Bermudagrass seed head?

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Hi. All of sudden i am seeing seed heads coming out of my bernuda grass. are they actually bermuda seed heads? Or a weed?

i water inch a week or at least try to, applied nitrogen on may 30th. Mow once a week to 1-1/4 with a reel mower. Living in central-southern california, bakersfield.

Should i be worried? I am reading that bermuda will grow seed head when they are in stress. It did get very hot all of suddent last two weeks. But i think it is starting of the summer. Should i do anything different? Or just keep doing what i am doing?

Thanks in advance.

Featured Answer

dchall_san_antonio

7 years ago

Yes, that's a bermuda seed heat.

Since you have a reel mower, why are you mowing at 1.25 inches? Most people who buy a reel do it so they can mow well under an inch. Bermuda becomes much more dense when mowed lower. If your surface is too bumpy to mow lower, we can help you to get that back to a level putting green surface. Here's a picture of a homeowner lawn bermuda mowed at 5/8-inch.

Here's the general plan for bermuda:

Water deeply (1 inch all at one time) once a week in the hottest summer heat (90s) or once every 5 days with temps in the 100s.

Mulch mow low 2x per week.

Fertilize with a high N (low to zero P and K) monthly.

Also I'm glad you wrote in identifying yourself as living in SoCal and including Bakersfield. I think most SoCal'ians don't know where Bakersfield is and would not include it in SoCal, but I do. It's in northern SoCal, but still SoCal. SoCal has the entire spectrum of zones, soils, and issues, so knowing where you are in SoCal is important.

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Comments (6)

reeljake
7 years ago
It's usually a stress response at normal mowing heights, so the sudden temp increase is probably the culprit. Nothing to worry about.
Jae Hong thanked reeljake
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Jae Hong
Original Author
7 years ago
@dchall_san_antonio - Thanks for the information. I have fiskars manual mower which only goes as low as 1 in. We just had a newborn coming into our family and with another toddler, I was getting overwhelmed mowing twice a week. So I thought it will be better to mow one step higher if I was going to mow once a week. I didn't know I should water every 5 days when temps in the 100s. I do have some dry dead patches from being drought while we were gone vacation last week. Temps were around 107 for 5 ~ 7 days and I wasn't here to turn on the sprinkler manually. The sprinklers are set to water only on wed because of the water regulation. But I will know next time when it gets very hot (over 100s) I will water 5 days interval. I guess only thing I am missing is to mow 2 times a week at 1 inch. I couldn't afford to buy gas reel mower and I thought fiskars manual mower would have been nice upgrade from craftsman gas mower. But anyway, seems like it is not something I need to treat or anything like that. I guess I will try to change my mowing frequency.
@reeljake - Thanks for the information. Nobody around me mows themselves. They all have lawn service, which comes once every week. They mow very short with their gas reel mower. But no one has seed head coming out like I do. So I was just packing and researching online. If they will not harm my grass, then I guess I will just stop worry about them.
reeljake
7 years ago
The Fiskars is a good machine, mine lasted about 3 years before the chain stretched & started jumping. I only mow every seventh day, but with Bermuda you could literally mow every day without hurting it. The seed heads should go away in a week or so.
Jae Hong thanked reeljake
dchall_san_antonio
7 years ago
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.
jc_7a_MiddleTN
5 years ago
I have these seed heads covering about 50% of the yard. Glad everyone responded to this thread- it was really helpful.

Bermudagrass seed head?

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