# Identifying Bermuda variants



## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Can I confirm Tifton vs common bermuda or even other strains? Can we ID exact variants of Tifton? Do you look at blade apperance and stolon growth, or do you send samples off to a secret lab somewhere? I couldn't find a thread and any web resources. So any information is greatly appreciated.

Like many here, I'm trying to decide if I need to start over or if I can work with what I have. I won't go into the details, but my front lawn has been very disappointing since a landscape contractor burned me two years ago. I'm just getting started learning, and I've finally got most of the nastier weeds under control, but the lawn is still sparse in areas and tends to send out long stolon runners. I'm hoping my tall cutting habits caused this effect and it's reversible with my new reel mower. But before I invest a lot of time and effort into a dead end, I'd also like to confirm the contractor install the Tifton I specified rather than the the cheapest common bermuda.


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

It should be easy to tell the difference. Between common and any vegetative Bermuda..
Do you have pictures. If the leaf is thin it's tifton. If it is wide and fat it's common. 
You can have a nice yard with one or the other.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

I have a small patch of common that got mixed in with my Tifway 419. I tried to go out and take a picture of it but I just couldn't get it to turn out. The color is about the same but the texture is way different. Tifway is very fine bladed. Also, are you seeing any seed heads? Tifway will put out seed heads occasionally, but common with have them popping up all over. Even though i am mowing at .5", the seed heads get missed by the reel mower. When they get too bad, I will run them over with the rotary before reel mowing. Last year when I mowed at 1.5-2 inches, my common was looking better than the tifway. This year I am in recovery mode and mowing low. It is stressing out the common but the tifway is loving it. I'm hoping the tifway will eventually take over.


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## thesouthernreelmower (Aug 28, 2018)

Growth regulators limit seed head production


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## Still learnin (Sep 9, 2017)

Absolutely not trying to hijack this thread. Below are a couple pictures of Bermuda that has crept into my yard. It's a lot thinner than pictures of common or wild Bermuda that I've seen. I don't think it's near as thin as some I've seen on golf courses though.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Thanks folks! The blades are thin, so it's most likely Tifton. It's the most common sod sold around here, so I figured it was just my excessively high cut for the past two years which produced so many the long stolons. The sod actually arrived "leggy" with lots of long stolons, weeds and dead areas, so I knew it came from a bad sod farm.

Anyway, I'll continue with my planned tasks: low mow, sand leveling, grooming out the longest solons, collecting the tools, and using learning techniques. I've been trying to lose weight, and this will be my exercise regimine.  Maybe next year I won't be embarrased to post photos.

I don't have a camera or cell phone to take photos. I've been saving up for a "prosumer" HD cam-corder instead.

Again, thanks for the help!


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## Christech11 (Mar 26, 2019)

Like other poster above, not trying to hijack but could use some more professional opinion than my own.

Live in central MS and our house was built 2 years ago. Most of the sod for sale around here is Tifway 419.


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

Christech11 said:


> Like other poster above, not trying to hijack but could use some more professional opinion than my own.
> 
> Live in central MS and our house was built 2 years ago. Most of the sod for sale around here is Tifway 419.


Looks like a common that's been sprayed with a PGR. Has a bit wider blades than my Tifway but the node spacing is tight.


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## Christech11 (Mar 26, 2019)

I was afraid of that. I'm PGR free but mowing at the lowest setting of my rotary.

Would you post a pic of your 419 for comparison?



smurg said:


> Christech11 said:
> 
> 
> > Like other poster above, not trying to hijack but could use some more professional opinion than my own.
> ...


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

@Christech11 I would say it's an improved cultivar over common Bermuda.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Christech11 said:


> Like other poster above, not trying to hijack but could use some more professional opinion than my own.
> 
> Live in central MS and our house was built 2 years ago. Most of the sod for sale around here is Tifway 419.


I doubt that is common. Mine has half as many blades and they are wider. I would guess it is some form of hybrid. Don't know which but not common. Plus that dark green color. I would have to paint mine to get that color.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Yeah, me too. Those blades look relatively "thin" to me.

