The cause of these spots may surprise you

Have you ever seen patches like this on Zoysia turf?

Maybe the early stages of an intense large patch outbreak, or elephant’s footprint (Rhizoctonia cerealis) that got out of control? Way out of control?

Actually, these patches on manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) near Bangkok were not caused by any disease.

This slope between a tee and a pond was planted with manilagrass plugs—small chunks of sod. After the grass spread to cover the area between all the plugs, it was mown.

The green leaves were cut off all the plugs, and the green leaves remain in the spaces between the plugs. A few more mows, and maybe a little topdressing, and this turf will have a uniform appearance.