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More than Sprout and Pout?

Posted: September 22nd, 2020, 12:59 pm
by umbo514
Hey all, quick history and than Ill discuss my current problem.
Last year, a few spots of my lawn (front and back) died during the summer. I re-seeded mid August with successful germination (TTPR). What I assumed was sprout and pout lasted till winter arrived. Spring came, and they were still stunted at roughly an inch. As expected summer fried them.

Current situation: I again planted TTPR and TTTF in these locations (1.5 sqft). Seed down 8/15 and widespread germination occurred 5/6 days later. 36 days from germination and ¼ of the grass has died and the remaining is at 1 inch in height (I have not cut). When I moved away from watering once a day is when I lost some grass(RI is in a severe drought but I am on well water), so I am back at watering once a day. I did not put starter fertilizer down at seed down. However, I applied 2lbs / k of 10-10-10 at day 30 after germination with efforts to now spoon-feed.

I have been following a soil remediation plan, where I am putting down 10 lbs/k of 10-10-10 monthly. Here is my soil test /plan page: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=24746&p=333287#p333287

I’ve checked underground (no debris) and can push a screwdriver down +6 inches into the ground.

I am realizing this is more than sprout and pout. Problem possibly related to my soil pH? Anyone have any thoughts?

Re: More than Sprout and Pout?

Posted: September 22nd, 2020, 6:25 pm
by andy10917
No specific thoughts here, nut it certainly sounds water related to me. I have no idea why everyone always looks straight to pH (I barely look at it), but that ain't it - you're miles from a troublesome pH.

Re: More than Sprout and Pout?

Posted: September 23rd, 2020, 11:10 am
by BIGDADDY13
Its definitely a water issue. I reseeded my summer mistakes (damn you roundup!) and was seeing some good germination, but the latest dry spell for 3 weeks with nothing has me watering every day again to get it back to where it needs to be. I am just over the RI border in CT so I feel your pain.

Re: More than Sprout and Pout?

Posted: September 23rd, 2020, 10:01 pm
by northeastlawn
Your complaining about 3 weeks, we haven’t had a decent rain since May 😢

This year has me thinking to never give anyone seeding advice if they don’t take watering seriously. Seriously meaning a sprinkler system or at least a semi permanent hose end timer. I just have no faith Mother Nature will get it done by hoping for the best.

Re: More than Sprout and Pout?

Posted: September 24th, 2020, 8:26 am
by umbo514
Thanks for the responses.

Andy, I guess I asked about pH because I know least about how it affects seedlings and mature grasses.

The reason why I did not believe water was the issue because other newly seeded areas have been cut multiple times. But the more I think of it, water has to be the culprit. I will continue with longer and deeper watering sessions for these areas.

Thanks guys for putting me back on track! And lets hope we get some rain this coming Monday!!

Re: More than Sprout and Pout?

Posted: September 24th, 2020, 5:11 pm
by BIGDADDY13
northeastlawn wrote:
September 23rd, 2020, 10:01 pm
Your complaining about 3 weeks, we haven’t had a decent rain since May 😢

This year has me thinking to never give anyone seeding advice if they don’t take watering seriously. Seriously meaning a sprinkler system or at least a semi permanent hose end timer. I just have no faith Mother Nature will get it done by hoping for the best.
Decent rain were back in that time frame too. We have had some showers and one consistent day of drizzle, showers since may. Been brutal...

Re: More than Sprout and Pout?

Posted: September 24th, 2020, 5:52 pm
by andy10917
Your complaining about 3 weeks, we haven’t had a decent rain since May
OK, let's calm this down. This is not a game of "my drought is bigger than your drought". There is one theme here, and it's that if you are relying on natural rainfall to be your only water source in 2020 (in many areas of the country), you got a train wreck for the year, and you should consider yourself very lucky if you escaped with a lawn that is alive.

You may have had 6-7 years in a row of enough rainfall to get through the Summer. Let's face it, in 2020 you paid the piper. Most of us really feel bad for the members that lost a lot of hard work.

There is no reason to rub it in. Have a little compassion for the folks that lost the fruits of their work,,,

Re: More than Sprout and Pout?

Posted: September 24th, 2020, 11:40 pm
by bpgreen
andy10917 wrote:
September 24th, 2020, 5:52 pm
Your complaining about 3 weeks, we haven’t had a decent rain since May
OK, let's calm this down. This is not a game of "my drought is bigger than your drought". There is one theme here, and it's that if you are relying on natural rainfall to be your only water source in 2020 (in many areas of the country), you got a train wreck for the year, and you should consider yourself very lucky if you escaped with a lawn that is alive.

You may have had 6-7 years in a row of enough rainfall to get through the Summer. Let's face it, in 2020 you paid the piper. Most of us really feel bad for the members that lost a lot of hard work.

There is no reason to rub it in. Have a little compassion for the folks that lost the fruits of their work,,,
You're right. It's not a competition.

But if it were, I bet I'd win. :D

Re: More than Sprout and Pout?

Posted: September 25th, 2020, 12:21 pm
by BIGDADDY13
Understood. Tough year and being on well water, a ton of neighbors wells have been running dry. Obviously trying to avoid that as much as possible. Although, we are down 650 ft, don't want to push my luck. I have been babying my front quite a bit and used some compost to hold moisture with good success after I inadvertently killed it this summer... Thankful that the seed has been doing well on light water schedule. Cooler days and nights are helping...