Question
I noticed another question from someone who thinks they have a lawn fungus and I was hoping you could shed some light on the answer, which frankly I thought sounded ridiculous.  The person laid down sod in their yard. The lawn turned brown in some places, which sounds to me like a fungus too plus the weather was very wet.  The weird thing was they were putting baking soda on the lawn.  Can someone explain to me why someone would do something like that?  And the answer was basically the same, put down more baking soda.  I almost laughed my sides off.  So I am now in the Organic Gardening section for All Experts but since I live in the New York City area I considered maybe a New Yorker would have an opinion that did not have us all rolling in the aisles.  I do have a weekend home but I do not take care of it myself. I assume that the lawn service does that.   If I see them putting down baking soda from a box I will fire them.  Please tell me what your take is on this.  Has everybody gone insane?

Answer
My first Organics question - and I had to print this one because it is just so funny.

Some people oversimply because they just do not understand the science behind something like Baking Soda -- which is a legitimate kitchen chemical, OK? So they may call it Baking Soda, you can call it Sodium Bicarbonate if you like. Or you can call it

Baking Soda by itself doesn't work too well. At least not in the laboratory. It's a dry powder that blows away or washes off -- and that my friend is just my theory, but in lab experiments it works VERY well when fixed w/ horticultural oil or something else to make it stick. It prevents fungus from "germinating" (for lack of a better word here -- the word is not germinate because these are not seeds) by creating a toxic surface. The fungus is not killed. It just can't get off the ground. It stays dormant and waits for just the right moment. Sort of like a sniper who wants to aim and shoot. This sniper needs moisture, certain specific temperatures, and a certain pH range plus that delicious green leaf it is sitting on and then boom! it's off and running.

Odd, but true.  This is a legitimate solution. BUT....

FYI a good basic "recipe" is 3 Tbsp Baking Soda mixed with 3 Tbsp oil (horticultural, vegetable, corn, whatever's in the closet) mixed with a few drops of soap --- yes, SOAP, aka dishwashing liquid! -- mixed with maybe a gallon of water. Spray all over the place.  It prevents blackspot, a bunch of grass fungi, powdery mildew at Cornell
University and other perfectly legitimate scientific venues.  Note please: Some plants are hypersensitive to oil so test it first.  And again, it is not a cure.  It just prevents fungi that have your leaves in the crosshairs.

A final word: There are better solutions.  They are a little harder to pronounce.  And it takes a little education to know about them.  I'll list them for you but for now I think your question is now asked and answered...