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chanbr

Watering new grass from seed

chanbr
11 years ago

I am getting new grass from the seed. I water it when I get home around 6 pm. I then water it again before I leave the house in the morning around 5:30 am. Am I watering the grass too much or it's okay the way I am doing it? I also read somewhere that it's better to water grass in the morning than at night. True?

Thanks,

Brian

Comments (10)

  • grass1950
    11 years ago

    Opinions on when to water or not water, morning, afternoons ornight are all over the place. As there is some opinion that night watering cna promote disease, I'd avoid it unless it means not watering at all.
    Seed and young sprouting grass need to be kept moist. Twice a day until the spouts are a week old would be reasonable, then drop to every other day for a week, then twice a week for about 1/2" of water per app. Keep a close eye on it, you don't want it to get stressed. Increase applications if it's hot and dry, decrease if cool and rain. After the third mowing, water as needed--for instance once a week for an inch of water.

  • tiemco
    11 years ago

    Personally I don't like your watering schedule for new seed since the time between the first watering and the last of the day is very long, and on a sunny, dry day the seed runs the risk of drying out. I would rather see something along the lines of light waterings at 8 AM, 12 PM, and 4 PM to ensure everything stays moist. If work is an issue then you need to invest in a watering timer.

  • Mr_Brown_Thumb
    11 years ago

    I watered mine in the morning and again when I get home from work. I covered it with straw to hold the warmth and moisture in the soil and it worked just fine. If you're home all day and can devote the time, water it three times a day. The goal is to keep the seeds moist.

  • grass1950
    11 years ago

    Although a lot will depend on the weather and temperatures, for some reason I thought the OP was in the Great Lakes area and getting high temps in the mid to high 50s. tiemco has the better advice for getting improved germination results in most any conditions.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    11 years ago

    Where are you in California?

  • chanbr
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Temple City, 25 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

  • lageese
    11 years ago

    If the seed is planted in early October (in Illinois), for how long should the watering schedule be maintained? How about sod? We have some of both.

  • Mr_Brown_Thumb
    11 years ago

    Untill the sod takes root into the soil. For the seed, if it's fescue, water it until the average temps get below 50 degrees. It will go dormant at that point and additional watering will be pointless. Then, cross your fingers that the seedlings are established enough to survive the winter...

  • dchall_san_antonio
    11 years ago

    Thanks for being precise. I spent plenty of time in El Monte, so I have an idea about your climate. You're in a much nicer area. You are out of the coastal morning fog zone, so that's an issue we don't have to deal with. What kind of seed did you put down? I think we are assuming you used fescue, but if you used bermuda, then there are other considerations.

    Because you never get that warm (except during Santa Ana Winds), I would try to get the water down before 5pm. And then all you need is enough to moisten the surface of the soil. You are not drenching at this point. All you need is to keep the seed moist.

    Assuming your lawn is normal for the area, you will not need a sophisticated watering system. An oscillator is all you need. The new turbo oscillators are very good. Some let you adjust the width of spray for narrow yards.

    If I recall a lot of people in East LA have top dressed with soil every few years leaving the soil level above the surrounding concrete. Are you in that situation?

    As you know you are in the perfect spot for New Year's Day. We used to watch most of the Rose Parade on TV and then drive up to the end of the parade and watch most of it again in person. That and you are really close to the old In-N-Out Burger #1 store at Francisquito and Garvey. Travesty what they did with the urban renewal there, but the lines at In-N-Out might have been too much for the off ramp.

  • UT_VOL
    10 years ago

    Ok, so after reading this thread I am afraid I may have over watered my seeds.

    Here are my facts:
    -I live in Hillsboro, OR.
    -I applied a couple of inches of planters mix (sandy loam, compost, etc on top of my contractor grade soil)
    -Planted Penningtons Pacific Northwest Mix (perennial rye with a little fescue) about 8 days ago.
    -Since we are having a string of sunny days I went ahead and installed a simple irrigation system.
    -Began watering every day at 5am, 11, and 6pm for 15 min on each zone. One of my zones puddles for a bit while another the soil dries out in between waterings.

    Last night I came home to find my first new blades of grass and they happened to be mostly in the areas where the soil appears to dry out. So I adjusted my watering to 5 minutes for the zone that puddles a little bit, and 10 minutes each for the other 2 at the same times. I am thinking to go change the time for the last zone to 4pm instead of 6.

    Should I change the frequncy (days per week, times per day) or the length of time per watering? How about next week?

    The weather is still sunny, last week it was in the 70s, yesterday and today in the 50s, going back to the 70s and a possible low to mid 80s by the weekend.

    Can I get some advice on whether I am doing this right? I was starting to get worried about germination in general. Also, can I add more soil to the spot that puddles and more seed or should I wait unti the fall when I overseed to fix it?

    The picture was taken around 7pm last night.

    Thanks all!