Bermuda Sod-2 weeks in-tips?

12 years ago

4300 SF of Tifway 419 laid 14 days ago. So far so good-watering properly, mostly rooted and green. Almost ready to mow-new blade installed and mower tuned up.

Bought a bag of Lesco 32-5-7 today-could not find pure nitrogen. Will I be okay if I use this bag up and then drive out to the feed store? I have read the bible but can't find much on potential negative effects of using anything other than pure N. Planning on one high N feeding and then a more balanced product in Sept.

Thanks for the help!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

nearandwest
12 years ago
You could really do yourself a favor if you take soil samples and submit them to a lab for testing through your county extension agent. Take the samples first, then apply the fertilizer. I hope you are not planning to apply that entire bag to that amount of area at one time. If that is a 50 lb. bag, you would be applying almost 4 lbs. N/1000 sq.ft., which would certainly be highly excessive on your new sod. It should take you 3 seperate applications, 30 days apart, to use up that bag, if it is a 50 lb. bag. That would be more than enough N for the rest of this season in NC on new bermuda sod. After the first fertilizer application, you will receive your soil test results which will give you an indication of what is needed, or in excess, in your soil. That test result will guide you as to how to proceed with nutrient applications. After Labor Day, you will want to focus more on root growth and development for "hardening off" your bermuda for survival during the winter season. Stay connected on this forum for additional advice about managing your bermuda, especially during this first critical season.
wrager
12 years ago
It will be fine. As TW says, you can't water sod too much.
You will probably need to cut high until you get it level. That is the case with my new section of TifGrand.
Related Discussions
2 week old Zoysia palisades sod - Brown spots
Q
Comments (2)
If and when you cannot lift the sod from the ground, you need to cut way back on watering. Your sentence about water needs more explanation, but new sod should be watered lightly 3x per day at breakfast, lunch, and dinner time. Once the sod roots have knit to the ground underneath, then cut the watering in half. Start by going to every other day with 2x to 3x per day. A week later cut to once every 2 days but water a little longer to get the water deeper into the soil. Ideally by summer you should be watering once per week and applying a full inch at a time. That regimen should work even under most watering restrictions. Zoysia has a problem with recovery from injury. Here in San Antonio we had a lot of rain in the spring of 2013. Some of the zoysia lawns got a disease which browned it in some spots. Those spots never recovered in 2013. I'm watching them and expect to see them recover fully by next week. But that is the sort of poor performance which chases 90% of Texas zoysia owners away from that and back to St Augustine. These two hold-out zoysia owners are sitting in multi million dollar homes, so if they can't have excellent zoysia lawns, I doubt if anyone can. Here's what I expect to see in your lawn. Those brown spots will remain brown until the brown pieces break off and fall onto the soil below. Then they will turn gray as they decompost but no new grass will fill in. You may or may not have common bermuda grass trying to get a start in there. If it does, then you will forever have a mix of zoysia and bermuda. If you had this lawn installed, get them back out there and insist that the brown sod be replaced with green. They will, in turn, insist back that the grass will recover. Well, that depends on what your definition of recover is, because it will recover...by April of 2015, but not before. And you can't know what will happen to the spots between now and then.
...See More
Fall Bermuda sod installation needs help
Q
Comments (2)
There is a difference between green up and growth. I'm seeing growth in George West but only patchy growth in San Antonio. The initial hint of greening was several weeks ago, but things are finally moving now. This has been the longest fall-winter-spring I can remember in South Texas. So yes, patience.
...See More
New Bermuda sod going yellowish brown after 2 weeks
Q
Comments (13)
@texas weed I am in Austin. Apparently the first pallet was even worse, this was the better one! We are getting a lot of rain today and tomorrow so I will see what it looks like in the next couple of days As to watering more often I cannot for two reasons, first I work as does my wife, second and more importantly Austin is in a sever drought right now with insane water restrictions. With new sod I get some exceptions but not a lot! As it stands I can only water every other day for 1 more week then it is 2x a week for a couple of weeks then I am on full restriction. Every Sunday before 10am OR after 7:00pm. That is why Bermuda is now the only grass to code. No more st. Augustine.
...See More
Celebration Bermuda Sod Bad
Q
Comments (29)
Bermuda does not turn brown due to shade. It thins out and the soil looks brown, but the grass itself still struggles. Besides that, Celebration is supposed to be more shade tolerant than the other varieties. I'm going with overwatering. I assume the sod is knit down to the underlying sand. Try to lift a corner of the sod. With sand you can always lift some but you're looking for a firm tug to get it up. If it peels up like a carpet, like no roots have formed into the underlying sand, then you have a problem there. The sod never rooted. With the water you gave it there should be full, rooted, connection to the soil/sand. Once the sod is connected you can back off on watering exactly like you already have. But you did not go far enough in backing off. Do you know how much water your sprinklers put out? At this point you should be putting out no more than 1 inch per week. I would back it off to 1 inch every 3 weeks applied all at one time. Measure 1 inch by setting out several cat food or tuna cans and turning on the sprinklers. Time how long it takes to fill all the cans. Mine takes 8 hours but I had a neighbor whose high flow system filled them in 20 minutes. Every sprinkler system will be different. Once you have the time to fill, use that time every time you water. Here's more on watering. Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.
...See More
texas_weed
12 years ago
At 6-1-1 ratio you will be fine as there is not enough Potassium and Phosphorus to hurt anything even if your soil is already rich with those elements. Just apply 3 pounds of product per 1000/ft2.

As for using balanced 3-1-2 or 4-1-2 ratios there a couple of schools of thought. Use it once per year either for the first spring application or the last fall application in lieu of a soil test.

If you have real sandy soil makes things a no brainier, you use 3-1-2 ratio once a year. You really do not need a soil test to determine if you need potassium an phosphorus or not because you will. Sandy soils just do not hold nutrients very well.

On the other hand if you have a heavy soil, you are best advised to have a soil test every couple of years and chances are you will not need much in the way of potassium and phosphorous. Nutrients with the exception of nitrogen in soil is pretty stable in heavy clay soil and do not leech or purge quickly.
trk65
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the helpful replies.
I knew to apply around 3 lbs. per 1K SF.
Soil is clay with decent topsoil laid down before sodding.
Hand pulling weeds daily-so far not too bad.
Would it be helpful for me to be putting down some sand in the gaps (although they are filling in pretty well) to keep the weeds down?
The lawn has aome slope on the side of the house and a drainage gulley along the street so I am probably not going to switch to a reel mower although I know that the rotary will limit how low I can mow.

Bermuda Sod-2 weeks in-tips?

Comments (4)

nearandwest

wrager

Related Discussions

texas_weed

trk65
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Bermuda Sod-2 weeks in-tips?

Comments (4)

nearandwest

wrager

Related Discussions

texas_weed

trk65Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

trk65
Original Author