# New TifTuf Bermuda Sod issues



## rho9296 (Jul 17, 2019)

Hi All,

I recently had new tiftuf bermuda sod laid about a month ago. The roots seem well established for such a new lawn and has been growing extremely well. I have already learned much from this forum and want to thank you all for your contributions! I am working towards having a nice lush lawn for the first time since I purchased my home a couple of years ago.

A little background, sod was laid a month ago and I watered daily and deep for the first couple of weeks and have recently backed off to about 2-3 times a week. Lawn seems very healthy, but there are still a significant amount of brown spots that are thick but just not lush and green like I would like. I am not sure if it is due to lack of water, or just the fact that it is still relatively new. I am currently mowing twice a week to about 1.5 in, am still a little wary about mowing super low since I have not leveled and currently am using a rotary mower. I fertilized about 1.5 weeks ago with the recommended 16-4-8 but has not greened up as much as I expected.

I am also getting a significant amount of fungal growth (mushrooms) in the lawn. They typically dry out in the sun and go away in a day or two. I have been pulling them by hand but they have multiplied and are too numerous to continue doing this. Is this ok, or should I be treating this, and is it too early in the new lawns life to treat with any chemicals?

Sorry for the length of post, but just so many questions to get this thing started off right!

Thanks in advance.


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

1. check that nothing is under the sod as far as debris
2. check for insects - pour 1 gallon of water with 1 tablespoon of dish soap over a few areas, mostly on the edge of the brown/green and see if anything comes up. Supposedly army worms and sod webworms love new sod. 
3. is that area rooted as well as the other areas? any air pockets keeping the roots from getting water/nutrients?
4. are those areas getting as good of irrigation?
5. Can you post a close up of some of the blades, maybe pulled out?


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

Looks more like scalping to me. Did you go straight into mowing it at 1.5" - or did you start at 1" and raise the HOC to 1.5"?


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

adgattoni said:


> Looks more like scalping to me. Did you go straight into mowing it at 1.5" - or did you start at 1" and raise the HOC to 1.5"?


Concur. Tiftuf does scalp easily.

Also, to the OP, don't worry about the mushrooms; Just organic mater bring broken down by nature.


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## rho9296 (Jul 17, 2019)

Hi All,

Thanks for the feedback! Checked a few areas and it really differs. It's possible that some of them do have a few small rocks underneath although it was mostly cleared prior to laying the sod and a layer of topsoil/organic material was added. Some areas the dirt is a little compact while other areas the screw driver goes in easily and is yielding the same results. I am using a rotor sprinkler and moving it around as I don't have an in ground irrigation system and hand watering at times some of the browner areas. How often/deep would you recommend watering a one month old lawn at this point during the very hot season here in central NC?


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## rho9296 (Jul 17, 2019)

Also regarding scalping, I may have misunderstood but isn't that just cutting it too low? I am leaving at least 1.5-2 in and none of the brown spots have I actually hit dirt with the mower. To answer the other question I took it from about 3.5 down to about 2.5 and about 2-3 days later down to the 1.5-2 I am at now.


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## Wfrobinette (Feb 3, 2019)

rho9296 said:


> Also regarding scalping, I may have misunderstood but isn't that just cutting it too low? I am leaving at least 1.5-2 in and none of the brown spots have I actually hit dirt with the mower. To answer the other question I took it from about 3.5 down to about 2.5 and about 2-3 days later down to the 1.5-2 I am at now.


 You can scalp anytime you take too much off the blade. In my tttf days I've scaled at 4 inches after a long vacation. Take more than 1/3 off and you're likely scalping


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## rho9296 (Jul 17, 2019)

Thanks for the feedback. If this is in fact from scalping how long should I expect it to take to recover and start growing back in/greening up?


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

rho9296 said:


> Thanks for the feedback. If this is in fact from scalping how long should I expect it to take to recover and start growing back in/greening up?


It will recover pretty quickly, but you will want to raise your HOC so you don't continue scalping in those areas.


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## rho9296 (Jul 17, 2019)

Sorry, since I'm totally new to this not sure I understand. How gradually do you have to bring down you HOC? I took a third the first time down to 2.5-3 in, then down to the 1.5-2 in it is now about 3-4 days later (still taking off only the top 3rd). Since I have a rotary mower the height increases/decreases are fairly substantial from one "notch" to the next. I would like to have it at least as short as the 1.5-2 it is now. How would you go about accomplishing that without scalping issues?


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

rho9296 said:


> Sorry, since I'm totally new to this not sure I understand. How gradually do you have to bring down you HOC? I took a third the first time down to 2.5-3 in, then down to the 1.5-2 in it is now about 3-4 days later (still taking off only the top 3rd). Since I have a rotary mower the height increases/decreases are fairly substantial from one "notch" to the next. I would like to have it at least as short as the 1.5-2 it is now. How would you go about accomplishing that without scalping issues?


Scalping has 2 meaning when it comes to lawns. An intentional scalp is used to lower your HOC all at once. Sometimes referred to as a reset. You mow your lawn lower than you want to maintain it then raise your height for the next cut. If you want 1.5"-2" you will want to scalp down to 1.25". 
The other scalp is when you accidentally take off too much in an area and get brown spots.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

For a rotary mower, figure out which notch you want to maintain the height at and then cut it one notch below that. That will be your reset. After that, just maintain at the desired notch.


