[cnaught]

I just put in celebration bermuda in my backyard at my home in SE Florida about 4 weeks ago. It was looking fabulous for the first 2 weeks, then about a week ago, it started to turn brown and stop growing. I have a very sandy soil, and have an irrigation system in place. For the first 10 days, I irrigated every day for about 45 minutes the entire lawn. Then I cut it back to every other day for about 60 minutes. About a week ago, I cut it back to 75 minutes 3 times per week. I cut it with a reel mower for the first time around day 10 at about 2 - 2.5", then after a few days I lowered the mower down, I think I got down to about 1.5 inches, maybe slightly less, then all of a sudden it went from a beautiful deep green to patchy brown. I wondering if I over watered it, under watered it, or scalped it or if it's a lack of direct sun, since I do have significant shade. What can I do to salvage it?

 

[gijoe4500]

The shady area still seems to be fairly thick. Is it drying out too much? have you probed the soil to see if its moist enough? Did you fertilize? Its still fairly early on in the life of your sod. If you can figure out what's going on, it should bounce back strong and fill back in, in no time.

 

[Movingshrub]

My vote is underwatering. Can you peel back the sod/has it started to root?

 

[cnaught]

No, I haven't fertilized at all. Week 2-3 after installation is was so nice and dark green. So I started lowering the mower below 2" little by little. So either I mowed it too much at once, or too low

I'm guessing it's probably not over watering, because it looked its best when I was watering every day right after installation, and only after I starting to cut it back and mow it lower did it start to turn brown.

I stepped back the watering today to 90 minutes twice per week. It was doing really nice right after it was put in at once per day for 45 minutes, but I doubt that was saturating much beyond the surface. I stepped it back as per recommendations that I read that I should work toward watering 1-2 times per week and really saturating it deep to 3-4 inches to promote root growth.

The brownest spot is just under my oak tree, which I'd think would get more shade, especially in the afternoon (and more leaves and oak flowers are dropping). It just rained really hard yesterday, so when I peeled back the soil today in one spot, it was really wet, I didn't see any new growth at all that I could tell, like white roots.

You think I should go back to daily 45-60 minutes? Perhaps every other day at 90 minutes?

 

[Movingshrub]

I'd suggest measuring the amount of water being applied versus just using time as the guide, due to differences in water pressure and throughput, to see how much water you are actually applying. Also, the oak tree is going to be competing with the turf for water as well, plus any leaves are going to diminish the rain fall that makes it to the turf below the canopy and add shade.

 

[Mightyquinn]

Is the 90 minutes TOTAL or per ZONE? I think it could be a combination of cutting it down low, not fertilizing and maybe something to do with your watering. With all the watering you were doing you have basically flushed all the nutrients out of the soil.

Has the sod grown together? Can you easily pull any of the pieces of sod up by hand?

 

[cnaught]

I pulled up some of the corners. The most brown areas pulled up easily like carpet and appear to not have rooted much to the sand below. I could see just a few little white roots, but not much. The areas that were greener seem to have a few more roots, but still pulled up pretty easily. It's been about 3.5 weeks since I laid the sod, and at first it was doing really great, as it was in decent shape when it was installed. Judging by the fact that it is not rooted, I'm guessing that perhaps I didn't water deep enough, and the daily light watering kept it green, but didn't encourage root development. Many of the brown areas are pretty shaded, and some of the greenest areas get more sun.

I haven't run 90 minutes yet. I just reset the timer to start it. There is only one zone, as it is an area of less than 1000 sqft. I will put out some tuna cans to see how much water each area is actually getting.

At this point, what can I do to salvage the sod, get it green again, and encourage rooting? I also just ordered some organic 1-0-1 kelp based fertilizer, but not sure if I should even fertilize until the sod has rooted well.

 

[g-man]

I'm a cool season guy, but I would think that for the first few months, you want to keep the soil moist. Once it is rooted, then switch to deep infrequent.

 

[Mightyquinn]

I pulled up some of the corners. The most brown areas pulled up easily like carpet and appear to not have rooted much to the sand below. I could see just a few little white roots, but not much. The areas that were greener seem to have a few more roots, but still pulled up pretty easily. It's been about 3.5 weeks since I laid the sod, and at first it was doing really great, as it was in decent shape when it was installed. Judging by the fact that it is not rooted, I'm guessing that perhaps I didn't water deep enough, and the daily light watering kept it green, but didn't encourage root development. Many of the brown areas are pretty shaded, and some of the greenest areas get more sun.

