I didn't know anything about a white residue in January, but it wasn't powdery mildew at that time, or at least it surely was not starting at that time. If it was evidence of powdery mildew, it was there from the fall before but still not likely. Powdery mildew may have been present but would not make itself evident until temps and other conditions permit - none in January - but would explain its emergence in spring.

If you had powdery mildew the season before, it is more likely what you saw in January was one of the snow molds - gray snow mold or pink snow mold. The untreated pm disease would have left your lawn open to other diseases it was subjected to, such as that from winter snow molds.

I would say there is no likelihood CGM encouraged powdery mildew. If anything, the Vigoro did in that perhaps you applied too much nitrogen though still not likely unless you really over did it. The natural form, slow release, and rate of conversion to nitrogen of the CGM, as well as the method of conversion would not promote or aggravate lawn disease.

Wondering if you tried the milk solution, baking soda, or anything else that might have been suggested? Wondering also if you took samples to extension service for positive ID? Know that you cannot let it keep multiplying. I have read good results of corn meal efficacy on powdery mildew by Nandina and a couple others. I'm surprised it isn't helping in your case.

Organic Fungicide
Organic Fungicide

I haven't brought it in yet to my local extension. I just sent them a close up/macro picture of PM. I'll try tomorrow or Monday to bring a sample.

Let's wait for a little more days since I put it down April 28. I've read that organic takes 3 to 4 weeks before it takes effect.

I wouldn't be afraid to apply more right now. Couldn't hurt.

I don't have corn meal anymore.

Today, I applied baking soda + baby shampoo using Ortho Dial N Spray on the areas that have those white thingies. I love those Dial N Spray. They're very easy to use. I wish there was something bigger. I also would like to use it for my aerated compost tea(AACT) but I'm not sure how bad the chlorine from the city would be while it is sucking the ACT from the Dial N Spray can. On another forum, they told me it's not good. Either I can use humic acid or put a chlorine filter before the garden hose. However, those chlorine filter are way expensive. I saw one at $42.

I should take pictures of my front lawn again. It's looking great. But of course, I will still overseed this fall. I really would like to have the very dark blueish green blades. :) The seeds you recommended to me are blueish green right?

Yep, they are.
Don't be disappointed in the fall if they don't appear to be. The sowing season can be very misleading. In spring, you will be very pleasantly pleased. You'll wake up one spring morning and there it is. What is even better is that will only be the beginning. As the weeks grow into spring, it gets even darker and bluer every day until probably mid-May. The Midnight types (your Midnight II) are especially slow for spring greenup. That is characteristic and to be expected, but they're still a beautiful dark color in early spring. I am very excited for you and you won't be disappointed. It just doesn't get any better.

I meant to add that your lawn likely won't lose all of its color during winter. It will naturally lose some because it is winter after all and the grass is dormant during that time. But, you should notice a lot more color under the snow than your neighbors LOL.

grin....hehehe....I couldn't wait! What does the Diva do?

Diva's not a whole lot better for spring greenup than Midnight II, but it is also very dark as I explained in that first thread. The really good part about Diva is its resistence to powdery mildew. It exhibits moderate to good resistence of several other diseases, but my main effort was to offset Midnight's vulnerability to pm. Thus, Bedazzled and Diva and was also the reason we shifted weights a little. My only concern after that is your existing grass, which is the reason I suggested we deal with it in the fall. What I want at seeding time is to severely stress your lawn before seeding, so much so as to damage it. Then, we'll manage for the new grass to stress whatever old grass survives even more. Just in case I forget, please remind me we need to discuss methods.

Cool! ;)

Mallory,

I saw another GW member's post and he was very happy with Midnight II, Bedazzled and Moonlight. However, he is in zone 6. So, where does Moonlight shine?

I'm just curious. :)

Thanks,

Ron

"where does Moonlight shine?"
Not funny, Ron :)

Moonlight is another excellent cultivar that performs great in many areas. I didn't check performance in your area because Moonlight is not what I was looking for. While it does exhibit some shade tolerance, my objective was disease protection in your shady conditions. Even though you told me you don't have much shade, powdery mildew was my concern. It didn't surprise me you discovered pm a couple days later.

Moonlight and Diva are genetically similar in that they are of the same genetic family. You get the dark color, generally same leaf width, and other similarities as Moonlight but far superior pm protection with Diva. That is more important since pm is not exclusively a shade disease but is also subject to weather conditions with low light intensity (rainy, cloudy days) and humidity. I wanted to try to protect you every day and added Bedazzled for the same purpose. I have no doubt you will be equally as pleased with your lawn as the other guy (is that Turf Toes?).

I always suggest overseeding every 2 or 3 years to prevent shifting and thereby preventing any loss of wanted traits, such as the pm disease protection or any other traits. This naturally happens over time under normal conditions and happens even though the lawn is well cared for. Some cultivars are inherently stronger than others and exert their muscle, becoming the predominant portion of turf. Among your three cultivars, I can't say which is/are the strongest, but I suspect it would be the Midnight. Can't say why exactly, but it's in your best interest to overseed on a semi-regular basis so as to maintain ratio and your lawn remains proportionately diverse.

