Centipede Grass Insects & Disease

Diseases

• Common diseases of centipede grass include large patch, a fungal disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani, and fairy rings, a disease caused by a number of soil-inhabiting fungi. Large patch frequently appears on grass during the moist, wet weather conditions of spring, summer and fall. The fairy ring disease commonly afflicts centipede grass lawns that are growing poorly. Fairy rings is hard to manage and the best way to control the continually appearing disorder is to replant affected areas with new grass.

Disease Symptoms

• Fairy rings is characterized by the appearance of large dead rings or spots on grass measuring anywhere between 3 to 20 feet in diameter. These spots enlarge gradually over the years and mushrooms often grow at the outer edges of the rings. Large patch disease appears in the form of round, yellow patches on the grass. The grass within the patches dies slowly. The decline of grass becomes rapid during dry weather.

Insects

• Centipede grass lawns are prone to infestation from a number of common grass pests such as white grubs. However the most damaging pest of this grass is the ground pearl, a type of scale insect. There are no effective control strategies to control ground pearl infestation, cites the University of Florida Extension.

Insect Infestation Symptoms

• Ground pearl infest centipede grass roots and feed on the fluids from them. The tiny, round, pink-colored females are about 1/16 inch in diameter. The males are gnat like, few in number and rarely seen. The females are covered in a hard, purple or yellow shell. Damaged grass yellows, browns and dies. Weeds frequently grow in areas affected with ground pearls. White grubs are the larval stage of several insects including the May or June beetles and masked chafers. The pests have six legs, brown heads and range in length between ¼ to 2 inches. White grubs eat grass roots and organic matter in soil. Affected grass wilts, thins and dies in irregular patches. It often takes months of feeding before symptoms are visible. Left uncontrolled, the pests reinfest grass continually.