Mold in Grass

Chasey_Lane

Salt Life
vraiblonde said:
"They" say you're not supposed to water in the evening.
Why are you not supposed to water in the evening? I notice my neighbor will have his sprinkler on at night and into the early morning. His grass is beautiful and full of color!
 
B

Bronwyn

Guest
Chasey_Lane said:
Why are you not supposed to water in the evening? I notice my neighbor will have his sprinkler on at night and into the early morning. His grass is beautiful and full of color!

I guess if you don't have mold in your grass you can water it any time.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Chasey_Lane said:
Why are you not supposed to water in the evening?
Because the water saturates the grass and sits, which encourages mold growth. Or something like that.

"They" also say don't water during the afternoon because the water evaporates and doesn't sink in. Or something like that.

So supposedly you're only supposed to water first thing in the morning, 6am is ideal.
 

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
vraiblonde said:
Because the water saturates the grass and sits, which encourages mold growth. Or something like that.

"They" also say don't water during the afternoon because the water evaporates and doesn't sink in. Or something like that.

So supposedly you're only supposed to water first thing in the morning, 6am is ideal.


With our humidity, watering at night increases the length of time the water sits on the blades...which can cause fungal diseases. Yeah, it rains at night, but not as often as people water their lawns...which could be 3+ times per week.

Watering during the day can cause evaporation, so not all the water you're putting on the lawn goes into the soil. It can also burn the leaves. Watering in the morning is ideal because there's less evaporation, the sun comes up to dry the leaves before any fungi can get growing, and it gets the lazy bums out of bed to start their day! :lol:

You're supposed to water your lawn to a depth of 1" per time (put a cup in the lawn to see how much water is going on). Watering deeply and less frequently is better than watering for short periods of time every day. Watering deeply makes the roots grow deeper into the soil, which gives the grass better ability to take advantage of the water that is already in the soil.
 

itsbob

I bowl overhand
Bronwyn said:
My parents are growing new grass around their house that's being built. They have the straw down with the new grass growing through it. Last night we noticed a five foot by two foot section of the new grass is dying. We looked real close and see a really fuzzy looking mold or fungus. Anyone ever seen this, or know what we can do to keep it from spreading?
Has anyone guessed that the mold/ fungus came out of the hay??

There's a reason the hay/straw is being used for cover and not being fed to animals. The mold/ fungus could be the reason.
 

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
itsbob said:
Has anyone guessed that the mold/ fungus came out of the hay??

There's a reason the hay/straw is being used for cover and not being fed to animals. The mold/ fungus could be the reason.


People use straw for covering lawns...not hay. Straw isn't fed to animals anyways, but it could have been a little moldy. I'm not sure if the straw would have caused it...usually it forms inside the bales where there's darkness and moisture, and no oxygen. It probably would have been killed when they spread it out and the sun had a chance to get to it. :shrug:
 

OldHillcrestGuy

Well-Known Member
itsbob said:
Has anyone guessed that the mold/ fungus came out of the hay??

There's a reason the hay/straw is being used for cover and not being fed to animals. The mold/ fungus could be the reason.

Im beginning to think the same thing that the straw may have contributed to the fungus/mold. After bragging earlier (post #16) about how my grass seed came up in 4 days I am now being overcome by mold, I still have about 70% of good areas and have about a 30% area of bad places.
I have cut back on the watering and have taken as much of the straw off as I could get up. Straw seemed to stay damp all the time and I think contributed to the mold. When I did put the straw down from the bundle and watered it all kinds of spiders were coming out and running across the sidewalks and then I seemed to have alot of crickets jumping out after the spiders disappeared. :confused:
 

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
OldHillcrestGuy said:
Im beginning to think the same thing that the straw may have contributed to the fungus/mold. After bragging earlier (post #16) about how my grass seed came up in 4 days I am now being overcome by mold, I still have about 70% of good areas and have about a 30% area of bad places.
I have cut back on the watering and have taken as much of the straw off as I could get up. Straw seemed to stay damp all the time and I think contributed to the mold. When I did put the straw down from the bundle and watered it all kinds of spiders were coming out and running across the sidewalks and then I seemed to have alot of crickets jumping out after the spiders disappeared. :confused:


What did the straw look like when you spread it out? Was it wet or moldy to begin with?

ETA: Your original post said you are watering 2X/day. Have you tried only watering in the morning so the straw has a chance to dry?
 
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OldHillcrestGuy

Well-Known Member
Straw looked fine, came from Southern States, Charlotte Hall.

I have cut back to once a day watering and trying to get it in the morning
early, like today it was 7am.
Im not sure what to do about the area's that need to be seeded over, thinking maybe I should wait till the mold clears up, and do it in September/October. The grass seed that did come up looks good, I just didnot want to look at plain ole dirt till it got cooler in the fall and then plant grass seed.
 
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