What’s up with my grass? Turned brown all of a sudden..

Sod Webworms
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Get talstar and a backpack.

Sod worms are terrible this year. Maybe the warm winter? Idk

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Sod worms are terrible this year. Maybe the warm winter? Idk

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Listening to Dan Gill’s (retired LSU Ag Center consumer horticulturist extension agent) WWL Gardening Show radio program this past weekend, he stated in his 30+ year career sod worms could expected to be a problem once every several years, but they’ve been a problem annually for the past few years, and though they are not sure of the cause(s), he stated it looks to him that homeowners are now going to have expect annual issues and lawn treatment to mitigate the sod web worm problem.

Yes but why? Don’t let them destroy your lawn if you’ve worked hard to make it look nice. Talstar and wisdom are cheap. Get it, use it, kill them.

That’s a very good article posted by craw.

It’s not the moths. It’s the larva that is eating the grass. Moths can fly their asses off all they want but Talstar has 30 day residual. The moths little shithead babies will die. More expensive but a 90 day residual is suspend polyzone.

I sprayed talstar 3 times since May and afternoon the hurricanes pushed through had the worst sod web worms I’ve ever seen. Not sure if the rain rinse it all away repeatedly all summer or what. The talstar definitely killed the moths almost overnight each time, but they kept coming back. The residual effect just didn’t last long at all.

I’ve throw down some grub killing granules so hopefully that nukes then for good.

Couple more sections from the sod webworm article written by Dan Gil.

“ CONTROL OPTIONS FOR TROPICAL SOD WEBWORM
To make sure the eggs have hatched (the insecticides are not effective on the eggs), you need to wait for the first signs of damage to appear before treatment (don’t treat the moths). When you see damage appearing in the lawn, treat as soon as possible. A variety of insecticides are effective. Follow label directions carefully.

Spinosad (an organic insecticide) – Monterey Organic Garden Insect Spray; Ferti-lome Borer, Bagworm, Tent Caterpillar and Leafminer Spray; Green Light Spinosad Lawn and Garden Spray; Dow Spinosad Home and Garden, Success Naturalyte, Bonide Captain Jack’s Deadbug Brew and other brands.

Bifenthrin (a pyrethroid) – Talstar; Bifenthrin, Ortho Home Defense and other brands.

Acephate (systemic) – Acephate; Orthene and other brands.

Carbaryl – Carbaryl, Sevin “

“ TROPICAL SOD WEBWORM LIFE CYCLE
Moths are 0.5 to 0.75 inches long and have snout like projections on their heads. You see the moths fluttering over the turf and in bed areas nearby. This short-lived moth does not feed on the turf, and we do not spray insecticides to try and control them. But, the adults are responsible for laying eggs in the lawn grass that will hatch into grass eating caterpillars.

The eggs hatch in 7 to 10 days and the larvae begin feeding on the turf. The larvae (worms) can get up to 1 inch long and are light green to gray green with dark spots on their body. There is no characteristic inverted Y shape on the head of webworms like you see with armyworms, another caterpillar that feeds on Louisiana lawns.

The tropical sod webworm completes its development from egg to moth emergence in 5 to 6 weeks. The species overwinters as larvae in the soil. We could get 3 to 4 generations in a season. “

Do sod webworms not harm bermuda? I had a pretty patch of st. augustine that took a hit while bermuda right next to it looks perfectly fine.

Yesterday morning I went outside and looked at the grass real close, and yep, I saw many tiny green worms in the grass.

Treated the lawn last night.

Those little pests work fast. Literally turned the grass brown in a couple days.

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Do sod webworms not harm bermuda? I had a pretty patch of st. augustine that took a hit while bermuda right next to it looks perfectly fine.

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I had the same but with st aug and centipede. They certainly prefer the st aug.