Question
I have brown patch (a lawn guy diagnosed it) on my very nice st augustine lawn in Austin, TX and it is spreading really fast!
I am planning to use Turfcide 10 from Home depot on it. I hope that works.
Are there any special instructions for the spray or the granules. Like do I water in? When? Do I spray all over or only the part with brown spot?
How much time does it take for the lawn to show effects?
If my lawn has been fertilized in August, should I still go ahead and fertilize it for the winter using Winterizer.
So many questions. Would appreciate answers to all of them cause I know nothing about lawns!! (obviously:)
Anything else that helps me care for my lawn is welcome too. Thanks in advance for the advice.

Answer
Hi Nis;
I use NO poisons at all.
I am on an organic lawn care program, and that eliminates the need for fungicides, weed killers and pecticides and fertilizers that cause more problems than they help.
Using chemicals fopr lawn care amounts to using a bandaid instead of getting stitches for a wound.
I wish I had know what I know now about  organics.
I might still have knees and a bck that work well.
I KNOW I would have a lot more money in my accounts.
I spent over 40 years battling fungus, weeds, and bugs, and was always about 2 steps behind them.
Now, for the past 8 or 9 years, I have had a think, weed free, insect free, and fungus free lawn, that greens up faster in the spring and stays green longer in the fall.
I enjoy sitting in my yard and looking at it, instead of working myself to death in it.
I do less than 10 percent of the work I used to do, and spend less that that even, on products to use on my lawn.
Weeds like poor soil and will not grow in rich soil. Make rich soil, and weeds will die out as soon as they come up.
For every harmful insect that invades your lawn, there are hundreds of beneficial ones that will feed on the harmful ones.
Chemical fungicides must be applied over and over. Organic fungicides need only be applied once or twice a year.
For fungus in grasses, Corn gluten meal is the best.
Apply about 15 pounds corn gluten meal per 1000 sq.ft of lawn, and water it in.
Or, you can disolve 4 teaspoons baking soda per gallon of water, and spray it lightly.
The corn gluten meal will work a little better and it also adds many nutrients to the soil, as well as being a deterrant to weed seeds to germinate.
You can make a tea of corn gluten meal to spray plants with for fungus, like black spot, powdery mildew,etc.
Put about 4 teaspoons corn gluten meal in an old nylon stocking, and soak in a gallon of water for at least an hour and a half, to make a tea.
Spray lightly on plants for fungus.
I have not tried this, but 4 rounded tesponns baink soda per gallon of water and sprayed on roses and other shrubs for black spot and powdery mildew worked beautifully for me.
For the fungus on yoyr St. Augustine, this baking soda tea would start to work immediately.
Spray lightly and avoid soaking the ground.
I have always soaked the ground too, but have read recently that this is wrong.
However, I never had any bad results from pouring it on my St. Augustine.
I joined Howard Garrett's ground crew this spring.
That simply means I paid the $25.00 subscription fee for complete access to his website, and the monthly online magazine and monthly snail mail magazine.
He is the country's foremost expert on organics, and although his site and publications is directed to mainly Texas gardeners, the same princilpe applies to organics around the world.
He is a scientist as well as an hortiiculturist, and has publishings from universitie studies around the country.
If you would like to subscribe to his site, the address is    www.dirtdoctor.com
You can find the answer to EVERYTHING organic in there.
It is worth many times the subscription price.
Write any time you have questions I can help with.
Charlotte