# Bermuda germinating then just staring at me



## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

.
It's like it's mocking my excitement.

I seeded this area on May 11th and then saw the beginnings of germination on the 18th. Having only seeded fescue and rye before, I was expecting those little babies to be showing themselves more by now, but you still have to get right down on the ground to see them. They're all over, but none of them seem to be growing. With fescue or rye you'd see a green haze at this point, but I know bermuda is a different animal.

I put down 13-13-13 yesterday so perhaps I just need that to kick in? It has also gotten cooler and more rainy after being great conditions for the first ~8 days post-seeding. Soil temps are ~65F but air temps have been set back to 70F days/57F nights for a few days. They're supposed to warm up after today, but more rain is also coming.

Here's a closeup what they look like now-- you can see grains of sand and granules from the 13-13-13 for perspective. Is this normal for 3 days after first sight? It just feels like they're going nowhere, and I'm getting impatient. This is Royal TXD (Mirage II, Royal Bengal, Yukon) by the way.


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

I know some of the nicer bermuda does "sprout and pout" so could be. You can look up on NTEP to see how fast establishment is for those varieites, but my guess is the cooler weather has slowed them down. Unless they start dying, i would't worry.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

ktgrok said:


> I know some of the nicer bermuda does "sprout and pout" so could be. You can look up on NTEP to see how fast establishment is for those varieites, but my guess is the cooler weather has slowed them down. Unless they start dying, i would't worry.


I know Yukon is a notoriously slow starter, but I believe Mirage II and Royal Bengal are supposed to establish relatively quickly. I'm sure it's the weather above all, but it's just so weird to see it poke its head out and then go nowhere!


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## Millennial Mower (Mar 23, 2020)

Im in N Ga so we are in the same weather pattern right now. Starting Sat you should start to see perfect weather for your germination. Keep us updated on the progress!


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

Millennial Mower said:


> Im in N Ga so we are in the same weather pattern right now. Starting Sat you should start to see perfect weather for your germination. Keep us updated on the progress!


Fingers crossed! I still have annual rye growing back there, so I will have to get out and mow it again before long. . . think I should go ahead and do it before more seedlings come up? It's probably ~1" right now and I would cut it back to 0.5" or 0.75".


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## Millennial Mower (Mar 23, 2020)

If it was me, I would let the hot weather roll in. Monday start with cutting it back. If you need to drop .5", cut it once removing 1/4 and then the next doing the same thing. I have no science as to why I would do this, its just my thought process haha


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

Millennial Mower said:


> If it was me, I would let the hot weather roll in. Monday start with cutting it back. If you need to drop .5", cut it once removing 1/4 and then the next doing the same thing. I have no science as to why I would do this, its just my thought process haha


Since the annual rye is really just a nurse crop I don't mind scalping it. So I'll just cut all the way down whenever I do . . . I just want to make sure I do as little damage to the bermuda seedlings as possible in the process. I'll have to walk on them but at least my manual reel won't suck them out of the ground.


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

Bermuda_Rooster said:


> ktgrok said:
> 
> 
> > I know some of the nicer bermuda does "sprout and pout" so could be. You can look up on NTEP to see how fast establishment is for those varieites, but my guess is the cooler weather has slowed them down. Unless they start dying, i would't worry.
> ...


Yeah, I'm surprised by the royal bengal, but then again, those are pretty low temperatures for bermuda germination.


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

oh....you seeded the bermuda into the rye? Rye can have allelopathy if I remember right...puts out it's own pre-emergent chemicals so that could be part of the issue?


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

ktgrok said:


> oh....you seeded the bermuda into the rye? Rye can have allelopathy if I remember right...puts out it's own pre-emergent chemicals so that could be part of the issue?


In this area there's no rye and fresh soil, so that's not what's going on.

In the rest of the yard there is rye, and I was going to kill it until talking with Hancock Seed. They said that there's really no difference in killing it and not killing it, and that it was mainly personal preference. I prefer keeping it to help prevent runoff and keep the yard from being a muddy mess. I had heard about alleleopathy with ryegrass but decided to trust the seed provider (of both seeds, FWIW). We'll see if that was a wise move.

