Wet weather during the hot summer or cooler winter months can cause disease problems for our lawns and shrubs.
Fungus spreads rapidly when you have free water on leaf surfaces for too many hours. The morning, evening and early night showers of summer wet plants and lawns going into the night and the cooler winter weather lessens evaporation both of which allow plants and soil to remain wet longer. That means you should water less during the cooler winter months than you do during the hot spring and summer months, once a week as opposed to two or three times a week. I often say winter is a great time of year to save on those water budgets. We all definitely saved water this summer with all of the rain we have had.
Brown patch is a common disease of turf grass affecting both St. Augustine and Bahia. In Southwest Florida it is mainly a fall and winter disease but can also occur in the summer months. Grass blades may be killed in a few hours by this fungus. It infects the blade nearest the soil and disrupts transport of water and nutrients to the upper portions of the blade which then die rapidly. The first symptom of the disease is yellowing or chlorosis of the blades. The affected blades dry and turn various shades of reddish brown to straw brown…