I have seen a lot of Florida pest control companies blanket the entire property of the lawns they care for on every visit with the same product over and over again.. This is not a good practice for several reasons. One of the reasons is that the insects being targeted can become resistant to the insecticide and by treating the entire property the good bugs are also being killed. It is best to treat the harmful pest and leave the beneficial insects as they can also keep the bad bugs at acceptable levels.

 It is also better for the environment to only spray insecticides when necessary. Insects can become resistant to pesticides by their continued use. When the insect population is sprayed with a pesticide there will almost always be a couple of the insects that will survive due to genetic makeup or even improper application of insecticide. These surviving insects can have several offspring in a season and many of these offspring will also have developed a resistance to the insecticide. After continued use eventually the entire colony of insects will be resistant and that insecticide will no longer be as effective.

 Another problem that blanket spraying the entire area with pesticide as a preventative measure is that it is also killing many of the benefitial insects. There are over 100,000 different insects in the United States and it has been estimated that less than one percent of these actually harm your lawn or plants. Many of these are called beneficial insects because they naturally keep the populations of the plant damaging insects at lower levels.
   This is an earwig it can consume up to 50 chinch bugs a day and also feeds on sod webworms, small mole crickets and other insects in your yard. As long as they are not getting in your home they do more good than harm

This is the big eyed bug and is often confused with the chinch bug. The big eyed bug does not harm lawns or plants and feeds on chinchbugs, sod webworms and other soft bodied insects on the soil surface.

 This is the ladybeatle larva it feeds on aphids, soft scale, mealy bugs, spider mites and other soft insects. Although it doesnt look like its adult version it is compleatly harmless and good to have around.

This is the adult lady beatle also known as the lady bug. It feeds on many of the insects as its larval stage and can also feeds on nectar and pollen.

There are many more beneficial insects than those listed

It is best to monitor the properties were pest control is performed and use the benefitial insects to help control pest populations when possible by only using pesticides when needed to prevent them from causing damage and only treating the affected areas rather than the entire property and also rotating pesticides with different modes of action so that pesticide resistance is kept at a minimum. For more information or a free estimate in the Orange/Seminole county area contact Promo Lawn & Pest.

A lot of lawns in the Orlando area are not looking as green as they were with the recent frosts we had. This is not the time to apply fertilizer to green them up as nitrogen will push top growth that is tender and more freezing weather can damage this growth. For this time of year it is important to apply potassium which will work on the roots instead of the top growth. The lawns are not dead and will recover once the days get longer and the weather warms. Even though the lawns are not growing on the surface they are alive and well below the soil and adding potassium and any deficient micronutrients will help the lawn overcome further stresses of winter and give the lawn a better start in the spring when active top growth begins. Also damaged plants are best to leave unpruned until warmer days arrive as this can help protect the plants from further damage if more freezing weather arrives.

Brown patch ( Rhizoctonia blight)is a common disease of warm season grasses and is a common disease of st augustine and zoysia grass. This disease is dormant during the summer and becomes active in the fall when temperatures are below 80° F. Brown patch symtoms are usually noticed from November through May.Brown patch will show when weather conditions are warm and moist. The disease is usually triggered by heavy rainfall or excess irrigation causing the grass to stay wet for 48 hours or more. The optimum temperature for this disease is around 72 degrees and doesnt like extreme hot or cold temperatures.

Of all the brown patch outbreaks I have seen this season in the Orlando area, the worst cases were on very wet lawns were the homeowners did not set the irrigation back to one day per week. The fungus infects the leaf area closest to the soil, eventually killing the leaf. A dark rot occurs at the base of the leaf, and leaves can easily be pulled off the stem. This disease will start off as small patches and quickly spread to large areas. You will see an orange-red color of grass if your lawn has brown patch. Over fertilizing can worsen the symptoms. This disease will usually show up every year in the same areas.

To control this disease it is best to turn off the water until the grass shows signs of wilting and avoid use of quick release nitrogen fertilizers when conditions are favorable for disease. It is best to apply preventative fungicide treatments prior to outbreak. Promo Lawn & Pest keeps records of outbreaks so we can do our best to time applications of preventative fungicides to stop symptoms before they begin as well as apply contact(curative) fungicides to already established outbreaks.

 

Watering is a main part of keeping your Central Florida lawn healthy and alive. I have seen irrigation abused as well as neglected. Even with water restrictions I still see a lot of over watering. A lawn full of dollar weed is an indication of to much water. Overwatering can lead to more insects, weeds and diseases and also lead to leaching of pesticides or fertilizers used to treat these lawns. An over watered lawn will have a shallow root system compared to a grass or plant searching for water at much deeper depth, this is why mowing the lawn at a greater height is important.

The suggested amount of water for lawns in Central Florida is 3/4 of an inch. This is the amount of water it takes to wet the top 12 inches of soil. Small cans can be placed in each zone of the irrigated area to see how long it takes to fill the cans with the required amount and set the automatic timer to reflect this.

It is best to use visual appearance to determine watering schedules. The lawn will turn a bluish gray color,  and the grass blades will fold in half. The lawn should show signs that it needs water before irrigating. This will maximize the root depth and along with responsible fertilization will require less maintenance and water. It is beneficial to water deeper and less often as opposed to watering frequently for less time.