# Bermuda HOC reset



## harmonjw (May 29, 2020)

Looking for some advice on how to handle a HOC reset for tifway 419. I leveled the lawn back in june and it has filled in fairly well until recently. I popped the HOC up to 1.75" on my super recycler, and that is the second lowest setting. I am thinking i need to drop it back down to 1.25" and bag. I know it will look bad for a week or so, but i would like to encourage it to thicken back up. If i drop it down to 1.25", should continue cutting it at the same height to get it to spread, or pop it back up to 1.75" immediately?

Also, a couple of other items:
1. I plan to put fertilizer down right after dropping the HOC
2. Should I try to veritcut at this time as well, or wait a couple of weeks after dropping the HOC?
3. I have a timemaster on the way, should be here Monday or Tuesday. I am hoping this takes my cut time from 1.25 hr to 50 minutes or less.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

You're going to want to maintain at a higher HOC than your scalp height. If it is green at 1.75", I would leave it there. If you want to drop your HOC down to 1.25", you will have to figure out how to scalp below that.


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## cavince79 (Jun 18, 2019)

Depending on the mower, I've been known to move a push mower's height adjustments beyond the last "click" and try to get it to rest at a height below my lowest setting. It normally rests somewhere beyond that and stops and I can mow. Then I've raised back up to the lowest actual setting on the mower.

Edit to add that this worked better on my old Toro than it does my current Honda.


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## StormTrooper86 (Feb 3, 2019)

Yeah you need to cut lower then 1.25 if you want to maintain at 1.25. Once you cut if you water heavy it should be fine with no fertilizer. But if you'd like to throw out Fert I'd use XGRN 8-1-8.


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## ChessCharlie (Jul 5, 2020)

To build on this question.. I have my Honda at lowest setting.. but each time I cut it's halfway brown.. if I cut it very frequently for a while.. (say every 2 or 3 days maybe?) will it train it to green up at that height without having to scalp even lower, or do I HAVE to basically find a way to scalp below?

My problem now is that I want to keep it at the lowest height on my Honda but I don't know how to get it lower? I'm thinking maybe get a cheap manual reel mower just for scalping.. but not sure if that would work or if anyone has experience doing that method?


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ChessCharlie said:


> To build on this question.. I have my Honda at lowest setting.. but each time I cut it's halfway brown.. if I cut it very frequently for a while.. (say every 2 or 3 days maybe?) will it train it to green up at that height without having to scalp even lower, or do I HAVE to basically find a way to scalp below?
> 
> My problem now is that I want to keep it at the lowest height on my Honda but I don't know how to get it lower? I'm thinking maybe get a cheap manual reel mower just for scalping.. but not sure if that would work or if anyone has experience doing that method?


Unless you are in extremely great physical shape taking bermuda down with a manual reel is a back breaking venture. Especially if you are using a cheap manual reel. 8000 sq ft is a lot to do with one.


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## BermudaBoy (Jun 27, 2019)

ChessCharlie said:


> To build on this question.. I have my Honda at lowest setting.. but each time I cut it's halfway brown.. if I cut it very frequently for a while.. (say every 2 or 3 days maybe?) will it train it to green up at that height without having to scalp even lower, or do I HAVE to basically find a way to scalp below?
> 
> My problem now is that I want to keep it at the lowest height on my Honda but I don't know how to get it lower? I'm thinking maybe get a cheap manual reel mower just for scalping.. but not sure if that would work or if anyone has experience doing that method?


You will curse the day you were born using a manual reel, especially if you have a well maintained lawn. I scalp my lawn in the spring for green-up with a manual reel and it takes several mowings gradually lowering the cutting height to get it done and my lawn is smaller than yours. This is after my rotary has done the bulk of the work. Proceed with caution.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

You would be better off scalping it down with a string trimmer and then picking up the clippings with your rotary.


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## PIX (Jun 25, 2020)

I use a manual reel mower to scalp/reset my HOC (Northbridge bermuda) and I can tell you that I tracked my heart rate with a Garmin instinct and I averaged 153 beats per minute for 51 minutes straight and that was just the front yard 3000 square feet....did the back yard the next day....1.5 hrs at 151 beats per minute 4000 square feet. #workoutthehellout

Since then I have been looking at powered reel mowers&#129322;


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## ChessCharlie (Jul 5, 2020)

Thanks guys! Saved me busting my butt! Will frequent mows (every other day for a while?) at this lowest setting train it to come in better then and allow me to avoid scalping?


