Red Thread Outbreak (Lawn)
Duggyfresh
Posts: 28
Hi -
New lawn laid last summer is establishing nicely now, and I'm getting to grips with a regular mowing, feeding, watering regime. I've even keeping on top of the dogs urine patches!
Obviously with Covid (and the early heatwave) I've had time to prep for summer - this has involved light scarification, regular aeration, overseeding and fertilisation - which has resulted in a really nice, weed free shag pile carpet of a utility lawn for the kids and dog . . .
At the beginning of June I applied a Nitrogen High Summer feed of 20-10-10 at 35g per sqm and with the sun / rain it absolutely flew - all the dog patch green rings disappeared quickly and its required cutting (high height) every 2-3 days . . . perfect!
HOWEVER - last couple of weeks has seen an infestation of red blotchy patches - they started off small and I didn't really notice them however they are now pretty much everywhere - its definitely red thread. You cant see them when viewing the garden from the house (lawn is still greener than the neighbours efforts!) but they are noticeable when walking on the grass . . .worried about pink blotches spreading any further.
Looking at the RHS site it recommends applying a Nitrogen High Sulphate of Amonia 21-0-0 at a low dose (15g per sqm) however as above I only applied the Summer feed 3 weeks ago is this a good idea? The garden soil is generally good but has a highish clay content and does retain moisture. I did apply a 70/30 sand soil topdressing in the spring which I believe has helped with all the rain but I've also been getting a lot of mushrooms which may point to something?
Should I . . .
a) Stick with current mowing height / regime and apply Sulphate of Amonia
b) Stick with current mowing height / regime and just apply another (lighter 15g per sqm) dose of my previous summer fertilizer
c) Cut the grass a lot shorter (to remove / cut out the red thread layer) prior to doing either of the above, let it recover & re-grow to current height
d) Do nothing and carry on with my current mowing maintenance regime, hoping that the summer / nature will eventually kill it off
HELP! Cheers Chris
New lawn laid last summer is establishing nicely now, and I'm getting to grips with a regular mowing, feeding, watering regime. I've even keeping on top of the dogs urine patches!
Obviously with Covid (and the early heatwave) I've had time to prep for summer - this has involved light scarification, regular aeration, overseeding and fertilisation - which has resulted in a really nice, weed free shag pile carpet of a utility lawn for the kids and dog . . .
At the beginning of June I applied a Nitrogen High Summer feed of 20-10-10 at 35g per sqm and with the sun / rain it absolutely flew - all the dog patch green rings disappeared quickly and its required cutting (high height) every 2-3 days . . . perfect!
HOWEVER - last couple of weeks has seen an infestation of red blotchy patches - they started off small and I didn't really notice them however they are now pretty much everywhere - its definitely red thread. You cant see them when viewing the garden from the house (lawn is still greener than the neighbours efforts!) but they are noticeable when walking on the grass . . .worried about pink blotches spreading any further.
Looking at the RHS site it recommends applying a Nitrogen High Sulphate of Amonia 21-0-0 at a low dose (15g per sqm) however as above I only applied the Summer feed 3 weeks ago is this a good idea? The garden soil is generally good but has a highish clay content and does retain moisture. I did apply a 70/30 sand soil topdressing in the spring which I believe has helped with all the rain but I've also been getting a lot of mushrooms which may point to something?
Should I . . .
a) Stick with current mowing height / regime and apply Sulphate of Amonia
b) Stick with current mowing height / regime and just apply another (lighter 15g per sqm) dose of my previous summer fertilizer
c) Cut the grass a lot shorter (to remove / cut out the red thread layer) prior to doing either of the above, let it recover & re-grow to current height
d) Do nothing and carry on with my current mowing maintenance regime, hoping that the summer / nature will eventually kill it off
HELP! Cheers Chris
0
Posts
Pls advise how to resolve...cheers
This is worth a read-
https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/topic/pests-diseases/red-thread-pink-patch
I now seem to be winning... .I cut the grass short and hand raked the worst affected areas a couple of times and continued to mow short. Then applied Nitrogen only (21-0-0) fertilzer at low rate (15g per sqm) and this seems to be working....have 'watered in' in the mornings initially but am now letting natural rainfall do it's job....have cut at usual higher summer setting a couple of times now and new grass growth seems to be pushing it out.......
Never knew a lawn would need this effort! Any tips on preventive measures for next season?