Large or Brown Patch Disease happening now

As we enjoy our coldest time of year in FL it is important to remember to reduce your irrigation. I met with a homeowner yesterday who had a case of Large Patch (Rhizoctonia solani) or sometimes called Brown Patch. His current lawn care company treated the disease with a fungicide which is a good start but failed to get to the cause of the disease and make recommendations on how to avoid the disease. Treating a disease must include getting to the root cause of the disease which 9/10 times is a “cultural practice” issue e.g. irrigation, mowing, fertilizer, stress, etc.

I mentioned to the homeowner that he had the disease/fungus in his lawn and that the damage was done but recovery was possible. We talked about the causes and the treatment for the turf disease. I recommended that he reduce his irrigation to “as needed” this time of year which is 2x or less per week depending on the temperature and rainfall. I told him that I regularly turn off my irrigation at home in the winter because the turf is not growing very much and the best way to kill your lawn is to fertilize and irrigate heavy in the winter.

My advice to prevent this disease is to get a cheap moisture meter and insert it into your soil just a few inches. If the moisture meter pegs out wet then you reduce your irrigation. Let the lawn dry out between waterings. A moisture meter that costs less than $10 can save you thousands on new sod or having to apply costly chemicals (you can also dig down with your hand and feel the soil). When the temperatures drop, its time to stop watering. Shut it off for a week or two. If the temperatures go back up near 80 and it is windy, then you can give the lawn some water if it seems necessary.

Cutting back on irrigation will not get rid of the fungus but will help prevent future outbreaks and reduce the spread of fungus.

Here is an article from UF/IFAS that details the disease and symptoms