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## BermudaBoy (Jun 27, 2019)

ChessCharlie said:


> Thanks guys! Saved me busting my butt! Will frequent mows (every other day for a while?) at this lowest setting train it to come in better then and allow me to avoid scalping?


The only way to get your lawn to stay green at your current height is to drop your mower below that height and "scalp". Hit it with plenty of water and add a little fertilizer and begin cutting at your desired height. If you keep cutting at your current height you're just gonna keep seeing brown.

I went through this process almost two weeks ago and it's come back better looking than before. I've had the benefits of some monsoons to provide water and added some XGRN to help push growth. It's a necessary evil.


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## 985arrowhead (Jul 15, 2018)

I put a couple washers on my Honda to lower the blade to get "lower" than the Lowest notch for the HOC.

I have been keeping my HOC slightly higher in the back and seems to have helped with the dog spots but was still to tall.

I placed 4 stainless washers on each bolt to lower the blade and scalped my back yard today and so effectively the lowest notch is scalp and the second notch is now my HOC.

Still cutting my front with the JD @ .5.


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## NWGALawn706 (May 19, 2020)

Jumping in here...
If you scalp at yard and maintain at the scalp level, all you will see is brown? It will never green up?


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## BermudaBoy (Jun 27, 2019)

NWGALawn706 said:


> Jumping in here...
> If you scalp at yard and maintain at the scalp level, all you will see is brown? It will never green up?


That is correct. You need to raise your mower up one level to see green.


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

I have been rehabilitating my lawns all season since the Spring greenup.

I scalped my front yard very early, down to 1.25 inches, and it has really helped how it looks now.

I got a little too enthusiastic and ended up opening up the soil to a bunch of winter weeds.

I have been mowing the yard primarily to get the grass growing laterally and to chop down weeds.

It looks very nice since the yellow woody parts of the grass stem are pretty much gone now.

The back yard was much longer in length, near six inches when I started mowing it back down.

I did not scalp it all at once. I was concerned it would harm the turf, and way too much yard waste.

I mowed it lower each time I mowed, in 1/4 inch increments, bagging and hauling off the clippings.

I got it down to 1.75 inches, and the entire yard was yellow straw in color, and looked like it died off.

So, I backed off, and let it grow back, raising my height of cut back to 2 inches, and then 2.25 inches.

The grass has rebounded nicely, and the whole yard looks nice and green again. My wife is happy.

It is so hot now I am going to keep the back between 2 and 3 inches until Fall.

I had weeds out back too, but not as many as out front because the weed seeds were shaded.

I have not used preemergent on either the front or the back. I had to attend to family matters. :|

I paid the price with winter weed explosions, and have been trying to mow my way out of that....

The point is, if you get it to looking like dead wheat fields, let it grow some to get blades to leaf out.

Let it turn green so it can make chlorophyll and feed itself some, so it will grow back in.

I was worried I went too far in the recent heat wave, but the Bermuda has bounced back real well.

I am about to give it some fertilizer for the first time this year, so it should start to really grow out.

I plan to keep mowing it low and then higher on HOC to encourage lateral versus vertical growth.

You can cut it down to the woody sheath showing with no green anywhere. It does recover nicely.

And I have been able to keep the weeds down in the back using mowing/cultivation techniques.

The lawns are both looking much better, but now I must turn to fertilizing and weed control more....


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## TherapyRequired (May 13, 2020)

This thread gave me the push to reset my HOC. The sod was laid in the spring and it was a little too rough to scalp then.

I have been mowing at the second to lowest setting 1-3/4". I let it get away about a month ago and since then I'd have areas where the canopy would be cut off every time. Rather than raise it for the rest of the season I decided to drop it to the lowest setting (1-1/8") on my HRR216 to scalp then maintain at 1-3/4".

I'm betting on myself quite a bit here since I don't have irrigation and will be setting and moving sprinklers a lot this week!

I did the first corner last night and it certainly has me a bit nervous!





I have been mulching in the back so when I did this scalp I bagged it. Filled 12 construction sized trash bags!!

