Brown patches on Bermuda

[Pandu]

I live in PLano & have been following the organic program this season. I had the lawn aerated & had applied CGM & powdered Blackstrap molasses in Feb 04. For the past one month my lawn has developed brown patches which are growing by the hour & will soon engulf the whole front yard. I applied CGM + molasses again this week. Yesterday I sprayed the whole front yard with a foliar spray consisting of garlic + hot peppers + Garrett juice + orange oil. Do you folks think I am on the right track in solving this problem - or is there anything else that should be done? I watered my lawn this season once a week for 45 min. at a time. I personally don't think the grass is water-starved.

Secondly, I plan to put organic fertilizer in mid-Oct. Could this address this problem too? or should this wait till the brown patch problem is resolved? Thanks.

[dogwind]

If the CGM doesn't help your fungal problem, horticultural corn meal will. The advertised application rate is 20#/1000 - but I tend to apply it heavier than that. It takes 3 it weeks or so to work its magic.

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

I think you're on track. There is increasing evidence that garlic will suppress fungal diseases like your brown patch. I still need to learn more about it, how to apply, and the application rate. Corn meal has always worked for me. The 'non garlic' approach would be to use corn meal in every feeding throughout the year and you should not have any fungal problems.

CGM is a pretty powerful (and expensive) fertilizer. Ordinary corn meal works fine for 1/6 the cost. Of course you could probably use 1/6 the amount of CGM and do about the same.

[Pandu]

Thanks for your advice Dogwind/Dchall. However, it has been 2 weeks since applying CGM, corn meal, Garlic/Garrett juice, with absolutely no change in the brown patches in the yard. The grass in the brown patches feels completely dry/dead when I walk over it. I am remaining hopeful about a possible turnaround in the 3rd week (per Dogwind's timeline in the above post).

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

I always get anxious, too. It really does take 3 full weeks. I would not try anything else unless there was no change at the very end of the 3rd week.

[Pandu]

Just wanted to apprise everybody of the results of applying garlic pepper spray, CGM, molasses, cornmeal, on the brown patch problem on my bermuda lawn. After 4 weeks, there is a substantial improvement (not 100%, but at least 75%). So the stuff definitely works.

[dogwind]

Thats great to hear. Next time see if you can get the same result by just using corn meal. Over time, brown patch will only be your inorganic neighbors' problem. When they come to you to ask what your doing...give them your organic spiel.

[Scott Fl]

do you think it improved because of the organics used or the fact that the water has been reduced?

[Pandu]

Scott,
I saw a substantial improvement within 4 weeks of applying cornmeal in Oct 04. I don't think it was because of reduced watering. However, over this winter, the same area has started to brown up again - will try the same solution this weekend to proactively stem the spread of the brown patch. Any other ideas?

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

If it is bermuda, the entire lawn should have turned brown. Are you saying patches did not turn brown?

[Pandu]

No, the entire lawn did turn brown in winter, but the areas covered by the brown patch (from Fall 04) have a dark brown hue to them. So I wonder if this is the beginning/continuation of the old brown patch problem.

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

At this point in time I'd just hit the entire yard with corn meal and watch it this spring. If you need to reseed, do that in late May or June.