[mmicha]

I've never heard of this, but thought I would post and see if anyone else has tried it before seeding:

Is there one thing I can do to speed up germination?

YES. FREEZE SEED FOR 48 HOURS BEFORE PLANTING. This cracks the seed coat and
speeds germination by one half to one third. Kentucky bluegrass will sprout much more quickly
if you use this tip.

 

[SpiveyJr]

I would love to see a reno done with one side of the lawn using seed that was frozen and the other side not.

 

[Hieronymus]

If this is true that would be amazing. I had germination with RPR from Barenbrug within 4 days. So after freezing them it could be 2 or 3 days! Nice! I am curious if this is true.....

 

[mmicha]

I found it in an article from Cornell University's Extension. So must be some validity to the idea. Though I'd hate to spend a ton on seed and find out it had the opposite effect ;-)

 

[Hieronymus]

It's worth a try. Maybe create some kind of nursery and test it back to back. That way you won't lose a ton of seeds and you can use it to replace bad parts in your lawn.

 

[GoPre]

I have tried pre germ by soaking in water for 4-5 days and it worked. I had KBG germination by 7-10ish days, I wish I would have taken better notes/pictures. Not a strong suit of mine, I guess.

I am very curious about freezing. I am going to overseed once more, this year or next. I need a larger elite KBG population, and I'm just not to the point I want to do a full kill and reno. I'm all ears here (or eyes).

 

[g-man]

You could do a control experiment with pots. Make 6 pots with the same bag of potting soil. Place 0.3oz of seed in the freezer for 48hr and plant 0.1oz in 3 pots. Place 0.1oz the same seeds in the other 3 pots. Water and take daily pictures.

 

[SJ Lawn]

You could do a control experiment with pots. Make 6 pots with the same bag of potting soil. Place 0.3oz of seed in the freezer for 48hr and plant 0.1oz in 3 pots. Place 0.1oz the same seeds in the other 3 pots. Water and take daily pictures.

Great suggestion...but it better be very large pots to hold 0.1 ounce of KBG seed. :nod:

 

[Hieronymus]

You could do a control experiment with pots. Make 6 pots with the same bag of potting soil. Place 0.3oz of seed in the freezer for 48hr and plant 0.1oz in 3 pots. Place 0.1oz the same seeds in the other 3 pots. Water and take daily pictures.

Great suggestion...but it better be very large pots to hold 0.1 ounce of KBG seed. :nod:

You won't have that problem with a nursery. And you can dig it up to replace bad parts of your lawn. All golf courses have nursurys. I am actually thinking of creating one to replace it for all the poa I have.

 

[stotea]

You could do a control experiment with pots. Make 6 pots with the same bag of potting soil. Place 0.3oz of seed in the freezer for 48hr and plant 0.1oz in 3 pots. Place 0.1oz the same seeds in the other 3 pots. Water and take daily pictures.

My spring pots are ready to transplant. I'll try this when I plant the next batch, possibly this weekend.

 

[j4c11]

This was like 4 or 5 years ago but I remember I tried the freezing thing and it was a complete failure, I got very poor germination and it took longer. What did work (with fescue) was mixing it with wet sand and letting it sit for 2 days, then spreading it. Same didn't work with KBG for some reason, I think maybe it needs light. I tried 3 days with fescue and it was too late, it germinated in the sand.

 

[Greenrebellion]

I imagine if this was a thing it would be well documented by now. In any event, very easy to test as someone else in this thread mentioned using pots.

 

[samjonester]

I have tried pre germ by soaking in water for 4-5 days and it worked. I had KBG germination by 7-10ish days, I wish I would have taken better notes/pictures. Not a strong suit of mine, I guess.

I did this with fescue seed in my back where we cut a tree down over the winter. I let it soak for 3 days, then covered in top soil. Most of the area had sprouted by day 7. I was mowing on day 13.

I followed these instructions and changed the water every 12 hours:

https://www.milorganite.com/professionals/golf-athletic-fields/turf-establishment/pre-germinating-seed

 

[Greenrebellion]

Pre soaking definitely works but seems annoying to work with wet seed.

 

[samjonester]

Pre soaking definitely works but seems annoying to work with wet seed.

It was super annoying! I would never do an entire yard that way. But it allowed me to get germination between spring storms. Growing grass this spring was terrible!

I had to seed the spot twice. I lost all the seed the first time due to washout from a bad spring storm. The second time, pregerminating helped me get a good amount established before another storm hit.

I will be overseeding this fall but at least the area is more grass than dirt this summer.