I put a little less than 0.5lbs N down 10 days ago so this evening I'll spread Solutions Pest & Lawn Pro Grow Summer Blend 19-4-10 at another 0.5lbs N rate.

If this doesn't work imma be in a world of hurt! My wife is less than thrilled with my decision since we will be having some immediate family over in 14 days for my son's 5th birthday.


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## BermudaBoy (Jun 27, 2019)

Maybe this will give you some hope @TherapyRequired. Tomorrow will be exactly two weeks since I did my HOC reset. There was still dew when I mowed as I was trying to beat a rainstorm and my blades got bogged down in some areas with all of the wet grass and absolutely destroyed certain areas of my lawn but even with that it has rebounded nicely.

I'm like you. I only have a couple of sprinklers and I put down some XGRN and it's been growing like crazy and looks better than before. Keep hope alive!


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## Bryceowright (Apr 25, 2020)

I have a Honda Rotary and had been cutting at the lowest setting. It was looking really nice until we went on vacation for 10 days. When we got back I cut at the next notch up (1.5"?) and it was looking really green but did not look as nice and smooth at the lowest setting. Mowed at 1.5" more frequently for a couple weeks then 2 days after mowing brought back down to the lowest setting. I threw a pound of nitrogen/1000sqft down right after the decreasing the HOC mow to help push the growth. It looked horrible for a couple days and scalped in some uneven areas (I really need to top dress!), but after about 3 mows (week and a half) at the lowered high it is back to the nice green I had before vacation. I'm not sure about what everyone else is saying but it's working out fine for me. I do have an irrigation system, though, and have been watering the crap out of it. We've also gotten a fair amount of rain.

Good luck.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

@TherapyRequired, sounds like you are doing it the right way and you (along with your wife) will be happy with the results in a few weeks. Keep it irrigated properly and it will green back up quick. Keep mowing at the maintenance HOC every few days even when it feels like you aren't cutting anything off.


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## TherapyRequired (May 13, 2020)

@Bryceowright @Redtwin

Thanks for the encouragement!

I was setting up the hose end sprayer for a humic/fulvic application this evening and my 7 year old asked me "dadda, you think it's going to work?" I asked what. She said, "the grass growing back. It looks really bad."

Lol.

I figure if ever I was going to do it this late in Texas it's now since there is a 40% chance of rain Tuesday and Wednesday and the temps won't be in the 100's!


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## ChessCharlie (Jul 5, 2020)

Keep us posted @TherapyRequired! I do think your kiddo will be pleased in a couple weeks though. Hopefully for your sake in time for the party lol!

I need to get out there and do my back yard on Honda's lowest cut setting. I have been mowing like 2-3 times a week though (splitting up my yard into sections) so I think my neighbors think I am crazy. And I probably am.

I've got some bare spots in the back yard though that are slow to fill in so I'm going to scalp on lowest setting, run my new Sun Joe scarifier, and maybe put down another 0.5 lb of nitrogen to see about getting those spots filled in.


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

Thatch rises to meet you, and it's not green. Bermuda is not the fastest growing grass vertically, but generally regarded as the fastest horizontally. So if your low mow doesn't work to get the green back, chances are the brown you're seeing is stolons which will never be green. The solution is to verticut/dethatch.

For Bermuda to be vigorous, it needs horizontal room to grow, which means you should regularly verticut/dethatch. How often is determined by growth rate which means a combination of weather, other environmental factors, HOC, fertility, and water. Other benefits to thinning stolons include less fungus, a more upright growth of the leaves, and improved fertilizer incorporation into the soil. Good luck.


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## TherapyRequired (May 13, 2020)

I'm 7 days into my reset. A few spots really scalped and are slow to rebound. I gave it another little boost of fertilizer yesterday.

Trying to mow every 2 days to make sure I don't let the already tall get too tall. That has me put there pushing a mower across the yard like a fool mowing nothing!

Mowed this morning. Here is the update so far. I think I'll have most back looking healthy for next Sunday.

This was Friday:


Today:


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

TherapyRequired said:


> Trying to mow every 2 days to make sure I don't let the already tall get too tall. That has me put there pushing a mower across the yard like a fool mowing nothing!


That's exactly what you have to do after a HOC reset. It should feel like you are cutting nothing off. Keep at it; it's recovering very well.