I stumbled on another identifier: common bermuda seed heads are much taller and thicker than hybrid seed heads. Most folks here probably never allow their lawn high enough for seed heads, but I have and they were less than half the height compared to common bermuda.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

Here's the difference between overgrown Tifway 419 in my front and common in the back. 


The spot on the side of my house where they meet is a very noticeable difference.


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

Christech11 said:


> I was afraid of that. I'm PGR free but mowing at the lowest setting of my rotary.
> 
> Would you post a pic of your 419 for comparison?
> 
> ...


Now that I'm looking at mine up close, I change my vote . Probably a hybrid. Only used a PGR a few days ago, so node spacing should not be effected yet:


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Cory said:


> Here's the difference between overgrown Tifway 419 in my front and common in the back.
> 
> 
> The spot on the side of my house where they meet is a very noticeable difference.


So you have a mullet? Business up front, WTF in the back.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

TN Hawkeye said:


> So you have a mullet? Business up front, WTF in the back.


Pretty much :nod: :lol:

Maybe next year I'll seed something better, blew my budget out the water with 20 yards of sand and a new mower this year, nothing left in the coffers


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Cory said:


> Here's the difference between overgrown Tifway 419 in my front and common in the back.
> 
> 
> The spot on the side of my house where they meet is a very noticeable difference.


@Cory

Cory could you post a pic of we're the common and 419 meet.

I'm curious the difference in appearance because your backyard look might good as well from last I remember.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

@ENC_Lawn I don't have any on my phone. I'll take a photo tomorrow but it's a little scalped at the moment to get ready for sand this week.


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

hsvtoolfool said:


> Thanks folks! The blades are thin, so it's most likely Tifton. It's the most common sod sold around here, so I figured it was just my excessively high cut for the past two years which produced so many the long stolons. The sod actually arrived "leggy" with lots of long stolons, weeds and dead areas, so I knew it came from a bad sod farm.
> 
> Anyway, I'll continue with my planned tasks: low mow, sand leveling, grooming out the longest solons, collecting the tools, and using learning techniques. I've been trying to lose weight, and this will be my exercise regimine.  Maybe next year I won't be embarrased to post photos.
> 
> ...


Dude How you have a $3-$4000 swardman Electra but no cell phone. Lol lol just kidding. But really not. Dude you need an iPhone or $100 android


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

@ENC_Lawn it looks kinda bad because of scalping and its not fully awake yet. The biggest difference when looking at it from a distance once it's filled in is the cut hight. I haven't been able to cut the common lower than 1" without it looking bad.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Looking at TN Hawkeye's photo, I suspect I have a mixture of both Tifton and common bermuda. That makes the most sense. My landscaping contrator went to the worst local sod farm and got the cheapest pallets possible. I'm sure the farm labeled it as Tifton, but allowed common bermuda to run amok along with the weeds.

I've got an old digital camera somewhere. I'll try to find it before the rain gets here and take some photos of what I'm dealing with. I'd prefer to keep what I have and make it work, but I don't want to spend 2 or 3 years of hard work just to nuke everything and start over anyway.



Tellycoleman said:


> How you have a $3-$4000 swardman Electra but no cell phone?


Yeah, I'm an old, weird dude. Not to mention fairly ugly. Let's just say that cameras are not my friend. I have never taken a "selfie" much less posted one on social media. When I finally get a nice HD camcorder, I certainly won't be in front of the lens. I consider that a public service.

My humble flip phone without trendy internet and text messaging actually paid for my Swardman. I've used a pre-paid flip phone costing less than $10 per month for at least 10 years, although it's actually closer to 20 years by now. That saves me at least $40 per month relative to a typical "smart" phone contract. But let's low-ball that savings estimate to only $400 per year for 10 years. I saved about $4,000 just on cell phone costs alone. Boom. The Swardman cost is covered. Microphone drop.

The average American home pays at least $50 per month for phone, cable, dish, or whatever. I cut off all that at least 20 years ago. So let's do the math: $600 per year times 20 years is $12,000 saved. So I "gave up" a stream of filth and political propadanda piped into my home and the net savings paid for about half of my new F-150 XL back in late 2012.

