[SJ Lawn]

How does the application(s) of fungicides affect the health of the soil ?

Are the beneficial soil microbes harmed too ?

 

[social port]

Fungicides can treat destructive diseases such as brown patch, but they also harm good fungi.
This is one argument, along with cost, for not using fungicides, either at preventative or curative rates.

 

[ericgautier]

Try biofungicides.

 

[SJ Lawn]

Try biofungicides.

How effective has Serenade been for you ?

 

[ericgautier]

How effective has Serenade been for you ?

I've been happy with Serenade the past 2 years but applying it every 10-14 days gets tiring. :lol: This year I plan to mix it up a bit. I still plan to use Serenade but also plan to use/add synthetic to the mix. IE: applied Azoxystrobin this morning since it was too wet for Serenade the past few days. I'll probably spray Serenade as soon as the lawn dries out this week though.

 

[pennstater2005]

Can you spot spray fungicides? I have brown patch only in a few spots.

 

[ericgautier]

Can you spot spray fungicides? I have brown patch only in a few spots.

I don't see why not. Only thing would be the amount for spot spraying. Most will have a per 1000 sq ft rate.

 

[pennstater2005]

Can you spot spray fungicides? I have brown patch only in a few spots.

I don't see why not. Only thing would be the amount for spot spraying. Most will have a per 1000 sq ft rate.

I suppose I could mix at the 1k rate and spot spray and then spray out leftovers uniformly over any area.

 

[Jconnelly6b]

Can you spot spray fungicides? I have brown patch only in a few spots.

I don't see why not. Only thing would be the amount for spot spraying. Most will have a per 1000 sq ft rate.

I suppose I could mix at the 1k rate and spot spray and then spray out leftovers uniformly over any area.

That's exactly what I did 2 weeks ago, and the grass is still alive.

 

[pennstater2005]

To the OPs question from the few academic journals I've been able to read, some limited due to subscription requirements, it appears that in a fair amount of the studies the fungicide applications do affect soil microbes amongst other things.

I think that's why many use biofungicides as noted above and something I plan to look into as well.

I found this useful recently:

https://turfdisease.osu.edu/sites/turfdisease/files/imce/Fungicide%20chart%2012918.pdf

 

[SJ Lawn]

Thanks for the replies ! I am seeing some disease pressure in my street due to cloudy, wet weather and lack of extended sun the past 4 weeks. I finally had some decent sun on Tuesday. The clouds came back yesterday and are here to stay with occasional rain for the next 5 days according to the weather forecast.

I did use some Serenade last year but not sure how effective it was for my lawn. I also used TKO phosphite for guarding against Pythium. The TKO phosphite appeared to help as a preventative measure. The severity was less last year.

I am trying Holganix products this year that promote growth of beneficial microbes in the soil.

 

[Powhatan]

I am trying Holganix products this year that promote growth of beneficial microbes in the soil.

Intresting, hadn't heard of Hoganix ProBiotic Fertilizer

 

[social port]

@Powhatan me either. Thanks for the link.

 

[SJ Lawn]

Will a foliar app be less harmful than a watered in granular product ? Would like to have a fungicide on hand in case of a brown patch issue with the TTTF portion of my lawn.

I am currently using Holganix Lawn (needs to be refridgerated to keep the microbes dormant) that adds beneficial soil micobes to improve soil health. Their line of Bio 800 products has received a lot of positive testimonials from commercial users.