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

Can anyone explain to me why a mid-summer HOC reset is needed? I find my lawn looks "brown" after I mow it. I obviously did a spring scalp and raised the mower notch after that to my maintenance HOC. What happens that requires you to have to do it again? I've never understood this. Does more grass "die" during the spring/summer?


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

@Jeremy3292 It usually happens because your mowing frequency isn't keeping up with the growth of the grass so you end up scalping when you mow. The cure is to either raise your HOC or do a reset scalp.


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

Redtwin said:


> @Jeremy3292 It usually happens because your mowing frequency isn't keeping up with the growth of the grass so you end up scalping when you mow. The cure is to either raise your HOC or do a reset scalp.


Every time I mow wouldn't I be cutting the stalk off at the same spot though? If my scalp height is 1" and my maintenance height is 1.5", I'm always cutting the stalk off at 1.5". So I should have 0.5" of green stalk, no?


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

Spring time you scalped VERY low, let's say down to 1/4" and started maintaining at 1/2". As the season progresses you are mowing every 3 days and are really only cutting 1/8" off each mowing. As the weather warms up, you fertilize, and you get a lot of rain, the grass starts to grow very quickly. Now you are cutting 1/4" off at each mowing every three days. Sooner or later life will happen and you will have to mow a day late and it starts to slightly scalp each mow. Now you have 3 choices...

1. Continue to mow at 1/2" and just deal with the scalp marks and poor appearance.
2. Raise your HOC to 5/8".
3. Do a HOC reset scalp down to 3/8" and continue maintaining at 1/2".

That is the reason for mid-season reset scalps... life happens, mowing sessions get missed, grass grows fast.


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## Jeremy3292 (Apr 30, 2020)

Redtwin said:


> Spring time you scalped VERY low, let's say down to 1/4" and started maintaining at 1/2". As the season progresses you are mowing every 3 days and are really only cutting 1/8" off each mowing. As the weather warms up, you fertilize, and you get a lot of rain, the grass starts to grow very quickly. Now you are cutting 1/4" off at each mowing every three days. Sooner or later life will happen and you will have to mow a day late and it starts to slightly scalp each mow. Now you have 3 choices...
> 
> 1. Continue to mow at 1/2" and just deal with the scalp marks and poor appearance.
> 2. Raise your HOC to 5/8".
> ...


I probably just don't understand the brown/green ratio. Once I scalp at 1", isn't that where the brown stalk always will be? Or you're saying if you miss mowing, the brown stalk creeps up to say 1.25" or 1.5" and is no longer at 1"?


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

Correct... they will creep up. At least with Bermuda, as the green creeps up, so does the brown.


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## TampaBayFL (Jul 24, 2020)

Redtwin said:


> Now you have 3 choices...
> 
> 1. Continue to mow at 1/2" and just deal with the scalp marks and poor appearance.
> 2. Raise your HOC to 5/8".
> ...


As a total newbie this year, I learned this very quickly. I couldn't figure out why at the same HOC, when I was mowing every two or three days, that sometimes certain areas would look lightly scalped. it was nothing bad, but they looked a little less green than they had prior. So, I would then raise the HOC up a little bit, and it would go away. But then I realized, "hey! this grass is too tall now  ) so I would drop it back down again slowly.

A few months into this routine I figured out I simply have to mow it every day......And when I look at the clippings, it appears there is something appoaching 1/2" of vertical growth per day.

PGR starts tomorrow!


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

When I was mowing at 3/8", I had to mow every day without PGR and I was still cutting too much off. I'm still in the process of balancing my nitrogen input along with PGR rates to find a happy balance where I can mow every third day while still allowing me to be a day late in case something happens and I can't mow.


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## TampaBayFL (Jul 24, 2020)

Yeah, as I have gotten more into this hobby, I have learned there truly is a bit of a razors edge that has to be walked on when cutting low and with "golf course type grasses". My previous decades with the lawn have always been Saint Augustine and with its much taller HOC, it always seemed far far far more forgiving.......As long as it doesn't get chinch bugs


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

TampaBayFL said:


> As long as it doesn't get chinch bugs


...or grey leaf spot, or rhizoctonia, or torpedograss, or common bermuda... the list goes on.


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