If I were to swap anything, it would be Midnight II for Award. Midnight II and Award are also much the same, but Award exhibits a little better shade tolerance. Would you like to consider that?

I couldn't remember why I chose Midnight II. Maybe, because I saw a thread from someone. :)

Well if Award is better, very dark bluish green, better shade tolerance, why not. However, I really don't have much shade in my area. So if we get Award, can it withstand the fullsun well like what happened previously(no rain for more than 3 weeks and full sun too).

I monitored the area the other day specifically the badly affected area and it gets full sun around late 5pm. Could it be that there isn't much air circulation in that corner?

Thanks again! :)

No worries there. Full sun is another name for Kentucky Bluegrass LOL. When it comes to high heat, bluegrasses aren't known to withstand that very well without irrigation, but Award is as heat tolerant as Midnight, which is above high end expectations for bluegrass lawns.

It's up to you on this one. If you decide to go with the Award, purchase Diva from the same supplier I suggested before, but both Award and Bedazzled can be purchased at Pawnee Buttes Seeds 800-782-5947 ask for Glenn. We still want the same ratios by weight. If anything is more than $3.50 per pound, donÂt order it and let me know.

If it was your lawn, which between Award and MII are you going to choose?

I will look at the NTEP table of the 2 later.

Thanks for helping me so much! :)

By the way, just about 30 minutes ago. I conducted a massacre on the 3 ft foxtail grass. The length was around 150' of foxtail grasses. I took somepictures too. I hope it won't come back. I left like half an inch only.

Here is an update of my lawn. It's getting better. However, it's not as dark as I want but it could be due to the type of grass installed. Anyways, it's going away by August.

Also, the foxtail I cut were 3 ft tall. Some are higher. I can see a full fox tail. I got worried that it might get blown by the wind to my lawn. So I slaughtered it this afternoon.

{{gwi:1102520}}

{{gwi:101715}}

Smart thing to do. I'm wondering how you did it. Did you dig them up or chop them down?

Something I've wondered for a while is why your pictures are dark. Not necessarily dark but seldom bright with the exception of one or two. It's like you take them at dusk. So what I wonder is if you guys have been under much cloud cover for the past few weeks? Or do you take them late in the day?

I meant to tell you what a nice house you have. Grass isn't bad either. I can understand wanting it darker though.

"If it was your lawn, which between Award and MII are you going to choose?"

Have you noticed I'm afraid to answer???????????? LOL
Award and Midnight II perform much the same in your area based on LSD cushion. My dilemna is wanting the shade tolerance of Award against the possibility of better protection from other diseases MII may have since it is a recently improved cultivar. I'm leaning to Award but will have to research some more. I'm wondering what diseases may be most prevalent in your area but not sure I can find out. We'll see. hhmmmmm I just thought of the probability you don't really have to worry with your organic program. Will have to weigh that as well.

Yep, I took the shots around 6pm yesterday. The first picture I posted last April 5 was taken 7am. I think, I should do that since sunlight is right in front of the house.

Sure, if you find more information about Award and MII, that would be really great. So for now, we'll just have to enjoy the beauty of rest of the hot weather which is like 4 months to go. :)

Thank you very much!

"Award and Midnight II perform much the same in your area based on LSD cushion. "

What's an LSD cushion? Sounds a little psychedelic to me.

Hey, BP
LSD stands for Least Significant Difference
and refers to the statistical separation of results.

Taking the mean values of both cultivars, Midnight II rates higher than Award but based on the LSD value, the difference is negligible and there is really no difference at all.

Mean Values
Midnight II = 7.1
Award = 5.8
Difference = 1.3
LSD = 1.8

Hi Mallory,

I did some research and here is a table I came up with.

DIVA
- Dark green
- Excellent traffic
- Excellent drought tolerance

Award
- Intensely dark green(ummmmh, I love dark green)
- Excellent traffic
- Good drought tolerance

Midnight II
- Very dark green
- Excellent traffic
- Good drought tolerance

Bedazzled
- lush green(I need some help here. I don't know how a lush green looks like)
- powdery mildew resistant

Between Award and MII, looks like I'm going with Award. Now, I just need to decide what percentage I want to go with. I like the Diva's excelent traffic and drought tolerance as well as Award's excellent traffic. I didn't get much information about Bedazzled.

So, help me guys with the percentage. Is this a good ratio?

40% DIVA
30% Bedazzled
30% Award

However, my left brain is telling me to increase the percentage on the Award for better darker lawn. But my right brain is telling me to keep DIVA with the highest percentage due to water usage. HEHEHE! LOL.

Regarding Glenn of Pawnee Buttes Seeds. How do you want me to talk to him? Do I mention your name? What about the other stores that you gave to me previously like the Willians and Des Moines?

40% Diva
40% Bedazzled
20% Award
Same ratio as before

I didn't tell Glenn my name I don't think, but I did tell him to expect your call. I haven't done much legwork this year, so I don't know the current lists. I went off a list I compiled a couple years ago and Des Moines is the only one that sells Diva. Williams sells Midnight II and Bedazzled, so I suggested purchasing those from them. But, changing to Award, Willams doesn't sell that, so switch to Pawnee Buttes for Award and Bedazzled.