Question
I have cinch bugs. I have heard of natural remedies, soap and water, amonia, diatmateous earth. What can I do that is natural. I don't want a lawn service coming out with pestcides to kill them. Please help. I just put in new grass last year and suddenly I have a 8' wide brown spot that has the cinch bugs. I live in central Florida. Will the natural remedies work.  

Answer
Looks like you hit a home run here with your St Augustine Grass.  Because as I understand it, the ONLY people who have Chinchbug problems in Florida are the ones growing.... St Augustine Grass!

The fix here is so easy, you'll wonder why it took so long.

Texas Agricultural Extension has issued a bulletin about the Southern Chinchbug, 'Chinch Bugs in St Augustine Lawns':

http://aggie-turf.tamu.edu/files-2005/Chinch%20bugs.pdf

They note: 'Thatch provides a protective home for Chinchbugs and chemically binds with many insecticides, making such controls less effective.'

You have to understand that you get thatch when dead plant matter and debris builds up in your grass.  In a healthy Lawn, with healthy Grass and Soil, Grass clippings and dead roots break down naturally at a fairly quick rate, especially in the warmer states where YOU live.

But if something damages the cycle, and you suddenly have a smaller population of microbes in the soil, the Grass clippings and dead roots that are supposed to be broken down start to accumulate.  And there aren't enough Soil microbes to break them down.  The stuff left is called Thatch.

The solution could be as simple as correcting your mowing height.

Or fixing your watering routine.  What schedule or technique do you use to water this St Augustine Lawn?  That's the key here, my friend.  Someone has to take out the garbage, and someone else has to water the St Augustine Grass.

If you don't have one yet, get a mulching lawnmower to chop up your Grass clippings before spraying them back on the Lawn.  They'll decompose 10x faster if you break them down.  Leaving the clippings would be a good move.  This will help.

Mulching with humus, compost or manure is microbe-friendly; microbes will break down thatch faster, because it increases the contact of the dead Grass clippings and roots with Soil.  Too much Nitrogen fertilizer gets your Grass growing too fast for the Nitrogen Cycle to run its course - slow down if you're guilty as charged and focus on building up your soil.  Organic fertilizers are better - aged manure is packed with natural Nitrogen, so is bloodmeal, alfalfa meal and Milorganite.

Finally, chemicals like Weedkiller, Grubkiller, Fungus Killer, etc., turn your turf upside down by assaulting the flora and fauna in your soil.  For instance, Grubkiller doesn't just kill Grubs - it's a pesticide that will kill Ladybugs, Butterflies, even Earthworms.  Leave your Lawn alone; say no to chemicals.  But water it right.  And the Chinchbugs will disappear.  Guaranteed.  Yes, it's that easy.