Help with Centipede grass problem!

Hi everyone,
I live in zone 8b and have a large Centipede lawn. Been told that I may have nemadodes eating away at it. Is there any way to get rid of them , short of replacing the entire lawn?

Master Gardener Jerry Baker says to use 1 Can of beer and 1 cup of molasses. Mix together in a 20 gallon hose end sprayer and spray your yard well. If your yard is very large you may have to mix a second recipe.

Thanks Smokey_SC, At least its worth a try as it seems to be the only think out there right now. Replacing the lawnis the only option...

Smokey, forgot to ask you, How do I get in touch with Master Gardener Jerry Barker?

Smokey--have you actually tried the beer & molasses thing for nematodes and had success with it? I'm personally quite skeptical of a lot of Jerry Baker's garden recipes...while there are often some ingredients that might have some effect mixed in, they often come along with other things like alcohol that aren't good for plants. So in general I think you're better off buying something that was designed for use on plants vs using his homemade concoctions.

ecrane3-I wish there was something that was designed for use to get rid of nematodes, no one sells anything for it. Everything that was available has been taken off the market to the public.
Only commerical farmers seem to be able to get stuff that works.

I personally love Jerry Baker!!!!!!!! I have used many, many of his homemade recipes and LOVE everyone of them! He has helped me many times with his recipes. I have 2 of his books and use them all the time. If you have not used any of his recipes,ecrane3, then maybe you should stick to the things you know something about.

taja, go to ' jerrybaker.com' to order his books and products. Please let me know how things go. Good luck, Smokey

I would go ahead and spray that concoction around and a couple of rains later spread some beneficial nematodes on the grass. And maybe spread some more on the grass after the heat of summer is over. You need to crowd out the bad kind with an overwhelming amount of the good kind.

Smokey--no need to be rude. I do know what I'm talking about--although I've never used Jerry Baker's recipes I'm familiar with them and have personally chosen not to use them because I believe that there are much better ways to accomplish the things that he says his formulas do. My question still is whether you've ever successfully gotten rid of nematodes with the beer & molasses mixture, I think that's a valid question in this case. I'm glad you've had luck with some of his other recipes, as I said there are typically some things that come in with the ingredients in his recipes that can do some good things, but my biggest issue is all the other stuff that comes along for the ride that is not necessarily helpful to your plants and that's why I have decided not to use them in my own garden.

Here are some references with some more information on nematodes--unfortunately as tajataja pointed out there aren't any products that are available to the home gardener, but there are some suggestions in here of cultural practices which may help minimize the damage. Also, these references mention that there are some other things that can cause similar symptoms--have you had your soil tested to determine for sure that you have nematodes, or did someone just look at the symptoms and tell you that's what the problem was? If they're knowledgeable about lawns and have a lot of experience with nematodes then they may very well be right, but it wouldn't hurt to get the test done just in case it's something else.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/document_ng039
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/oldnotes/tg2.htm
http://msucares.com/lawn/lawn/diseases/nematodeshi.html
http://www.grounds-mag.com/mag/grounds_maintenance_enemy_below/

Thanks everyone for the info. Actually, I am getting the soil tested ....getting the kits today . The UF will do it for me. My lawn service checked out the lawn and said it was probably nematodes, but I should get it checked too. So the saga continues......keep you informed.....