# Why is my grass growing like this?



## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

So i lowered the HOC and started reel mowing sunday morning from 1" rotary mowed to .5" reel mowed. Looked not too terrible considering but i cut it again this AM at same hoc and i notice all the tips of the grass are like a pale yellow or white color. Looks pretty shitty imo. It wasnt the darkest green or anything at 1" but looked better then this. What am i missing?

Grass at 1" rotary cut


Fresh off a .5" reel cut


And this is right now


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

I would think it's just stressed a bit. Give it some water if you haven't had rain recently or since first cut at .50". Give it another cut in 2-3 days and see how it looks. Raising the HOC just a tad would probably help. I'm new at reel cutting so more experts may have another opinion...


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

Gave it about 30 mins of irrigation time 15 pn 15 off 15 on the night i cut it and we've had some rain since. This is the second cut at .50 i had planned to raise the hoc to .75 after the first cut but the opinion on here was it wasnt necessary. Will run that zone again tonight and in the AM and hopefully it will help. Wife of course was like all that extra cutting and you ruined it lmao.

Edit: one thing of note as well is I cut it sunday evening and again this morning like at 8am and i really didnt cut much at all. Seeing everyone say they have to cut bermuda like every other day at .50" or lower made me expect a ton of growth but was surprised at how little it had grown.


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## RayTL (Jun 4, 2018)

Is the reel sharp, properly adjusted?


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

RayTL said:


> Is the reel sharp, properly adjusted?


That's what I was thinking. It looks like all the yellow tips didn't get cut. 
@Jimefam did you check the mower with paper to see if it is cutting properly?


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

RayTL said:


> Is the reel sharp, properly adjusted?


Apparently yes. I took it to a place close by here that services and sharpens mowers he backlaps them as well and if they need to be sharpened he has reel works pick them up. Anyways he changed the oil greased everything but said it didnt need to even be backlapped. I had it sharpened last year by reel works and cut maybe 5 more times after that so its apparently still good. I wanted to have him backlap it since it had been like 7 months just sitting but he said he would just be charging me for nothing. If you think that it though i wouldnt mind driving it up to reel works to get it redone.


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> RayTL said:
> 
> 
> > Is the reel sharp, properly adjusted?
> ...


Will check it tonight.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

You need to raise it up from the scalp HOC. If you don't you'll just continually scalp.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

That last picture looks like a lot of missed blades. I would check reel/bedknife adjustment. Is it cutting paper? That's what my grass looked like when I had a bunch of seed heads popping up.


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## erdons (Apr 3, 2018)

I think your grass just need to adapt to the low HOC. Give it a few weeks of mowing at that height and it will start looking better


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

Redtwin said:


> That last picture looks like a lot of missed blades. I would check reel/bedknife adjustment. Is it cutting paper? That's what my grass looked like when I had a bunch of seed heads popping up.


F it will just drive it up to reel works tomorrow and get it 100% right. Trying to get it to .50" hoc or lower this year but want it looking super nice so don't want to cause any issues. Got the sprinklers on now also lol. Might just throw down some fertilizer down as well see if i can help it along. Good idea or bad?


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## RayTL (Jun 4, 2018)

+1 on. @erdons and @J_nick s comments. If you want to maintain at the current HOC then you want to scalp it lower than that and then let it rebound to your desired level or let it grow out a little to say .75. You're seeing a lot of stems, because you've cleared out the canopy.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Jim, paper test. 2nd and 4th photo makes me wonder as redtwin. Your lucky reel works is close....and great guys.


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## Austinite (Oct 4, 2018)

If you went from 1 inch to 0.5 then it's going to be yellow till you raise HOC. If you want a 1/2 inch lawn, it needs to be scalped lower than 1/2 inch.


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

Lol and in another thread about scalping was told by a few people no need to raise the HOC that it would green up just fine kept like this. Original plan was .50" scalp then raise to .75" but given that the .50" wasnt hard to cut and isnt that uneven i think i might drop it to like .40" cut it again and then raise it from there. How big a difference from the "scalp" height to the new reset cut should there be? And this is Tiftuf bermuda, how low can this be taken without issues? I do plan on leveling the front the next time we have 4 or 5 days of no rain in the forecast also to allow an easier time with a reel low cut.


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## erdons (Apr 3, 2018)

Jimefam said:


> Lol and in another thread about scalping was told by a few people no need to raise the HOC that it would green up just fine kept like this. Original plan was .50" scalp then raise to .75" but given that the .50" wasnt hard to cut and isnt that uneven i think i might drop it to like .40" cut it again and then raise it from there. How big a difference from the "scalp" height to the new reset cut should there be? And this is Tiftuf bermuda, how low can this be taken without issues? I do plan on leveling the front the next time we have 4 or 5 days of no rain in the forecast also to allow an easier time with a reel low cut.


Being honest I did that with my mclane last year, dropped it to .50 hoc and it scalped bad the first time, I kept cutting it at that height and although it would scalp it kept looking better every cut however it didn't look the best until I bumped it back up to around 3/4.


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## nt5000 (Jun 13, 2018)

Take a close up pic of the grass blades and these guys can most likely tell you if it's a scalp or a poorly adjusted reel2bedknife. It can be sharp AF but if it isn't adjusted properly then you'll have a problem.

But, given you dropped the HOC, I agree with everyone else that you probably just lopped off some crowns and exposed stems i.e. reset scalp'd it.


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

How low should I go to scalp if i wanted to keep .50" as my constant? Is that an ok HOC for tiftuf? I believe i read some Bermudas like lower cutting then others not sure where tiftuf falls on that spectrum.


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Jimefam said:


> How low should I go to scalp if i wanted to keep .50" as my constant? Is that an ok HOC for tiftuf? I believe i read some Bermudas like lower cutting then others not sure where tiftuf falls on that spectrum.


From what I have learned here at TLF go until you hit dirt. Try .40" and if all is well the maintain at .50". The heat is coming so .50" may be hard to maintain in that GA heat without really good irrigation! They say go as low as you can for as long as you can. Make sure you have the ability to cut multiple times a week or invest in PGR to stunt the growth. Folks also raise the HOC in the winter to help protect the lawn from the cold.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I like to scalp around 1/8" lower than I plan to maintain.


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

Small update. So I dropped off the mower to reel works today. He said blade was pretty ok but needed adjusting as one side was apparently off. He specifically said you got a bunch of white spots dont you lol. He said the mower is tearing the grass off not cutting cleanly and that i should scalp lower when i get it back then raise it between .5" and .75" til i get it really level. Super helpful guys over there and mower will be ready monday by 1pm. Cant wait to get it back and hopefully see an improvement soon.


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Jimefam said:


> Small update. So I dropped off the mower to reel works today. He said blade was pretty ok but needed adjusting as one side was apparently off. He specifically said you got a bunch of white spots dont you lol. He said the mower is tearing the grass off not cutting cleanly and that i should scalp lower when i get it back then raise it between .5" and .75" til i get it really level. Super helpful guys over there and mower will be ready monday by 1pm. Cant wait to get it back and hopefully see an improvement soon.


Great news...


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