When To Stop Watering New Grass Seed?
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Watering grass seed is important - doing it well will result in nice even germination followed by a thick lawn space, however getting the watering right is not easy. You have to water the seed regularly, multiple times throughout the day for the entire germination period and even then it is not so simple.
In this video, I explain how long to water grass seed per watering session and how long to water your grass seed over the germination period to ensure even coverage across your seed bed.
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I have a number of supporting videos (and blogs) already published answering as many of the common questions as possible. Take a look below for more info on how to do this right and what to do after your grass seed starts growing
Helpful follow-up info:
How Long Does Seed Take To Fully Grow
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Can You Overwater Grass Seed
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When To Stop Watering New Grass Seed
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Thank you Brian. I have found out that I OVER water my overseeding and patches too much. Good information. Thank you.
I've caught myself over watering. Turn the sprinkler on, get busy doing something and forget it's on. It doesn't generally take long, just keep it moist, not soaked. I've had germination in as little as 5 day's with United Seed tttf. Usually it's 5-7 day's.
Hi: After trying to get some bare spots planted on my own, I found a national lawn franchise to over seed and fix my patches. They guarantee germination and use RTF Rhizomatous Tall Fescue which has good reviews for my area in Colorado. We are now at 16 days, and I am beginning to see some germination. They told me to water every day, twice a day at 15 minutes each sprinkle zone. They told me I should do that for 30 days and not cut the grass until it reaches 4 -5 inches. I hope all this information is correct. My water bill is going to add to the cost of the seeding several hundred dollars. They are coming back at 30 days and will reseed as required. This is a very expensive renovation but if you figure all the money I wasted in trying to do it myself, it should be a good investment.
I just seeded Bermuda, about 5000 square feet. I used peat moss to cover it about 1/8 inches. Watered it 3 times a day for 10-15 minutes. I had baby grass in 5 days which is rare for Bermuda. After 2 weeks, it’s about 1.5 to 2 inches tall. This was fairly cheap Common Bermuda I bought from Lowes, made by Scott’s. I’ve seeded Bermuda before, same brand but didn’t use Peat moss to cover as I just raked it in. That took 14 to 21 days just to germinate. I really believe the peat moss is the best seed cover to keep the seed moist. Only 5 days to see baby Bermuda is the fastest I’ve ever seen grass grow. And Bermuda isn’t easy to grow. I must have purchased a magic bag of seed. :)
I did the exact same thing and got the same results. It took 5 days for the seeds to germinate, although mine isn't at 1.5 to 2 inches yet. We are just two weeks since I planted and one week since germination. Also, I didn't use a starter fertilizer, so that could also be why.
I imagine an _overseeded_ lawn requires more water-or tolerates more water-than a bare plot. My experience has been that the existing grass uptakes its share; therefore, misting is not enough. I apply a 1/4 inch of water once a day until the new seedlings are at least two inches tall and the older grass needs trimming. I let the ground dry a couple of days before mowing, then water as needed.