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## rho9296 (Jul 17, 2019)

Thanks all for the feedback!


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## Dawg1419 (Jun 26, 2019)

Was the 16-4-8 slow release? If not all the nitrogen is gone.


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## SputhernThunder (May 18, 2020)

I had similar issues after I had 17k sq of tiftuf sod Laid at our newly constructed home In march of 2019 here in Charlotte NC. After root establishment I attempted to maintain at 2 inches with my JD 42 in Riding rotary mower. I ended up at 2.5" to help reduce Frequent scalping of ares where I exposed the stems. This all resulted in even taller stems, lots of clippings, and mushrooms growing as dirt unDear the shade canopy of the turf. It Looked almost exactly like the pictures you posted.

This year, 2020, I cut and bagged it all with mower setting as low as it would go. I was Worried I destroyed my investment as it looked like there was little lateral growth at soil level. I also had a soil test done. The soil was very low on potassium and phosphorus as well as a PH of only 6. I had them treat the soil with lime to start to raise the PH and apply a 10-20-20 Fertilizer to help address the P&K deficiency. I then started cutting With The John Deere set to 1". It has come back and is greening Nicely even though it has been a cold spring in our area.

I have added additional nitrogen to try and jumpstart growth. Once I am mowing 1-2 Times a week to maintain the 1 inch height I plan to Have the entire are sand smoothEd. The 1 inch has addressed the scalping but has also exposed how uneven my yard is. Certain ares are still over 2". Ex, lower areas where sprinkler lines were installed, several ankle breaker holes and dips.

Bottom line... TifTuf seems to really thrive when maintained at 1 inch or less. Low cut It also helps manage the mushrooms and other fungus as the surface area is dryer and brighter.


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## TC2 (Sep 15, 2017)

Just a note on scalping. Bermuda, especially at higher heights, grows like a little tree. The blades will be at the top of a woody stem. If you're scalping at a high HOC, it's because you're cutting the blades off the top and leaving the trunk. The blades will grow back, but above the point you cut, so every time you mow you will scalp it. You can "reset" the blade height by cutting below where you would normally cut, ie cut at 1" if maintaining above 1.5".

Bermuda does so well cut low because then the stems don't rise up off the ground, and instead lie completely flat with only the blades rising up.


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

I installed some Tiftuf last year and had similar issues with mushrooms (sod is probably grown on compost, possibly some manure too), legginess, scalp marks fungus, etc.. It never looked really good until this year - when I started reel mowing it low i.e. 1/2 inch - it's thick and beautiful and healthy. I've not done anything except a 1/2 lb N-P-K per M so far.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

Bermuda is a completely different grass when mowed under an inch. I would say most of the cultivars are at their best between 3/8" and 3/4" HOC. Anything over 1.5" gets leggy and ugly in my opinion.


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

Redtwin said:


> Bermuda is a completely different grass when mowed under an inch. I would say most of the cultivars are at their best between 3/8" and 3/4" HOC. Anything over 1.5" gets leggy and ugly in my opinion.


100% right on.


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

cglarsen said:


> Redtwin said:
> 
> 
> > Bermuda is a completely different grass when mowed under an inch. I would say most of the cultivars are at their best between 3/8" and 3/4" HOC. Anything over 1.5" gets leggy and ugly in my opinion.
> ...


I concur.

When you see scalp marks in your turf, take a nail or other object and check its height. Compare this to a green area. More than likely you will find the wheels (one of more) dipped into a low spot/hole, and the blade dipped and cut the grass lower at this troublespot. There's only one cure for this disease... leveling your lawn.

It makes a huge difference. You can also shine headlights from your car across the lawn at night and get a much better idea of how uneven the surface is.

A reel mower will do better in this respect because it's front to rear distance is typically less than a rotary. The side-to-side is not changed unless you're using a reel with a roller, hence the popularity of rollers with many people here.

Good luck.


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

LoCutt said:


> cglarsen said:
> 
> 
> > Redtwin said:
> ...


8000 SF feet with a tri-plex? Well done sir. I'll put my wife in touch with you shortly for a point of comparison.


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

cglarsen said:


> 8000 SF feet with a tri-plex? Well done sir. I'll put my wife in touch with you shortly for a point of comparison.


Actually the tri-plex is sitting in my garage, unused. I'm now mowing with a walk-behind. Did I mention I have several mowers... but most of them have some nagging problem.

It was great using it. I mowed three times per week. I cheated and only did the trim work once a week. Part of the reason was the inability of those little-bitty reels to take off much grass. Plus it always looked good. Most of the time I mowed it one direction which means you couldn't tell how it was mowed. Twice I caught people standing in the lawn with their cars parked in the street. I'd say "May I help you?" They'd reply "The wife and I were arguing over whether it was real or artificial and we just wanted to see."

This is disastrous for your ability to make rational decisions. I don't have that problem any more since I have dead spots (trees grew up and shaded areas) and two infestations of emerald zoysia. IT took me a while to figure out how a grass that must be vegetatively propagated got in my lawn.

At 62 inches per pass, it doesn't take long to mow. Most of the time I'd only empty the baskets once, or not at all. I mowed from 3/8 to 9/16-- it wouldn't cut higher than 9/16.


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