White frosting on Garden Grass

[Tofanator]

Hi Gardeners

Can anyone help me treat and identify this weird white substance that has appeared on our garden grass?
Thought it was a fungus and have treated it with an anti fungal spray but it doesn't appear to be helping.
Thanks

 

[Meadowlark]

Welcome @Tofanator!

That looks to me to be powdery mildew. It commonly shows up on grass that is in a shady spot, has limited air flow, and/or has had too much synthetic nitrogen thrown at it.

Sunshine is the best cure I'm aware of. More sunshine on it definitely helps...as does more airflow...maybe trim some limbs, remove shade, open it up where possible. Cut back on Nitrogen.

I've also heard that watering early and allowing the plants to dry out during the day can help.

 

[Tofanator]

Thanks Meadowlark, They are in direct sunshine for the entire day but the nitrogen and a good prune are excellent suggestions thanks!

 

[YumYum]

They look too 3 dimensional to me. Could be scale insects. Can't zoom in good enough to tell.

 

[Tofanator]

They look too 3 dimensional to me. Could be scale insects. Can't zoom in good enough to tell.

It is super flat almost like spray paint. When you wipe it off you can smear it between your fingers. Quite weird

 

[YumYum]

Let @Chuck look at it. He knows more about scale. I've never had any that I know of. Spray them with neem oil "I believe". The bodies may remain after death but won't spread any more. Tougher than John Wayne toilet paper.

 

[redback]

Hi Gardeners

Can anyone help me treat and identify this weird white substance that has appeared on our garden grass?
Thought it was a fungus and have treated it with an anti fungal spray but it doesn't appear to be helping.
Thanks

welcome Tofanator,
it could be powdery mildew. You've had a lot of rain there. Try your phone's camera - on the home page there is a G for google with a microphone and camera symbol. Use the camera to get a photo and wait for the ID to come through. I'm no good at ID ing disease so I use that.

 

[Tofanator]

 

[Tofanator]

welcome Tofanator,
it could be powdery mildew. You've had a lot of rain there. Try your phone's camera - on the home page there is a G for google with a microphone and camera symbol. Use the camera to get a photo and wait for the ID to come through. I'm no good at ID ing disease so I use that.

Have uploaded a better pic very very close up. Almost looks like tiny bugs

 

[redback]

Powdery Mildew. Cut off the affected leaves and spray with 1 milk : 5 water tomorrow morning. Keep spraying until it disappears.
I would relocate it to a breezier position.

 

[Chuck]

IMO this is a wax scale in the crawler stage. You can see the brown covers that are mature scale insects. They resemble the shape of a turtle. All of that white stuff will go away and these little brown turtle shaped things will remain, sucking the life out of whatever they are attached to. The best way to kill scale is to smother it. Use Neem or Horticultural Oil every 7-10 days for a month.