This looks like insect damage not water related, in my opinion. If this was a watering problem it would not be so spotty with small patches of death.
It could be fungal related but that single stem of Bermuda shows no fungal stress at all.
Plus the grass closest to the stone border looks healthy and it would be the first to show eat stress at that stone will radiate heat long after the ambient temp drops.
If it were my yard I would dig down about 1.5 foot and break up the soil to see if you can find larva or scales.
Can you post close ups of green grass on a border of death.
Another thing, the grass looks anemic so either insects are eating your roots back or you have a serious ph issue with your soil.
Iāll take some of the suggested macro pictures tomorrow and post them.
No, I havenāt had a soil analysis done before.
As a side note: Iām not sure if this is an apples <=> apples comparison, but my winter rye grass was mostly OK. There were some bare patches, but probably due to a few areas where the seed didnāt land or didnāt take (maybe due to the sprinklers).
If the rye grass would be similarly damaged due to soil pests or pH levels, it may be less likely.
@plainsane. What kind of insects can be problematic for lawns? A while back when I was working on my lawn I noticed done termite like insects running around at various points in my lawn. Lately, as I walk through there seem to be little white ones that bounce around when I walk through. I didnāt figure there was a potential for them to be damaging.
Army worms
Nematodes
Grubs
The list goes on, itās very regional specific
You have to research your region and grass type.
Like army worms donāt hit Bermuda, but f cold season grasses to in the a.
I canāt make any claim to a specific insect/parasite based n those pictures. I just know that it is not a watering problem unless that soil is extremely hydrophobic.
Also @AzJazz donāt check soil moisture in a dead spot, there will be none as the tiller canopy is not there to protect from solar radiation. You need to check moisture in a green spot.
I say do the check for bugsā¦ I did and when I dug down, I saw nothingā¦ not even roots So once I ruled that out, I just waited as I let a proper watering schedule do itās thing after some nozzle replacements and catch cup test
Hi, all - I dug around 1 ft. down in a ādeadā area. and I didnāt find any obvious critters in the soil when I broke it up in my fingers. The ground was a bit drier than I expected, since I received at least 0.75" of rain at my house yesterday. The soil fell apart pretty easily and was crumbly. There was a root mesh near the surface as I started digging.
While I didnāt see anything below surface, I did see areas that were totally covered by bunny pellets. Not sure if they are recent or old. We did have a lot of fluffy-tailed visitors during rye grass season. Not as much now, but there is usually one visitor every day or so.
I covered up the (hopefully) last hole in my block wall after chasing a varmint out of the yard.
Here are some shots of the grass near the edge of a dead zone:
Yes, every one of those pictures has rabbit pellets in them! Itās funny that this came up. Just today, I started wondering if I might have a similar issue. I think I might post a separate thread on it, but I did come across this.
I also read that they donāt like all grasses, but Bermuda is one that they do eat. Look out for a separate thread. That will make it easier to reference in the future.
Iām not saying this is your problem, but with that much feces around I wonder if itās a possibility?
I didnāt post any pictures of the bunny nugget carpet. Iāll get that out tomorrow. I thought it would be a fertilizer, so I wasnāt too concerned. Iām assuming that the acidity comes from the urine?
I found this posting, which says that healthy rabbits shouldnāt have crop-dangerous droppings:
@AzJazz Unfortunately I donāt have a clue about the lime. Itās probably worth some research there. As youāre well aware with our extreme heat what applies to other areas of the country might be a bit different here.
What you posted is interesting. I suppose one issue is we donāt know much about the diet of these desert rabbits, other than that I guess we know they eat Bermuda. Iām not sure if you saw it yet, but I started that other thread with more information. It will be easier to reference as a separate thread.
Share with us whatever else you find. Iāll keep looking too. Of course you still have the catch cup test to do, and the insect or fungus potential is still out there.
@AzJazz I found this. It looks like you should pH test first, which you can buy yourself locally, or take a sample to get tested. The link talks about application, which doesnāt seem to be too big of a deal.
Also, I would not do anything to the soil in response to the rabbits. I had tons of nuggets, but with proper watering and mowing, they slowly went away.
@Modawg2k The thing thatās weird here is that @AzJazz already had what seemed like dead on settings for her lawn. @AzJazz, I had the impression that those initial lawn settings you had posted have been running for a while. Is that true? The only thing that would throw things off with regards to watering seems to be uneven coverage or a bad overall pr. The catch cup test will tell us.
So there is no way have a fungus that is attacking the epidermis above soil.
So, we have not seen any real indication of insects, but you state you could not find a root canopy.
This lack of root canopy is troublesome. If the grass was under watered, bermuda will convert its carbs to startches and store them in the root beneath the ryzome then go dormant letting the tillers and blade induce cellitous which makes them crispy and not very noticeable after a week, you would see the stem and sheath still. None of your pictures in my opinion show that.
Help me understand a few things that may be in this thread but lost in the noiseā¦what time do you start watering? Is your awc still at .2? That seems high but not impossible.
I also need you to do something else, and sorry in advance. Dig up a grass section that is not healthy looking. Soak it in some water for a couple of minutes and delicately remove the dirt to expose the roots. Take it out and shoot some pictures. Iām hoping to find black on the ryzome or roots. Im beginning to think this could be Pythium root rot. Maybe Pythium spp.
It would be really cool if you could do this very soon.
Now, after you take the picture, damp a paper towle (not dripping, but like you were going to microwave a biscuit) and place it in the bottom of a Tupperware container. Place what you dug up on top of the towel and close the lid. Put this container outside but not in sunlight. Iām hoping the following morning you have cotton candy in that container.
Hi, @plainsane - Is the root canopy the mesh near the surface that I had to cut through when I was digging up the soil the other day? If so, there was some sort of root canopy in the ādeadā area.
I have attached a snapshot from my latest grass settings. Next watering is scheduled for 12-AUG. Not sure about the upcoming 5 day gap:
I tried taking the capture cup test today. I think I got a āC -ā
I realized that with some areas being hit by two zones, that I didnāt capture everything correctly. I will need to run the test again. FWIW, I ran the sprinklers for 11 minutes (it was supposed to be 10 minutes, but I got back late). The cups ranged from as low as 28 ml up to as high as 70 ml for 11 minutes. The average was probably around 40ish for that time frame.
Iām not entirely sure how to get accurate capture cup readings with some areas getting double-zoned.
Unfortunately, I am leaving town for about a week, and I wonāt be able to run any more tests until I get back.
@plainsane - I will do your suggested turf/root tests when I get back.
Thanks again, everybody, for your great support! My wife and I really appreciate it!
So once I ruled that out, I just waited as I let a proper watering schedule do itās thing after some nozzle replacements and catch cup test
) My catch cup results will be up later today.
