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kmnhiramga

a fungus among us

19 years ago

Hey folks. After a very dry May and June, here in GA we've had a healthy dose of rain for the past month. Not quite like they had in TX and OK, but a good bit.

Here's the thing, that white patch fungus is on my bermuda lawn. i had it last year and bought chemicals (forgive me i wasn't organic then) that I sprayed on there, after a couple of treatments it was better. What organic solution do i have?

Kevin

Comments (5)

  • 19 years ago

    No response?

    I would try corn meal at 20 lbs/1000 ft^2 and water it down with some whole milk at 3 oz/1000 ft^2. I'm aware of the rain situation in Texas, but do not know the day to day activity. Assuming your August will be hot and somewhat dryer, the fungus should go dormant for awhile. Repeated applications of above in dormancy will act as a preventative measure. Soybean meal is another good fungal food (and much higher in N2 than cornmeal) for fall fertilization and winterization. You should balance with some alfalfa meal (rabbit food) from time to time to get the bacteria up and bring the soil in balance.

    Add lawn clippings and leaves, mow high or low (dependent on your grass type) and stop the chemicals from entering the lawn. Organics will take a while to build and diversity is the key.

    I've done the following on my lawn this year and am satistfied of the results for my cool season KBG/Fine Fiscue mix.
    Mulch mow at 3.5-4". Water 1"/week over 24 hours.
    Spread corn meal at 10 lbs/k in early and late April.
    Sprayed milk in early and late April (Focused on last year outbreaks, it has returned in the unsprayed areas. Won't repeat that mistake again).
    Spread alfalfa meal (rabbit food) at 10-15 lbs/1000 ft^2 in late May and early July.
    Plan to end the year spreading 10 lbs/1k ft2 of soybean meal every 3-4 weeks Until October.

    Currently hand pulling some grass in future compost addition areas and am amazed as to how nice the soils smells. I think it is the alfalfa.

    Good Luck

  • 19 years ago

    +1 Graventropy - Good organic program.

  • 19 years ago

    What does the whole milk do?

  • 19 years ago

    I'm confused, when you say soybean meal is a good fungul food are you saying I need to feed this fungus or that it would counteract the fungus? And what does the milk do?

  • 19 years ago

    Milk is another source of protein but it also comes with live bacteria, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. All these things are food for the soil microbes. When they are well fed with real food, the soil's microbes reach a balance. And "normal" is a very good thing.

    Corn meal has been studied to see why it works. Apparently corn meal "attracts" members of the fungus family called Trichoderma (try ko DER ma). Trichoderma lives by eating the cellular structure of other fungi. Also apparently, the disease causing fungi are the worst hit by Trichoderma. When you apply corn meal, the existing population of Trichoderma increases tremendously and literally eats away at the disease.

    Milk has not been studied as much, but in general terms, the nutrients in milk improve the health of the entire soil food chain (called the soil food web because it is so complicated), thus leading to an improved condition with respect to disease.

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