I've decided to get out there this afternoon when it's as dry as possible (more rain coming tomorrow) to mow and drop 13-13-13 everywhere else. I'm going to look for seedlings out in the annual ryegrass area while I'm at it. Stay tuned!


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

Bermuda_Rooster said:


> ktgrok said:
> 
> 
> > oh....you seeded the bermuda into the rye? Rye can have allelopathy if I remember right...puts out it's own pre-emergent chemicals so that could be part of the issue?
> ...


That makes sense as far as run off protection. I'm eager to see what happens, you have a nice experiment going for us all!


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

ktgrok said:


> That makes sense as far as run off protection. I'm eager to see what happens, you have a nice experiment going for us all!


Between the ryegrass, the weather, the new construction soil, and the herbicide app, if I close 2020 with a good stand it'll be a _strong_ endorsement of Royal TXD and seeding bermuda generally. Thanks for your interest!


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## SWB (Sep 22, 2018)

A small area seeded with Yukon 6 days ago.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

SWB said:


> A small area seeded with Yukon 6 days ago.


I can't tell what I'm looking at . . . pic 1 looks bare but pic 2 looks like it has areas of green. What are you seeing? What was your method and seeding rate? 6 days seems very fast for Knoxville with the weather we've around here!


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## SWB (Sep 22, 2018)

Here's two pics taken taken Thursday 5/14 when it was seeded.



Heres a close up that I just took a minute ago.


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## SWB (Sep 22, 2018)

Bermuda_Rooster said:


> SWB said:
> 
> 
> > A small area seeded with Yukon 6 days ago.
> ...


I'm seeding 3lb/1k. I have another 1.5 acres I'll be seeding soon if the rain lets the ground dry some.
The sun came out....here's a pic with a little better contrast.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

SWB said:


> I'm seeding 3lb/1k. I have another 1.5 acres I'll be seeding soon if the rain lets the ground dry some.


Your progress looks awesome! And at the same time has me concerned about mine . . . I'm seeding at 2lb/k or a little less, so that is playing some role, but my seedlings also look much smaller at roughly the same point in time. Did you put down a starter?

It also seems like you have some great equipment and I'm working mainly with my two hands, so I'll use that excuse if I need to.


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## SWB (Sep 22, 2018)

Bermuda_Rooster said:


> SWB said:
> 
> 
> > I'm seeding 3lb/1k. I have another 1.5 acres I'll be seeding soon if the rain lets the ground dry some.
> ...


Yes on starter. Full disclosure I had a partial bag of starter fertilizer left over from some rye I seeded last fall so I just set my Lesco spreader on #14 and covered the area without actually calculating how much should have gone down. I don't think I'm off by much though. That area is pretty shaped by the pine trees so the best germination will be by the drive. The rest will be covered with pine needles by next year.
Don't give up on your seeds just yet. You don't need fancy equipment to grow grass. How deep did you plant?


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

SWB said:


> Don't give up on your seeds just yet. You don't need fancy equipment to grow grass. How deep did you plant?


They're pressed into the soil (after a light disturbance with a dethatching rake) and topdressed with ~1/8" of peat moss.

Germination has been good-- It's just growth after emergence that has seemingly stalled. I didn't put down any fert until yesterday, 9 days post-seeding and 2 days post-emergence. So I'm thinking that could be a factor.


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## SWB (Sep 22, 2018)

Bermuda_Rooster said:


> SWB said:
> 
> 
> > Don't give up on your seeds just yet. You don't need fancy equipment to grow grass. How deep did you plant?
> ...


I agree on the fertilizer...update this thread a week from now.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

SWB said:


> I agree on the fertilizer...update this thread a week from now.


 :thumbup: Thanks man!


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

@ktgrok , @SWB , I got out in the yard last night to mow the rye and fertilize the rest of the seeded area. There are definitely seedlings out there too, 8 days from seeding that part. They're also tiny, but I'm working on my patience.


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

8 days from seeding and cold weather? Looks great! Patience, my friend.


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