Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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tsgoodwin23
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Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by tsgoodwin23 » May 24th, 2021, 9:24 pm

10 days ago today, I brought in two dump truck loads of dirt because my lawn was in horrible shape when I moved here. It had about 4-5 inches that needed to be back filled. It was good soil too, rich And black. I planted Bermuda seed from my local seed company. They said 4-8 pounds covers 1000 square foot. I got 27 pounds. The area is around 3700 square foot. I’ve water it lightly and frequently every day since but on the second day, I didn’t realize how fast the soil dries out so it dried out pretty bad.

I woke up to water this morning and saw patches are coming in but it’s not coming in everywhere and it’s not thick.

Image

This was taken tonight where’s it’s the longest and thickest at. Most of it is still nothing though. It’s just coming in nice in a few places. Did I use enough seed or did it die off from the second day when it dried out? Any recommendations?

Watering regimen has been very light but very frequent to keep the soil moist but not soggy ever since.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by MorpheusPA » May 24th, 2021, 10:06 pm

Seed really has to go dry for at least 24 hours to even start to die; that second day only counted if the seed went stone dry for more than a day.

That having been said, I'm seeing evidence of seed that's coming along, but might be a tiny bit too dry (it's sprouting where the water is dumping down from the concrete onto the soil). The rest should be along.

Make sure the seed goes into the overnight hours damp, which would mean it also goes into the early morning hours damp. So far, that seems like what you're doing. First water--about 10 AM to keep it moist, if you can. Second, 2 PM to beat the afternoon heat. Third, 6 PM to redamp for early evening, and the fourth just before sunset. If you only get three, I'd move the second to 3 PM and the third to an hour before sunset.

Bermuda can easily take 2 to 3 weeks to germinate under non-ideal conditions, and conditions are never ideal. So I wouldn't get antsy just yet.

tsgoodwin23
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by tsgoodwin23 » May 24th, 2021, 10:35 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 24th, 2021, 10:06 pm
Seed really has to go dry for at least 24 hours to even start to die; that second day only counted if the seed went stone dry for more than a day.

That having been said, I'm seeing evidence of seed that's coming along, but might be a tiny bit too dry (it's sprouting where the water is dumping down from the concrete onto the soil). The rest should be along.

Make sure the seed goes into the overnight hours damp, which would mean it also goes into the early morning hours damp. So far, that seems like what you're doing. First water--about 10 AM to keep it moist, if you can. Second, 2 PM to beat the afternoon heat. Third, 6 PM to redamp for early evening, and the fourth just before sunset. If you only get three, I'd move the second to 3 PM and the third to an hour before sunset.

Bermuda can easily take 2 to 3 weeks to germinate under non-ideal conditions, and conditions are never ideal. So I wouldn't get antsy just yet.




Glad to hear that about the 24 hour thing. This soil that I got was very fluffy and airy so it dried out super fast. I’m watering it for 10 minutes every 2-3 hours because how fast it dries out. Should I do less watering and water deeper? If I water it more than 10-15 minutes the ground gets mushy and soggy.

tsgoodwin23
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by tsgoodwin23 » May 24th, 2021, 10:43 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 24th, 2021, 10:06 pm
Seed really has to go dry for at least 24 hours to even start to die; that second day only counted if the seed went stone dry for more than a day.

That having been said, I'm seeing evidence of seed that's coming along, but might be a tiny bit too dry (it's sprouting where the water is dumping down from the concrete onto the soil). The rest should be along.

Make sure the seed goes into the overnight hours damp, which would mean it also goes into the early morning hours damp. So far, that seems like what you're doing. First water--about 10 AM to keep it moist, if you can. Second, 2 PM to beat the afternoon heat. Third, 6 PM to redamp for early evening, and the fourth just before sunset. If you only get three, I'd move the second to 3 PM and the third to an hour before sunset.

Bermuda can easily take 2 to 3 weeks to germinate under non-ideal conditions, and conditions are never ideal. So I wouldn't get antsy just yet.


Is this how I reply?

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by MorpheusPA » May 25th, 2021, 1:05 pm

You got the reply correct. :-)

Every 10 min ever 2 to 3 hours really is flawless if you can manage that. It's technically completely overkill, but if that works for you and you can manage it, it's perfect. You want to avoid mushy and soggy; a bit of air in the mix actually is optimal as seed requires both water and oxygen to germinate.

What would be optimal would be a cloudy or drizzly day that's also nice and warm, but...well, the weather isn't being particularly cooperative anywhere in the US right now.

Keep in mind, you usually won't see the initial grass sprout. The embryonic sprout is a tiny little thing that's barely visible for the first few days.


tsgoodwin23
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by tsgoodwin23 » May 25th, 2021, 2:06 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 25th, 2021, 1:05 pm
You got the reply correct. :-)

Every 10 min ever 2 to 3 hours really is flawless if you can manage that. It's technically completely overkill, but if that works for you and you can manage it, it's perfect. You want to avoid mushy and soggy; a bit of air in the mix actually is optimal as seed requires both water and oxygen to germinate.

What would be optimal would be a cloudy or drizzly day that's also nice and warm, but...well, the weather isn't being particularly cooperative anywhere in the US right now.

Keep in mind, you usually won't see the initial grass sprout. The embryonic sprout is a tiny little thing that's barely visible for the first few days.

Good to know! One last question. I’ve actually noticed that some sprouts are like the picture I posted but now there’s a lot of smaller looking grass that’s purple sprouting. Is that two different types of Bermuda?

tsgoodwin23
Posts: 6
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by tsgoodwin23 » May 25th, 2021, 2:20 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 25th, 2021, 1:05 pm
You got the reply correct. :-)

Every 10 min ever 2 to 3 hours really is flawless if you can manage that. It's technically completely overkill, but if that works for you and you can manage it, it's perfect. You want to avoid mushy and soggy; a bit of air in the mix actually is optimal as seed requires both water and oxygen to germinate.

What would be optimal would be a cloudy or drizzly day that's also nice and warm, but...well, the weather isn't being particularly cooperative anywhere in the US right now.

Keep in mind, you usually won't see the initial grass sprout. The embryonic sprout is a tiny little thing that's barely visible for the first few days.

Here’s what I mean by purplish small grass compared to the tall thin bright green. What’s the difference? Is this two different types of grass germinating? I thought the Bermuda grass seed was the y’all bright green pieces but this small purple looking grass is everywhere.

Image

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by MorpheusPA » May 25th, 2021, 7:04 pm

It's hard to tell and I'm not a Bermuda expert. But somebody should be along directly to answer that--although it might be a day or two.

spanky_tn
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by spanky_tn » May 27th, 2021, 11:13 am

The smaller sprouts are bermuda. The taller, faster growing sprouts are something else. What was your source of seed?

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gtnike
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by gtnike » June 17th, 2021, 8:49 am

Any updates?

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Re: Did I put enough grass seed out for my new lawn?

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » July 12th, 2021, 8:17 pm

Sorry I'm late.

You made a mistake seeding and then after seeding. You seeded a month early. Bermuda likes the hottest soil it can get for germination. For example, in Texas bermuda seed hits the shelves in February. You can throw the seed then, but it will be several months before you get decent germination. Or you could wait until mid to late June and it will germinate in 3 days.

After seeding you covered the seed with straw. Did you also bury the seed under some soil? Straw = shade on the soil and seed. Going back 1 paragraph, bermuda seed likes HOT soil. Shading the seed with anything goes against that hot thing that supports quick bermuda germination.

But it IS bermuda. All you need is a few seeds to germinate and you're destined to have a yard full of bermuda.

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