I haven't run 90 minutes yet. I just reset the timer to start it. There is only one zone, as it is an area of less than 1000 sqft. I will put out some tuna cans to see how much water each area is actually getting.

At this point, what can I do to salvage the sod, get it green again, and encourage rooting? I also just ordered some organic 1-0-1 kelp based fertilizer, but not sure if I should even fertilize until the sod has rooted well.

You definitely were not getting enough water down, I just re-read your initial post and watering 45 minutes once a day is definitely NOT enough, you should have been doing that 3 times a day. You need to keep the soil moist 24/7 for the first 2 weeks until it has rooted. I would turn on the water and keep it moist and see how it responds after a week or two as long as your temps stay warm you may be ok. Probably wouldn't hurt to throw down some balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10 or 20-20-20 or even a Starter Fertilizer at about .5 lb of Nitrogen/K while you are hitting it with all that water.

 

[cnaught]

Thank you.

Right now, we have a cold front, so temps are dropping in the 50s at night and 70s in the day (but sunny). It will be a few days before night time temps are in the 60s and daytime in the 80s. Should I up the water now, or wait until the temps warm up to 60s/80s?

 

[Movingshrub]

Thank you.

Right now, we have a cold front, so temps are dropping in the 50s at night and 70s in the day (but sunny). It will be a few days before night time temps are in the 60s and daytime in the 80s. Should I up the water now, or wait until the temps warm up to 60s/80s?

Water now.

You may consider contacting the sod farm you purchased from and ask what they would suggest in terms of amount of water.

 

[cnaught]

Here is the my theory now.

10 days after installation the celebration bermuda was growing fast and dark green and looked thick and beautiful everywhere. I was mowing it at around 2". By week two, I was reel mowing frequently, and started lowing the mower, to try to get it down to the recommended .5" - 1" height, but I wasn't catching the trimmings.

I think that since the lawn is in only part sun, that it was growing fast and dark green trying to get more sun. It produced a lot of trimmings, which I think ended up shading out the lower grass, and I cut off too much of the upper grass as I was lowering the mower. So I think I essentially scalped it and took away it's ability to catch enough sun light. I also had been watering 45-60 minutes every day (on a rotary sprinkler system that put out maybe 1/2" of water), so it wasn't deep irrigation, but keeping it green. I then shifted to 2-3 times per week at 90 minutes, but the grass was already turning brown and damage was done, so it was even harder for it to root then.

The good news is, that it doesn't seem to be turning any more brown than it was, and I think now it may have a chance to recover. The sun will move into a position where it gets more sun, the weather is warming up, and I will deep water .5" - 1" of water 2-3 times per week, trying to let it dry out a little between waterings.

Thoughts?

 

[gatormac2112]

Here is the my theory now.

10 days after installation the celebration bermuda was growing fast and dark green and looked thick and beautiful everywhere. I was mowing it at around 2". By week two, I was reel mowing frequently, and started lowing the mower, to try to get it down to the recommended .5" - 1" height, but I wasn't catching the trimmings.

I think that since the lawn is in only part sun, that it was growing fast and dark green trying to get more sun. It produced a lot of trimmings, which I think ended up shading out the lower grass, and I cut off too much of the upper grass as I was lowering the mower. So I think I essentially scalped it and took away it's ability to catch enough sun light. I also had been watering 45-60 minutes every day (on a rotary sprinkler system that put out maybe 1/2" of water), so it wasn't deep irrigation, but keeping it green. I then shifted to 2-3 times per week at 90 minutes, but the grass was already turning brown and damage was done, so it was even harder for it to root then.

The good news is, that it doesn't seem to be turning any more brown than it was, and I think now it may have a chance to recover. The sun will move into a position where it gets more sun, the weather is warming up, and I will deep water .5" - 1" of water 2-3 times per week, trying to let it dry out a little between waterings.

Thoughts?