Perhaps I am a super-cheap tightwad. I don't use credit cards, much less finance a cordless phone. But the things I buy are worth every penny. In contrast, "smart" phones are vain, expensive, trendy, over-hyped, addictive, and very socially unhealthy. Heck, nowadays they're even deadly! I wouldn't accept one if it were free.


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## metro424 (May 26, 2017)

Here's an example of tifgrand on the left vs probably common on the right.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

hsvtoolfool said:


> Looking at TN Hawkeye's photo, I suspect I have a mixture of both Tifton and common bermuda. That makes the most sense. My landscaping contrator went to the worst local sod farm and got the cheapest pallets possible. I'm sure the farm labeled it as Tifton, but allowed common bermuda to run amok along with the weeds.
> 
> I've got an old digital camera somewhere. I'll try to find it before the rain gets here and take some photos of what I'm dealing with. I'd prefer to keep what I have and make it work, but I don't want to spend 2 or 3 years of hard work just to nuke everything and start over anyway.
> 
> ...


I wish someone could confuse my yard with his, but it was @Cory that posted the picture.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

TN Hawkeye said:


> I wish someone could confuse my yard with his, but it was @Cory that posted the picture.


 :lol: well, it's not looking so hot right now, I'm dethatching & verticutting today, 20 yards of sand tomorrow. Hopefully in a about 5 weeks it'll be top notch again.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Sorry, it gets confusing when there are quotes of quotes and such. I was just looking at the sprigs and comparing what I saw in my lawn this morning.

Right now I'm re-thinking my plans for this year. Instead of killing myself with leveling, I may just live with the mess one more year and collect more tools and knowledge in preparation for a total restart next year. I can experiment in my back yard for now. Next Spring, I'll nuke the front yard, power rake and maybe rent a sod cutter if needed, and then find a good sod farm with certified Tifgrand.


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

Nuke it this fall if you want a good complete kill, with the plan to pick off stragglers still holding on, in the spring


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Movingshrub said:


> Nuke it this fall if you want a good complete kill, with the plan to pick off stragglers still holding on, in the spring


Well that never occurred to me. Just go all Winter with a dead lawn, huh? Go figure.

To avoid asking a thousand silly questions, is there a "how to nuke and reboot" thread somewhere that I've overlooked? This idea didn't occur to me until lunch, so I've not researched the steps and suggestions.

I was thinking: kill everything, till and grade, install good Tifton sod, let it take hold for a month or so, then begin leveling with sand. I guess there's enough time to do all that this year, but I wasn't mentally prepared and I hate to rush and make a costly mistake. By the time I get my ducks in a row and start laying sod, it's gonna be getting hot.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Cory

Both your front and back look good from some of your old pics

But yeah you can see the slight color difference.

The good news is the common doesn't like being cut low so that should help you keep it out of the 419.

With all that sand you order your yard is gonna be looking awesome!

Congrast on the Zero turn!

I got my first zero turn last month it took me about 3 times before to get the hang of it...but now I like it!!!

First time I drove it...I was all over the place...lol


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

@ENC_Lawn thanks! Same here, a little shaky driving :nod:


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Here's my common Bermuda vs the Riviera Bermuda cut at .33". This was takin a week or so ago when I wasn't fully greened up but they are a night and day difference.


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

You could seed PRG so it wasn't brown from October through May; I think there is a thread of another Huntsville guy who did that.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Since I'm waffling so bad, I think I'll stick with my original plan to throw down sand and smooth out the bumps and dips before it gets too hot. It will be good practive both leveling and mowing low this summer. And I'll lose some more fat. And I can run some soil tests. And weld up a landscape level rake. And replace my fried Hunter irrigation controller with a new RainMaker controller. And buy a backpack sprayer. And buy some proper PPE gear. And buy a Moshuyama Landscape blade. And then practice with PGR and Pre/Post-E mad scientist stuff. Which I also need to buy. And...ugh...I need a cigar.

In the meantime, I can't find a how-to "nuke and reboot" threads. Perhaps that should be my next thread to start. Good idea?


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

hsvtoolfool said:


> Since I'm waffling so bad, I think I'll stick with my original plan to throw down sand and smooth out the bumps and dips before it gets too hot. It will be good practive both leveling and mowing low this summer. And I'll lose some more fat. And I can run some soil tests. And weld up a landscape level rake. And replace my fried Hunter irrigation controller with a new RainMaker controller. And buy a backpack sprayer. And buy some proper PPE gear. And buy a Moshuyama Landscape blade. And then practice with PGR and Pre/Post-E mad scientist stuff. Which I also need to buy. And...ugh...I need a cigar.
> 
> In the meantime, I can't find a how-to "nuke and reboot" threads. Perhaps that should be my next thread to start. Good idea?


The nuke part consists of spraying your lawn with glyphosate multiple times. In between each spray you will want to water daily for about a week to get any weeds or grass that survives to sprout. Then the next spray takes care of them. Some people will fertilize before the first app of glyphosate to make sure the weeds and grass are growing and take up the chemical. As far as the reboot it depends on what soil tests show and how level your soil is before you start.


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

I've been told this is common Bermuda


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

an iphone cost more than $50 a month. can you say $80 with a data plan.
Way to go. That takes dedication.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

CenlaLowell said:


> I've been told this is common Bermuda


Dude, keep your crappy common Bermuda out of my crappy common Bermuda. I have very high standards.

Actually yours is a lot finer blade than mine. Or you have andre the giant fingers.


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

TN Hawkeye said:


> CenlaLowell said:
> 
> 
> > I've been told this is common Bermuda
> ...


  if there both common why do they look so different.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

I love this "who has the worst looking common bermuda" competition. Is the winner actually the loser?

The more I look at the grass in detail, the more convinced I am that it's over 90% common bermuda. Which would be fine if it didn't spread into my mulch beds like Ebola in a Dallas airport. We got tons of rain recently, so now I've also got nutsedge, parsley, sage, rosemary, poa, and a bajillion other weeds appearing as if no Pre-E was applied. Which I know was done.

I think I'll start a thread to plan my reboot and get more tips. Would the "Warm Season Lawns" be the best place? Or is there a different forum that would be better?


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## FlaDave (Jul 10, 2018)

I would start a lawn journal for your reboot, here is a link. https://thelawnforum.com/viewforum.php?f=26


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

@FlaDave I plan to start a journal thread once I'm rolling and have a plan. But is that a good forum to ask for help and suggestions? I thought the Lawn Journals were more of a "Here's My Progress" more than "Should I Roto-Till And Remove The Old Before Installing New Sod" type of forum.

This year, my plan is to procrastinate. Seriously, I need to gather tools, learn, and practice so that AFTER my lawn is nuked (the easy part) I can prep, install new sod, and level it fast as possible next year (the hard part).


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## FlaDave (Jul 10, 2018)

Warm seasons is great for those such questions. They will get more exposure there and you will most likely get your answer sooner. I wouldn't over think it, if it's in the wrong place a mod can move or merge it where it needs to be. Most of the time I find my questions have been asked and answered previously by using the search at the top.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

FlaDave said:


> Most of the time I find my questions have been asked and answered previously by using the search at the top.


I agree, and I'm doing exactly that for specific topics like herbicides, tools, and so forth. I've already learned a lot. For example, I have actually compiled a glossary of common terms and acronyms used in this forum. I call it the "Lawnsetta Stone" and it allows me to translate this strange language known as "thelawnforumese" into starndard english....

_"Spot some MSMA or paint RU and then throw down milo before going 0.375 HOC. But use less PGR on KBG or PRG unless you have plenty of GDD."_

It's really the more abstract topics (like ideas) that are difficult to search for. In my case, a "renovation" (a.k.a. "Reno") is a big topic with many variables. The hard part is sifting through tons of irrelevant posts about <insert my misguided silly idea here>. When you can't find a suitable answer/consensus and then post your question, invariably some elder forum lawn guru immediately posts a link that's a perfect match and makes you feel like a dufus. Doh!


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## Hexadecimal 00FF00 (Sep 20, 2018)

hsvtoolfool said:


> ...compiled a glossary of common terms and acronyms used in this forum.


If you haven't seen the following, @hsvtoolfool, maybe it will help...

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=209


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Thanks! I searched the forum for keywords like "lingo", "terms", "glossary", "acronym", and so forth. No matches found. Now that I know it exists, I went back and searched again and spotted it way down in the search results.


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