Hi Can someone help me please with brown spots on my lawn that seem to be growing. I have no dogs and the neighbors dogs never come in the back yard. I have pulled up some of the grass to see if there were bugs taking over the lawn and there was none. The only thing that I can think of was I might have over fertilized my lawn, as well i dont need to give the details but every few weeks I was doing some "ironite" treatment. Does any one know if that is the case and I burned the lawn or something else and does anyone know how to treat it?

Thanks

Unexplained brown spots on the yard are nearly always fungal disease. At this point I'm going to assume that you have not been using chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers can burn a lawn but usually not in spots. Circular spots, about 90% of the time, are caused by fungal disease and can be treated successfully with corn meal. Irregular brown spots are often caused by insects but if you have checked for that, then you are pretty much left with fungal disease.

The organic treatment for all fungal disease is to apply ordinary corn meal at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You can get corn meal in bulk at feed stores in 50 pound bags for anywhere from $3 to $9. If it costs more than that, then you are not looking at ordinary corn meal.

Apply it and give it 3 weeks to work. Corn meal works by bringing in a different fungus which acts like a disease on the fungal disease you have. It only affects fungal disease organisms.

_________________
David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum

Thanks for the help so far. The problem I am finding is I cant find and bulk feed I have called 3 different feed stores and not one of them even seem like they have even ever heard of bulk corn meal. Can i just go to the store and buy some and spread it over the brown spots. One thing I did want to clear up was I was using Ironite on my lawn. Thanks again

Cory, I have asked pretty much the same question about corn meal, and the response I got was, that the only difference between horticultural corn meal (the feed store stuff) and good ol store brand corn meal next to the flour and sugar products in you local food maket is that horticultral corn meal is a much coarser grind. Store brand corn meal at Walmart is going for about 50 cents a l lb. bag . I didnt need 50 lbs!!! for my ONE brown spot, so I opted for a good dusting of Aunt Jamima's down home goodness, and used what was left over to coat a mess of cat fish.
Lou Warren

_________________
Have a rocko-socko-bop-o day!!