grass   QUESTION: Oh so sorry! We live in N central Florida. In the 32601 zipcode.

More about our grass... Is is fairly new Zoisia. We put it in about 4 months ago. We have a rainy season in the summer and there was maybe some over watering. We had a lot of tiny mushrooms (not too big a deal) and then in several areas there was weblike white fungui (?). After this there were some thinning areas (where the webby-stuff was) that then turned into brown patches (arge 5' x 2'). We have completly dethatched those areas. After that we let the lawn dry up a bit and watered a little less.

Our Front lawn is AMAZING. Lush and all of the things that one could ever hope from zoisia! Half of our back lawn is another matter. It has never quite taken off... sigh. You can still see the sod lines from thinning and it has completely given up in some slightly shady areas. The discrepancy between the two is a litttle unsettling.

Also, do you have any advise about what to do when pressuretreated sawdust gets on the grass. One large (5' x 10') brown patch I'm pretty sure came from cutting presssuretreated fence pickets over the grass. The grass is struggling to live there now. Do we need to resod? The half-life on those chemicals is quite long. Is these any hope?

Ok. So, I have gotten a little depressed just talking about it. After years of struggling with our failing st. augustine my husband laboursly desoded, installed an amazing irrigation system and the sodded with the sod of his dreams. Now what?

Any help would be so very much appreciated! Thanks!

Answer
I was about to turn in, it is quite late and I get up quite early, but your story is so thorough I had to give this my full attention.

As you have unfortunately learned, Zoysia is not always shade-loving.  There are a few strains that are more shade tolerant than others, because people do have to deal with that problem.  Zoysia is not a popular Florida grass, but there is one developed at the University of Florida called 'Ultimate'.  'Palisades' is not new, but it is one of the Zoysias known for its fast growth and good-to-excellent Shade tolerance, and may be more available.  Find a Zoysia that is specifically Shade-tolerant for that part of your landscape.  There is no way to compensate for lack of Sun, any more than it is possible to eat more vitamins while breathing less.

Remember that Zoysia takes a little time to get established, but it can be a thick Weed-blocker once it gets going.  As you probably see in your lush thick front Lawn.

Chemical fertilizers will support a flush of Fungi and Mold on your Zoysia.  I have a feeling you did something like that, of course you had the best of intentions, with your beautiful new Sod, but if you use an organic fertilizer next time, you won't be dealing with Fungus attacks as often.

The sawdust contamination -- well, unfortunately, this does alter the Soil in that part of the plot, and I should admit up front I do not know what exactly you used or how much is there.  Mushrooms do tend to appear in plots where there is powdered wood in the Soil.  As for other chemicals... Well, I think you should find out what exactly is there, and what exactly you can do about it.  

That said, Mushrooms are not a disease, and although it is hard not to worry about them, they are not a problem.  You can rake them away every morning if you don't like how they look.

The symptoms you describe suggest a classic case of Dollar Spot, which used to be identified as 'Sclerotinia homoeocarpa' but now is probably Lanzia and Moellerodiscus.  Typically, you step outside early one morning, with dew still sparkling on the Lawn, and notice White 'cobwebs' in certain spots.  This is the Fungus growing over the Grass.  It spreads like a house on fire when day temps hover around 60 degrees to 80 degrees F.

The right mowing is one way to get a handle on this problem.

First, make sure blades are razor sharp.  Anything less tears the Grass tissue and is asking for trouble.  After all that hard work, you don't deserve any more trouble.

I have to say the usual rules here, but if it rains, there's not much you can do about that.  Just try not to make it worse by watering in the afternoon, or if it doesn't need it, or in short spurts instead of long drinks.

A feeding of organic Nitrogen and Potassium, perhaps some top dressings of Compost and/or Manure and/or Humus, will build up your Soil and make it less likely to host a Dollar Spot Reunion when you finally get rid of this.

I guess we did not get our Soil tested yet, did we?  Take care of that asap.  Here's where you can do that:

edis.ifas.ufl.edu/SS156 and edis.ifas.ufl.edu/SS312
(directions)

and you can read up on Mycorrhizae while you're over there:

edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP351

Don't feel bad about this.  You learn from your mistakes.  Not when everything goes right.  This information is worth its weight in gold.  When you put the right Grass in those shady spots, you're going to be very well versed in the cause and the solution.  There's nothing wrong with that.

Any thoughts?

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER