Thanks. I'm trying a couple of different techniques. One is just dusting with baking soda. Second is just shampoo at 3 oz/1000 and third is shampoo and dusting of baking soda. I'm hoping it will at least slow the fungus growth down. Seems the last week or 10 days it has really blossomed and I was not quick to react. I've never had a lawn fungus before. Lesson learned I guess.

Hi,

I had what appeared to be fungus on a few patches of dirt where grass hasn't grown yet, which happens occ. when it rains too much. This area is partially shaded by a large Oak tree which makes matters worse. I had some corn gluten left which I had applied earlier this spring. I had read here that corn meal helps fungus so I just threw it down lightly on the white patches last week. The next morning it was GONE. Hasn't come back yet. I didn't even water it in. That's my little experiment. Hope it helps.

Carol

Baking Soda is allegedly the nuclear bomb for fungi, both good and bad. If you have applied this, you will need to add some compost or compost tea to get the good fungi back into your soil.

jc

A little update. Dusting with baking soda was not a good idea. It was too much. While it was effective on the fungus, it also turned the grass a orangish color - not a dead brown, but more orange on all the spots I treated - which was a lot. I'm watering, so we will see if the grass comes back. The baby shampoo area seemed to work right up with no spotting. Since I'm overseeding this fall I'll be adding compost so I'm not too concerned, it will all even out eventually. My lesson learned is to be more thoughtful about the weather effects on the lawn. I knew the hot humid conditions and lots of night time rainfall were ripe for fungal attacks but didn't think enough about that and plan ahead. I probably should have used corn meal or cracked corn this last May instead of alfalfa pellets. Perhaps in my area, adding grains and compost just before a heat and high humidity period is not a good idea either.

I can see where this would be a bit much as any applications I have made consisted of around 2-4 tablespoons diluted into 2 gallons of water and pump sprayed over maybe 1000sqft. You might consider something I tried lately. Get a bag of cracked corn and mix up some finely sifted compost into it along with a little water to keep it humid (not soaked!). Wait about 2 weeks and broadcast it. The cracked corn I had ended up with colorful fungus all over it already (smelled good) so you know it had a good head start to get that fungus into the soil.

i would like to try the shampoo as the milk and cornmeal have not helped the leaf spot on my st. augustine grass...is there a certain time of day to apply and do you rinse it off the grass? bz

I did it in the evening when I had time. Early morning might be ideal, but don't think it matters much. Just used a hose end sprayer at 3 oz per 1000 and let it be.