# Army worms and brown leaves on Bermudagrass



## 69zfarmer (Jun 17, 2012)

I have 16 acres of newly planted Bermudagrass in north Alabama.The field has really done well with all the rain we have been blessed with.I was talking to a guy that works at my local Co-op and he told me he just sprayed his bermudagrass for army worms.I went and looked at mine and found alot of worms in mine as shown in picture.I am going to cut mine for hay since it is ready.It is very wet since it rained 1 1/2" yesterday and they are calling for a 60% chance on friday.Am i in danger of alot of damage from the armyworms soon?
I have alot of brown tops in my Bermuda grass also shown in pictures.I sprayed it with herbicide 3 weeks ago.Is the brown tops from that?


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Brown tops are most likely a result of the army worms. Although several things could be causing that, ph being one as well. Soil test? The field looks real good for newly established, did you sprig in may? Btw what type of hybrid is that, kinda looks like a tift? Hard to tell on that green gator, anyways spray with sevin for quick kill, dimillin for longer residual, just takes time as it's a growth inhibitor. Two dilemmas, if you spray sevin, before you bale you are sure to smell it in the bales, unless a bit of time has passed, I've never noticed a smell with dimillin, may be.... not sure. dimillin is about 17 an acre I believe, not sure on 7, good luck


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## fredro (May 12, 2012)

like dimilin also tracer is good by product of beer both are good low rate if worms are small


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## 69zfarmer (Jun 17, 2012)

[sub]I growed my own seed grass from Vaughn's #1.I planted clippings in early june.If anything PH shoul be low since i put 1.5 tons of lime on when i planted.I did a soil sample and fertilized as required.So the brown tops are from armyworms?Do armworms start from the top and work there way down?I am new to this Bermuda grass thing.[/sub]


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

I looks a lot like my limpo grass. I'll be looking closer at it this morning.


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## jdm13 (Jun 23, 2011)

you have about the worst case scenario with the worms and rain the worms will eat until there is nothing left so yes you need to get them off as soon as possible and spraying them should cost you 5 to dollars an acre but it is a must unless you dont mind getting the hay wet if you cut it now its a toss up on which way to go if the worms are 3/8" to 1/2" they are just getting started if they are 1" plus they have been there awhile just gives you a idea how long you have had them and mark your calendar in 21 days you will have them again until it gets cold


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## scrapiron (Mar 10, 2010)

You have a choice, spray or cut ! They will eat the field bare. Bad armyworm infestation. You may want to give the sprayer a tuneup, as you will need it about every 3 weeks ,when the eggs hatch, until it freezes in the winter. You may also have a spring infestation next year.

scrapiron


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

One more thing to check, obviously you have to spray for the worms, they ain't going away by themselves, although the white cow birds will try to eat em all, they can't. If you see them birds it's a sure fire sign you better go check your field. Oh, the other thing I would look closely at with the brown tops; do you see a small, like 1mm, white maggot on any of those leaves? Might be Bermuda stem maggot that is turning leaves brown, you will see the maggot and it will attach at the tops and kill them. Cutting is probably the best, they may disappear by next cutting, they like fine bladed grass like Alicia, and t44. You can spray a pyrethroid after cutting, baling, and another after bout 14 days, or just cut and hope. Damage is usually not real bad, usually not enuf to offset the cost of the chemicals. And again dimillion is the ticket for army worms, I believe someone posted about a generic (maybe) it's a growth inhibitor that breaks the cycle by preventing them from growing an exoskeleton, very good residual. Good luck


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## jdhayboy (Aug 20, 2010)

Google Bermuda grass stem maggot. Look at pics of adult flies. Then look in ur field. If uve cut check ur fence lines they will be in the tall grass there. I had same thing happen after spraying weed killer. I've spoke with university of Georgia about them last week. . Unfortunately much is still unknown about the fly. They are running trials on what may be the best way to handle them. From what I know there is no way as of right now to totally eradicate them completely. And Right now, there are no chemicals labeled to combat them. But as of right now the best approach seems to be to try to kind of break their life cycle by making two spraying applications at half of the full rate recommended by maker of the chemical. Mustang is a pesticide recommended. All of this recommendations are still experimental. So try at ur own risk. But it was suggested to spray after cutting and then 7-10 days later again to try get more emerging adults.


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