Question
I need a good organic method for controlling and eliminating dollar spot.  I moved to central Indiana a year ago and immediately started on a partial organic regimine the first summer and a complete one this summer. There was dollar spot both summers.  This summer it's worse.  I know it will take about 3 years to build up the clay soil and get a strong ecosystem going, but the dollar spot is hampering my efforts for a healthy lawn.   I had an organic lawn in Idaho but the two states have completely different environments.

Thankyou for your time,

Shannon L. Stewart

Answer
Hi Shannon;
I looked up dollar spot bevcause we don't have that here.
This is the qweb address for the page I found the information on

http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/pubs/latin.htm

Copy and paste that address into your browser and go read that page.
Dollar spot sounds like it is just another variet of brown patch, a fungus the area I live in is subject to.
Watering deep, to a depth of at least 6 inches, and rewatering when the top 2 inches are dry, will help prevent to groth of this fungus. Spraying with baking soda disolved in water should kill out what is growing there now.
I use 1/4th cup baking soda to 1 gallon of water. spray until you have pretty well saturated the area.
Shallow watering each day, as opposed to a good soak, down deep, will encourage this fungus to grow.
Following a total orgnic program is the only way you can have success with organics, because if you use any chemicals, you undo what the organics do.
Fertilizer kills the beneficial microbes that enrich the soil. Putting down dry molasses, sugar etc, nourishes them, but if you put down a chemical, like a fertilizer, fungicide, weed killer eit. It will kill them off, making putting dopwn the sugar, a wasted effort.
I would suggest you go to this site, and join the ground crew.
It is a yearly subscription fee of about $25.00, and you have total access to all the information on that site.
Howard Garrett is a scientist,and the foremost expert on organics.
He gears his column in the paper, and his TV show to Texas gardeners, but the organics program he works with will work everywhere.
The only difference being different temperatures and different dryness or humidity.
Texas has every thing from Tropical, to cld and snow/sleet etc, to dry desster, and coastline.
Another difference is the types of pasts some areas have that we don't, but there are enough similarities in the way they habitate and live, that you will find the answers you need.
The address is   www.dirtdoctor.com
check it out, I think you will like it.
Charlotte