Watering anywhere near correctly is absolutely key to successful germination. It really annoys me that people rate grass seed on Amazon and other sites so lowly, when as a lawn care nerd, I can easily see they didn't prepare the soil at all or water. I just planted the cheapest Ryegrass I could find on Amazon (Scotts...likely an older cultivar) and did a 600 sq. ft. test patch. I also threw down some Outside Pride Midnight KBG for the fun of it. My soil pH is 5.3, and although the nitrogen and phosphorus were good, the potassium was very deficient. I killed with glyphosate, mowed to 1 inch, thoroughly scored the ground with my SunJoe dethatcher and really loosened up the top 1/2 inch of soil. My last patch I just pulled backwards, and it left some nice little ruts for the seed to fall into. Then I put down my balanced fertilizer. I added Mesotrione (Tenacity) the following day for a helping hand with the pre-emergent properties and I saw my first few Ryegrass sprigs popping up at 50 hours. At about day 10 I started seeing some KBG breaking the top layer of soil. And this was in high temperatures in the mid to upper 90's, with an 8 day stretch of 96-98 degrees. I can't really wait to plant because when I put down the seed, I was about 7-8 weeks from the first hard freeze, so I just watered through it. I mowed at 14 days, and again at 23. Now the KBG is filling in and looking like it is establishing well. I've also planted my front lawn with Zenith Zoysia seed. The soil tests came back very nice, and with that seed, I saw Zoysia start to sprout at day 7, and a lot more on day 8. That was a few years back, and it has filled in excessively thick. On 6/2, I moved a 2" Zoysia plug to my back yard of weeds where I had a fire pit on pavers in a 24 x 24 area, and put the plug there. I had an issue where I think one of my dogs stepped on the oscillating sprinkler and no water was hitting my plug, so on 6/10, I started watering twice a day for about 10 minutes. It took a few weeks to fully recover as it was down to 3 or 4 blades that were still green, but now (9/18), that 2" plug is about 18 inches side to side, about 14 inches the other direction, and the 2" plug itself is about 8 inches of very thick grass. Gotta love self spreading/self healing lawns. I enjoy test patches, and like how you do so many tests at once in your pots. I was looking to see how much this Rye and KBG will stick under my mower. My weedy back lawn is going to be fully upgraded next year. I'm trying to figure out which is better for my backyard with 2 dogs running and playing. I'm leaning towards Zoysia for thickness and self healing, and if I get busy and can't mow as quickly as I like, Zoysia won't grow very tall. That 3 month old plug - I've intentionally not mowed it at all and it's staying at 3-4 inches. Great channel!
😂😂❤ OMGOSH! RUclips is at it again. How ever, I don’t believe it was reading my mind, I was Just thinking to myself “gosh it’s been 22 days and now sprouting, SHOULD I ADD MORE SEED”…
And here you are ❤ appreciate your video, and am impressed that Google algorithms are also working 😂
I find on most irrigation systems around here in ma you need 15- 20 min to get good germination 2 times daily.
Answered every question!!! Perfect!!! Following you!! Thanks!!!
That's awesome! So glad to tick off all the boxes for you! 🤝
@@TurfMechanic Your awesome thanks again for the knowledge!!
Good info and detail from Brian.Always through and precise. No nonsense here.
Thanks a lot for saying so Alan! That's usually my goal. :)
All grass seed is different. Environment plays a big part in how long you need to water new seed. Water enough to keep the ground moist through the day even if it's hot (summertime). Doesn't need to be super deep just a decent watering as many times a day as needed. Once you see the seeds start to sprout keep up for about 3-4 days. Again all grass seed is different. Then you can start to taper off so that roots are trained to look deep for the water. This will give you a strong hardy lawn. Don't over flood your seeds/sprouts or they could float away. Happy seeding ❤️
Kind of disagree with some of your statement. Roots don't grow through dry soil "looking" for water. They grow in response to water... in other words, where the water is. After germination, water less frequently but more thoroughly.
@@richardgleason5953 sorry I meant to say after you see germination you should start to switch to deep watering. This will train the roots to dig deeper in search of water as the top soil dries out. If they always have water they won't go looking for it and you'll get a shallow root system.
@@thedealer799 10-4. We're on the same page. My comment was directed towards folks new to the process.
Thanks!
Thanks for the info. Nice shirt, hoping my seed takes soon out here in Bonanza.
Great watering tips for seeding👍
These "boring" topics are always so important to cover 🤙
I’ve never had a fescue germinate that quickly. Most of the fescue I’ve gone has taken around 21 days to germinate. The fastest I ever got was soaking it in a bucket for five days and then once I spread it on the ground it was germinated within seven days so that’s a total of 12 days. I do cover all my seed with a little layer of peat moss, so perhaps I’m not seeing germination until two days later or something. With only a little water I’ve seen germination after about 30 days. I’ve also found the wetter the seed the quicker it germinates. Presoak in the seed being the fastest germination but also significantly harder to spread
After you soaked the seed did you dry it out before spreading it ?