I've never had Bermuda, but if I were you I wouldn't over-analyze it....I would listen to Mightyquin and water it 3 times a day. 2-3 times per week at this point? Listen to MQ. Don't try to outsmart it. It needs water.

 

[Mightyquinn]

Here is the my theory now.

10 days after installation the celebration bermuda was growing fast and dark green and looked thick and beautiful everywhere. I was mowing it at around 2". By week two, I was reel mowing frequently, and started lowing the mower, to try to get it down to the recommended .5" - 1" height, but I wasn't catching the trimmings.

I think that since the lawn is in only part sun, that it was growing fast and dark green trying to get more sun. It produced a lot of trimmings, which I think ended up shading out the lower grass, and I cut off too much of the upper grass as I was lowering the mower. So I think I essentially scalped it and took away it's ability to catch enough sun light. I also had been watering 45-60 minutes every day (on a rotary sprinkler system that put out maybe 1/2" of water), so it wasn't deep irrigation, but keeping it green. I then shifted to 2-3 times per week at 90 minutes, but the grass was already turning brown and damage was done, so it was even harder for it to root then.

The good news is, that it doesn't seem to be turning any more brown than it was, and I think now it may have a chance to recover. The sun will move into a position where it gets more sun, the weather is warming up, and I will deep water .5" - 1" of water 2-3 times per week, trying to let it dry out a little between waterings.

Thoughts?

I've never had Bermuda, but if I were you I wouldn't over-analyze it....I would listen to Mightyquin and water it 3 times a day. 2-3 times per week at this point? Listen to MQ. Don't try to outsmart it. It needs water.

Thanks GM2112 :thumbup:

Yes, if you can still pull up the pieces of sod by hand easily then you need to treat it as new sod and keep it MOIST 24/7 until it roots itself to the ground, then and only then can you start cutting back on the water. Have you added any fertilizer yet?

 

[cnaught]

Thanks Guys.

I dropped some organic 1-0-1 kelp fertilizer on it this past weekend.

The ground is staying pretty moist now that I am deep watering it 3 times per week for 99 minutes (which puts off about 1" of water in the most hit areas).

I have substantial amount of shade, so I don't want to over water it. The areas that get the most sun have definitely rooted into the ground. It seems that the areas more in the shade that are not completely rooted, and I'm afraid to keep them too wet.

Basically I could water every day for 45-60 minutes (probably get .5" in the most hit areas), or maybe 3x per week for 99 minutes. Any more and I think it will be really wet all the time. I thought the less frequent deep waters may help to promote deep root growth better and give it a chance to dry out a little to prevent fungus or rotting roots.

 

[Spammage]

You may be over thinking this. Until sod has rooted, your goal is to keep the soil under the sod moist - not wet. As the roots begin taking, you will then move to deep and infrequent over time to help encourage the grass to become more drought tolerant.

If you haven't rolled the new sod, it might be beneficial to do so. Any air gaps will stop the roots in their tracks.

Edit to add that I wouldn't cut it anymore until it is firmly rooted and then I wouldn't go crazy low with it. Sunlight provides energy to the plant and will help it to establish. Leaving the grass around 1"-1.5" may also help you to get longer roots that will help with the transplant shock when you start pulling plugs.

 

[Mightyquinn]

+1 what Spammage said and I would like to add that the 1-0-1 you put down won't help the lawn NOW but may down the road. You will want to put down a synthetic fertilizer right now to help it grow and establish as it needs food now.

 

[cnaught]

Thanks. Even though I'm seeing a lot of brown, which has expanded somewhat, there are living blades in all brown areas, and even in the brownest areas, there remains some green blades, and the brown areas don't seem to be getting worse. So I think it'll be able to recover. Especially as it warms up and we start to get some more rainfall.

I will be watering every other day or 3 times per week and put down between .5" and 1" of water (which depends on the sprinkler coverage which varies). That seems to be enough to keep sand under the sod moist, even though the top dries out in the day. It's only in part sun, and it's predicted to be cool again (50s-70s) over the next week or so. I ordered some organic 10-0-2 fertilizer that I will put down in 2-3 weeks when I am back in town. I'm also having my trees trimmed to open up more sun to the lawn. I'll be in touch again in a few weeks to let you know how it's going. Thank you all for your help.