Mildew on new lawn.

[Bas]

Hi ti you all.

I laid a seeded turf lawn a month ago and have noticed in the last wee that it has about a dozen small patches (around 4" circles) of wha looks like mildew.It also has that earthey smell that a associate wit mildew.

I live in the South-east of England. The lawn is East facing and only 50 square metres in size.It dosn` have any obvious shaded areas,though it dosn`t get a great deal of su this time of the year anyway.

I never had this problem with my old lawn.(which was mainly weed anyway.)

Can anybody give me any ideas of the cause of this.

Might it be something else ?

Should it be treated with a fungiside ?

Hope some of you seasoned experts can point me in the right directio on this one.

Thanks. Bas

-- Bas

[Steveo]

When you say mildew, does it look like powdery mildew?

does it look like slime?

[Bas]

Cheers Steveo.

The picture looks pretty close to the problem.

Had a good look this morning and in the areas effected the grass i yellow/brown,a bit Slimey and dead.

Any advice greatly appreciated

-- Bas

[trader4]

Sounds like it could be dollar spot? One factor that favors dollar spot is low nitrogen, but if it's been seeded a month ago, you should have put down starter fertilizer, so there should be enough nitrogen.

I don;t think I would do anything at this point, except keep an eye on it and apply some more nitrogren sooner than normal. Starter fertilizer should be about gone in about 6 weeks from when you applied it, so a light additional fertilization with a Fall type fertilizer sometime soon shouldn't hurt at this time of year, as the even worse diseases which could be fueled by nitrogen are not active at lower temps. And with declining temps, if you get below 50, even the dollar spot, if that's what it is, should go away.

Another factor is watering. DS and most other fungus diseases are favored by wet grass. You have no choice when seeding, but going into month 2, you should be cutting back the watering to less frequent, more depth, and not leaving it wet at night.

[Steveo]

How could one confuse powdery mildew for dollar spot? They look nothing at all similar.

[Steveo]

Hi Bas

Where do you live?

[Bas]

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Hi Bas

Where do you live?

[Helen R]

It sounds like it might be Fusarium Patch Disease which is quite commo in the UK at this time of year. It occurs when the weather is relativel mild and humid and will cause yellow-brown patches to appear. Howeve the mycelium are more like cotton wool or cobwebs than mildew. As fa as I'm aware fungicides aren't available for use on domestic lawns. Th effects can often be short lived and the disease may return again a soon as conditions are suitable. A sharp frost will check the diseas naturally without resorting to using chemicals.

Applying nitrogen will exacerbate the problem, so if you do need t feed then make sure it's an autumn/winter food which is low i nitrogen.

HT

-- Helen R

[Bas]

Thanks Helen.

I think you may have hit the nail on the head.

It`s now improving and a couple of frosts are forcast this week s hopefully that will sort it out.

Thanks to all for your help.

Bas

-- Bas