My St. Augustine (I think palmetto) has some brown patches. The grass is straw like. At first glance I thought maybe I had a fungus, but with closer inspection I didn't notice any of the orange/yellow wilting common with the fungus. Nor did the green bordering grass pull easily. So my next thought is that it's lacking water? Rain has been getting me by until about a week ago, then I turned my irrigation system back on. It has watered twice since then. When it's not raining I water 2x week for 50 min. I know it seems like alot but it's a new lawn (2 1/2 years old) and I'm trying to spread some runners. There are gaps in the grass with dirt patches. I have St. Augustine around the house and wild grass & weeds filling in the remainder of the lawn. I'm zone 9a, temps have been in the low 90's, neighbors yards also browning "some" but not as bad as mine. (they DO water more than me) The area in question gets mostly sun light with evening shade but shares that sport with some healthy green grass. I'm organic 1 1/2 years now. Yesterday I fertilized with Scott's Organic Choice. Never used soy meal or corn glutten cause I haven't been able to get to a feed store. Don't have any pics right now.... Oh, this afternoon at 3:30 I checked the grass blades, they were folded in. Although this was in clear hot sun light... but my lawn got water this morning. I'm stumped cause it would seem it lacks water. 1 more thing I can think of, been mowing at 3". Letting the grass get to 4 1/2 - 5 then taking 1 - 1/2 off at a time but I think I'll mow at 4" next time. My question is why is my St. Augustine browning? How can I fix it so that it stays green, then spreads?