Well I'm growing fescue on my glyphosated project lawn right now, my first germination was around day 9, at day 12 I've got a good start on a new lawn...and I didn't pre-germinate or prime the seed. I agree priming the seed in advance speeds things up but 21 days is a long time to wait for good germination. I wonder what your soil temps were while going through this 3-week process? Ours now is in the low 60s so it doesn't take that long even though it's still a stressful process for a full lawn of bare dirt! :)
@@TurfMechanic When the germination times are that different it’s not about soil temperatures it’s literally a different strain of seed. Most of my seed comes from Oregon. I forget the exact variety. Soil times were like 70. I got started late which is why i pre soaked. I’ve literally never seen fescue germinate that fast. But im no expert.
@@antbans5137 it’s really hard to dry out so what I actually had to do was mix about every 5 pound bag of seed with one bag of Milorganite to spread it. The weight of 5 pounds was measured dry before I soaked it. I’m not sure how heavy the seed was after soaking maybe 10 or 12 pounds. It did work pretty well. But it’s more expensive with materials. But it’s easier for me than watering. I had a little over half an acre I had to do
My rapid grass seed germinated in 7 days with irrigation system set for 3 times a day for 10min
I really like this video. Teach me alot
I have 4 acres of grass and as things thinned out over time I am overseeding just one acre this year. Grass cut short, thatched, plugged, and all that swept up in a pull behind sweeper. 100 pounds of grass was laid yesterday on 42,000 sq feet area. I watered by hand with a garden hose for 2 1/2 hours and my neck is killing me. I think I'm going to put down seed starter today, but someone suggested putting it down a week later so the existing grass doesn't come up too quickly and shade out the turf type tall fesque, but I want my seed to grow quick so down goes the fertilizer. This watering is killing me, or going to as my neck is stiff and painful. One acre at a time is a job in itself.
Same here man,good luck
Thanks for the knowledge, have a great day 👏
Thank you .... I think I’ve been over watering my new seeding.
Just 5 minutes but 3-4-5 times a day (whenever it starts to dry, depending on how hot the day is) worked wonderfully for me.
Plus peat moss. I didn’t believe in it that much, but wherever I put some, I have visibly better germination.
You're welcome Green and as Zoltan said, you'll need to water more often in hotter sunny weather and less often in cooler cloudy weather but the volume of water shouldn't ever be large. I also cover my seed whenever I can with garden crop cover, helps hold in moisture so I don't have to water as often and it keeps the birds away too. Good luck!
Well said!
Thank you Sir.
Always a wealth of information! Thanks so much!
You are most welcome Javier! And thank you for watching too 😃
@@TurfMechanic anytime! I geek out about the science behind all this, so I love it!
Curious on your thoughts/experience on pre-germinating grass seed and spreading it after it’s been germinated
Mary, do you have a little lamb? 🐑
I haven't done it myself yet but the video that went live on the channel this morning featured this idea! I'll be experimenting with this for sure, maybe in the next few weeks or late winter. I like the concept!
I put grass seed and then it rained hard for a week do i need to reseed
I wonder if he realizes that when he talks he makes chicken noises. Pretty cool if you ask me!
Hi ya Brian, question. I renovated my front lawn 5 1/2 weeks ago, I reseeded the bare spots but they havent filled in all the way. I was wondering when I could overseed this lawn and level it better? Thanks, you da man.
Absolutely.
I planted a new lawn and got hung up at work for 10 hours with the sprinkler on. I probably lost 30% of my seed. Not ideal, but surprisingly, the majority of the lawn grew grass.
Wow! That's crazy, sprinkler must have been spraying lightly all day as opposed to putting out tons of water per minute
@@TurfMechanic It flooded the area even up and over the driveway. I had started to germinate quite a bit of seed by then, and I believe a lot of the seedlings were KBG. That being said, I did overseed once again, which was last Spring and there are a few bare spots and weeds to contend with. For being a little over a year old, it's fairly thick. I think a few of my problem areas are due to infertile soil, so if there are more spots this Fall I will topdress those areas with compost after seeding to help it along. The KBG is filling itself in as true Spring weather is finally here. I'm excited to knock down some clover, but want to let the grass toughen up before busting out the sprayer. I did hit it with half an ap of starter fert, humic, Tenacity and Milo since snow melt. I'm currently postponing the mow to see if the problem areas will catch up. I'm definitely using some finesse with the hose by hand watering this go around since I actually have some turf to walk on. First seeding was after a complete re-grading.
