Fungicide: Solid v. Liquid

Like the results of so many poor choices in college, lawn fungus is preventable and often easily curable.

Today, we're talking about which is cheaper to prevent lawn disease outbreaks, liquid or granular fungicide.

Remember when it comes to products that deal with lawn fungus, there is the PREVENTATIVE RATE and the CURATIVE RATE. Those two terms are exactly what they mean. The preventative rate uses less because it prevents any type of outbreak. The curative rate is when you have the lawn disease actively hurting your lawn, so you need more to treat, or cure it.

So let's compare two of the more popular options for fungicide, the granular Scott's DiseaseEX and the liquid Propiconazole. We'll break it down to find out how much it costs to treat 1,000 sq. ft. of lawn.

Scott's DiseaseEX is a widely available granular product that uses azoxystrobin as it's active ingredient. A 10 lb.bag at Home Depot costs $19.47 and will treat 5,000 sq. ft. of lawn at the preventative rate.

Putting in my pocket protector and doing some calculations, that comes out to ($19.47 / 5) $3.89 per 1,000 sq. ft.

Propiconazole is the chemical name for one of the more popular liquid fungicides. You can purchase it on Amazon and other major websites. In early 2020, I purchased 1 gallon (128 fl. oz.) for $81.18 off of Amazon. Depending on the specific disease, treatment using propiconazole can range from .5 fl. oz. per 1,000 sq. ft. to 4 fl. oz per 1,000 sq. ft. However, for this comparison we will be using 1 fl. oz. per 1,000 sq. ft. since that rate applies to treating the more common lawn funguses, fungi....fungusises?

Again, simple math puts it ($81.18 / 128) at $.63 per 1,000 sq. ft.

That means the Scott's DiseaseEX is almost 6 times more expensive per application than the Propiconazole.

It also applies to other granular products. Heritage G is $84.64 for a 10 pound bag that has a preventative rate of 2 pounds per 1,000 sq. ft. That's $5.64 per 1,000 sq. ft.

Eagle 20EW is a liquid. 16 fl. oz. costs $43.76 and can treat 13,000 sq. ft. That's $3.36 per 1,000 sq. ft. Liquid azoxystrobin is $125 for 16. fl. oz., treating up to 42,000 sq. ft. Making it $2.97 per 1,000 sq. ft.

Ok, ok. If you haven't fallen asleep yet, we're almost done. The point is, liquid fungicide is anywhere from 25% to 75% cheaper than granular.

But does cheaper always mean better....

Having to mix and spray chemicals isn't always the easiest, or safest, thing to do. It's also an additional cost having to buy a tank sprayer that's actually worth having. That's at least 200 bucks. Then there's the time factor since you have to wait for a dry, non-windy day to apply. These are items that don't always have an exact dollar amount attached to them.

In the end, if you have a smaller yard, is it really worth saving a few dollars buying liquid? Or if you have a couple of acres, sometimes the only economically feasible way to treat your yard is with liquid. Only you can decide what is right for your grass and wallet. Either way, the kids college fund can wait, we need green grass.