Grass needs sun!

The picture above shows the 7 day forecast for Austin.  The 14 day forecast looks much of the same.  Here are the challenges faced during a weather period like this.

• The grass absorbs sun rays with its leaf surface.  The grass then uses this photosynthetic energy to make and store energy.  No sun, means no energy production.  Their is nothing we as turf grass professionals can apply to the grass to substitute a lack of direct sunlight!
• Cloud cover lowers the photosynthetic energy available.  If their is not enough sunlight to produce shadows, approximately 50% of the usable sunlight is being blocked.
• Fungi is always ready to attach the grass!  All it needs is sustained moisture.
• Grass leaf blades begin to grow more vertical in search for sunlight.  When the grass is mowed, this leads to scalping.  Scalping is the total removal of all the leaf blade.  With no leaf blade, the grass cannot absorb sun to produce energy.  These areas of turf begin to thin out and are more prone to disease.    
• Perfect weather would be 1 inch of rain over a 24 hour period, follow by 6 days of FULL sun.