Digging your channel.. Keep it up!!
My Bermuda grass seed germinated in mid-July after 5 days.
I think where you’re located has a lot to do with grass type and amount and length of water. I live in zone four, the Minneapolis area. I checked your About section and read all the comments but I can’t tell where you are. I think if you live in a different zone then this might not apply as much to me. Where do you live?
Thanks my guy
Thanks for watching and commenting Terry! Greatly appreciated 🤝
0:28 that cat was not enjoying your method
So nailing down the the just right watering routine has been my challenge with my overseed as well as fighting squirrels. I’ve been watering 2 to 3 times a day with hose end oscillating fan sprinklers and most of yard seems to be just the right amount of wet except for a couple of spots that get soggy even with just 10 minutes. I don’t know if that’s because those spots happen to be the more bare spots with peat moss covering or what. Thinking about just using the eye and touch test to determine if I need to water or not and possibly just hand watering because my front yard is less than 1k square feet and the back is about 2k. Thoughts?
Hahah, that chicken is distracting 🤣
Hmm. I thought he was just gassy.
Great timing for this video! I've seen quite a few of your other videos (all great) however I don't feel like I've seen you address this following question. When you are patching areas with new seed that may only be 10% or less of your already established lawn, how do you juggle watering the new seed (shallow and frequent) versus keeping your already established grass happy (deep and infrequent)? I have an irrigation system but with new seed I generally hand water. Do I still maintain my irrigation schedule for the established grass or do I need to sacrifice that for the patched areas? Thanks so much!
I always used to set my system to water around 7 am, noon, and 5pm for 5-10 minutes each time. I never spot seeded only bare areas. I overseeded the entire lawn evenly and if I had any thinner or bare spots I would just hit those areas with 2 or 3 times the seed as the rest of the yard and broadcast a little bagged topsoil over them to avoid washing out or pooling of the seed. If you’re not overseeding the entire lawn (which I’m not sure why you wouldn’t) and only seeding in a few trouble spots then hand watering those areas would prob be the way to go. Let’s see what Brian has to say!
@@jimshorts5970 Thanks Jim! I actually overseeded a majority of my lawn and fully seeded another area but there are still some thin/patchy areas. The new area especially was patchy so that's why I'm going ahead and patching them. A majority of the lawn looks great though and that's why I was asking how to juggle keeping my established lawn versus these areas I just added seed and peat moss to. Thanks for chiming in!
@@jimshorts5970 If I water shorty before sunset (whenever the sun is low enough to but dry out the soil), then the soil remains moist until it gets hot in the morning around 10-11am. 5minutes.
So it is 10am, 2pm and 6pm for me.
I keep doing it until the official germination time (tall fescue 10 days, even if I see germination at 5), then once a day in the evening.
After first cut, it is like every 2 days.
Now 6 weeks after seeding, it is 2x a week for maximal growth, but it would be fine with just rain only but with less growth.
@@juzoli Yeah that works. Just have to be careful about watering too late and having it wet all night due to fungus depending on your temps where you live. Ideally you want to water heavily once or twice a week (or even every day during hot dry summer periods) around 4-5 am with no afternoon or evening watering except for obviously during seed germination periods.
@@wushufanatic Gotcha. I’d say let the sprinkler system do all the work and if you notice those bare areas are drying out between sprinkler waterings it definitely would be good to hit them lightly with the hose. It’s all about keeping everything as moist as possible at all times with light waterings until it’s mostly all germinated.
Nice video. I have a question....day 19 today after new quality fescue was planted under a light bed of peat moss, about 1800 sf lawn area. I planted a little early to avoid the piles of leaves we expect at about day 30.
