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badhabit40366

Is it too late to sow bermudagrass seed

badhabit40366
10 years ago

I am wondering if its too late in the season to put down some Bermuda seed this week? I bought the seed earlier this season with the intention of getting it down about two months ago,but other issues forced me to put it off.Would like to use this seed to improve stand of grass in my front yard(previously seeded) and I don't want to sit on 100 pounds of seed trying to go the "dormant" seeding route.Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Comments (26)

  • texas_weed
    10 years ago

    Bit to late. Is the area prepared yet? Fall will be early this year.

    This post was edited by texas-weed on Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 18:41

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the reply Texas-Weed, yes the area is ready to go been scalped and bagged ,spiked aerated,amendments added . I was hoping to get it all done so ive been burning the candle all weekend.

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I guess I should add that I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the dropping the seed to soil about the same time you were composing your reply. So I reckon ill just have to cross my fingers and hope the weather holds up for me .

  • dchall_san_antonio
    10 years ago

    Please keep us informed how it goes.

  • apundt-tx
    10 years ago

    Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on
    Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 18:40

    Bit to late. Is the area prepared yet? Fall will be early this year.

    Interested in signs of an early fall. hard to imagine with this 100 degree heat we are having now but I do see baby acorns starting early on some of my oak trees. Your comment peeked my interest and I could not find anything online about signs of an early fall. Please educate we with some of your wisdom.

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Will post info on how it fares over the next few months.I can definitely say it is super hot here ...as if making up for over a month of rain every day kinda hot. Out in the back yard today spraying using the riding mower and lost 10lbs of sweat.The area I put the seed in is being irrigated 4x a day for 8min over the three zones 1000 1245 1500 and 1830.Been home all day so I came up with this by monitoring moisture throughout day in seed bed.

    Thanks

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Rained really good last night ,wondering how much of the seed and sand is still in relatively in place .Nothing like mother nature watering for ya !

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Rain doesn't appear to have washed out all of the seed from what I can see in the totally bare areas...fingers crossed.

  • neilaz
    10 years ago

    The problem with doing it late would be if you don't have something like 100-120 days until frost then you risk a higher % of the Bermuda not surviving the winter.

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Gotcha,on that neilaz, I should explain that im not working from hopeless stand just had areas from where crabgrass was killed that weren't filling in fast enough for my liking. It is truly amazing to see how quick grass is recovering from the double scalping it got last week.I guess the truth of it is that I had a "good" excuse to buy a better variety of seed to try and improve the "asthetics".

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    OK, it has been 8 days since the seed was sown...Sooo,am I crazy or are these seedlings im seeing in the thin areas???

  • dchall_san_antonio
    10 years ago

    Those are what you're looking for.

  • texas_weed
    10 years ago

    Sooo,am I crazy or are these seedlings im seeing in the thin areas???

    No you are not crazy. that is Bermuda seedlings. It takes 7 to 10 days to germinate, so at 8 days you should see signs of life.

    Now the race is on to the first frost.

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Mon, Aug 5, 13 at 23:13
    Sooo,am I crazy or are these seedlings im seeing in the thin areas???
    No you are not crazy. that is Bermuda seedlings. It takes 7 to 10 days to germinate, so at 8 days you should see signs of life.

    Now the race is on to the first frost.

    Crossing my fingers and hoping for success!

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Ok so 2 week point is tomorrow and seedlings are looking good ...along with great spreading from grass already there. The Bad...weeds germinating like crazy because of the daily light watering for the seedlings.Would now be a good time to decrease frequency of water and go a little longer??

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    This is a pic of the same area shown earlier in thread after 2 weeks.

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    More rain ,almost an entire weeks worth ,ground is fairly well saturated .The seedlings seem to be OK but it seems that the existing grass is still spreading at a good rate to help cover the bare areas. Seems that maybe i should have been more patient and just let it do its thing,especially seeing the crabgrass explosion Im dealing with now! Photo is from area that was almost totally bare when thread was started.

  • lou_spicewood_tx
    10 years ago

    I wonder if seaweed spray would help against light frost?

    Yes cut back on watering frequency and water more deeply but it looks like you're getting plenty of rain?

    Have you fertilized?

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Posted by lou_midlothian_tx z8 DFW, Tx (My Page) on Mon, Aug 19, 13 at 19:29
    I wonder if seaweed spray would help against light frost?
    Yes cut back on watering frequency and water more deeply but it looks like you're getting plenty of rain?

    Have you fertilized?

    Irrigation been off since 8/12 we are getting quite a lot of rain every day for a week. fertilizer went down 8/13 while i was getting a light drizzle before the daily soaking.

  • lou_spicewood_tx
    10 years ago

    Your grass should grow a lot as long as weather stays warm for a few weeks. When does your area get first freeze of the year?

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Posted by lou_midlothian_tx z8 DFW, Tx (My Page) on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 8:23
    Your grass should grow a lot as long as weather stays warm for a few weeks. When does your area get first freeze of the year?

    I wouldnt normally expect to see grass go dormant before November if last few years are any indication at all. Last year it didnt happen until around first week in December.Historically I would bet on the middle of November before looking for a light/medium freeze.

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    As a follow-up of sorts to anyone looking to improve density and fill in of bare areas I would have to say that if there is a fairly strong stand available it is probably better route to strictly follow good care practices and allow present plants to spread into affected areas.Just from my experience the last few weeks the runners are filling in much faster than expected and will probably adversely affect seedlings for a while by limiting sunlight . Second, the aeration done previously followed by a long period of daily rains have given weeds(especially crabgrass) a new lease on life;I have easily spent 4hours every day for the past three weeks pulling weeds with no shortage of candidates.

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    My seed is at the 41 day mark and all seems well, fertilized it today and its been cut at one inch about 8 times in the past 24 days or so . Spread out 150 lbs. of alfalfa pellets 4 days ago onto the area hoping to improve soil structure and augment fertilizer just a little bit. The best price I'm finding on the alfalfa is about $20.00 per bag, so I'm wondering where are you guys buying yours ?Also wondering about hog "finishing feed" 13% crude protein, would the grains in that or cracked corn be ok to use? I can get 50lb bags of those for $13.00 .

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    more pics

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    pic

  • badhabit40366
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    yet another