The new grass started appearing very recognizably after about day 7.
It came up to about a good inch and a half or two at day 10 or 12.
Since then, it appears to have stopped growing.
It gets a lot of KC sun for 5-7 hours and with little to no rain, I would run the sprinkler system once, even twice a day to avoid the peat moss from drying. Not really excessive water but more than enough.
On the other side of the driveway, the grass is flourishing, mostly over seed but 30% new seed.
Can you address the apparent "stunted growth" on the one section of new lawn?
Thank you.
Almost thought I wrote this a year ago. Ha. I have this similar issue. I’m in KC also. Where my new grass is short is where I had a big tree removed. I started this last year and having to do it again this year. I put Scott’s lawn soil down first this year instead of plain topsoil. Hoping it survives the winter. I may put some starter fertilizer on it. But I did last year and very thing has grown well except the areas where we had to actually remove tree roots.
Hope you got yours figured out. I lean on Grass Pad for help sometimes.
So what if you have a patchy lawn? I've got lots of patches on my new lawn that need to be filled in. Do i water entire lawn or just patches (much more difficult) as I have my own irrigation system.
How often should I water fresh grass seed when it's 80 to 90 degrees outside? I was thinking about 5 minutes once every hour during the day
You watered you cat ! 😂
How else would you get the cat to germinate?
For me the more important question is when do I start mowing the baby grass?
It’s funny the channel will ❤️ your comment but not answer the question 🤦♂️
@@eagleclaw1179
Lol!
Goode observation.
I never wait long after it gets to 2 inches. I’ve cut it at less than that many times and have never had issues.
@@stash7714
Thanks!
@@eagleclaw1179 you have to pay to get answer
How do I get tall fescue to germinate on 12 acres without water? Or is there something else I should put down? I'm in transition zone 6.
BUT if soil temp is low then the time is 2x as long plus air temp and sun are important factors.
Not true about warm season grass. If you prepare soil correctly and get it down when soil temperature is in mid to upper 70s it can germinate faster than cool season. I just planted Bermuda on June 4th and had germination on June 6th. That’s two days. I have fescue in the front and it always takes between 7-14 days.
The cat 😂 😝
I overseeded some Kentucky 31 fescue last Saturday,but I can't tell if the seed is germanating or the old grass is growing.also I didn't put down my starter fertilizer yet,would it be good to do it today?thanks
Always great content. No need to respond.
Gotta appreciate a man binging my content! Thanks David!
👍
👊 thanks for watching STA!
How to water your Grass...
step 1.) get the cat.. 🐈 😂 0:27
We over seed. Twice a year. Spring and fall.
I just overseeded and thinking I’m going to do it in the spring as well. You have good luck doing it both times?
Where is the water coming from?
4:40 what kind of critter was that?
I have chickens and a rooster making noises around that time stamp..there's also a shadow of a small bird flying by and landing on my garden fence at the same time.
Apparently Kentucky produces a lot of grass types 😂😂
I've thought the same thing for a while now 😆
my tall fescue started germinating in 7 days
That's a great start, I'd be happy with 7 days! :)
Hey Brian. I have a question. I planted scot s provista kbg and it germinated wonderfully except for the northern side of my house with 100%shade. I just put down a clear plastic and threw a heating pad on it in an attempt to heat up my soil. What do you recommend I do to help with the germination? Thank you in advance.
Sounds like your doing all you can except for not doing the ground warming tactics to begin with. Obviously a shady spot will have cooler soil so it no surprise it's taking much longer. If you suspect you've had some seed loss due to birds while waiting for germination you could try tye pre-germination trick Sam presented on my channels video from yesterday but I've yet to attempt that myself. BTW, for what its worth it's taken me approximately 16 days to get hard fescue to germinate on the north side of my house this month. Soil temps there have averaged in the low to mid 40s so it's possible it'll come in given enough protection and time.
Do they sell hat near you?
Huh? Reword please
So, does he actually answers the question? I'm almost at the end of the video and he is still babbling, no answer..
Fucking ads.damn.