# How many bushels of bermuda sprigs per thousand square feet?



## daganh62 (May 4, 2018)

​ I have seen recommendations of anywhere from 4 to 20 bushels of sprigs per thousand square feet for bermuda grass. Has anyone done it if so do you have any tips and how many bushels do I need to get?


----------



## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

10-15 per M is ideal.


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

10 is about right. I did 80 bushels of Patriot Bermuda stolons on a 8k sf yard and it was plenty even with die-off from drying out. 
Funny. Here is my yard just after I laid the stolons back in 2012. Google maps still hasnt updated the street view...

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.2888507,-77.3688166,3a,43.9y,373.21h,86.22t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVy5bM-HRot2GgY2_j9Iz9Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Also, Youll notice my across the street neighbor made a HUGE mistake when he laid his stolons. I told him not to do it but he did it anyway...He tilled in the stolons in after he laid them. Big Mistake. Did nothing but kick up buried seeds.

Just dust the dirt with stolons and leave them be. Water it 4-6 times a day in 10 minute intervals for the first 5 days and leave them be. The stolons will root themselves after a week. After 2 weeks, you can mow. After 4 weeks you have an established lawn.

My neighbor fought weeds for 6 months after tilling because someone told him to do it.

That was the 4th bermuda lawn I established using my method.


----------



## dpainter68 (Apr 26, 2017)

@RDZed Looks like you had pretty good coverage with 10 bushels/k. The street view was taken right after you put them down? I'm getting ready to do about 38k sqft with TifTuf and was thinking of using 800 bushels. You think that's overkill?  I thought about covering them with about 1/8"-1/4" of sand after laying them to help hold moisture in... your thoughts?


----------



## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

How is your kill off going?


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

dpainter68 said:


> @RDZed Looks like you had pretty good coverage with 10 bushels/k. The street view was taken right after you put them down? I'm getting ready to do about 38k sqft with TifTuf and was thinking of using 800 bushels. You think that's overkill?  I thought about covering them with about 1/8"-1/4" of sand after laying them to help hold moisture in... your thoughts?


Yeah man, 10 per 1k was fine. Street view was taken 5 days after I laid the stolons. Same with my across the street neighbor and look at the difference. I know because my other neighbor had her recycling out. It was a Friday the pic was taken. I laid the grass the Sunday prior.

No on the sand. Just lay down the stolons about an inch thick and water the living s--- out of it for 2 weeks. Extra hard the first week. People need to feel like they've done all they could to make things work. Most times its Occam's Razor, less is more. Simple ground contact, hydration and food is the best.

If anything, rent a roller and flatten the stolons into the soil. Just DONT till them in. Lol


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Also, throw down some starter fert just before you lay the stolons.


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

I might put together a step-by-step-how-to doc for soil sterilization prep for Stolon/Sprig plantings for Warm Season Lawns. I've personally done well over a dozen lawns over the last 30 years using a method that was tought to me by a 60 year Golf Course Superintendent in Hawaii. I've done hybrid Bermuda, Seashore Paspalum, St. Aug, Centipede and Zoysia lawns using his plan. If it stolons or rhizomes, I've got a pretty good recipe for success.

Edit: Warm Season turf grass sod purchases are a complete waste of money. Yet people keep buying it. You will establish a deeply rooted lawn 20x faster with stolons/rhizomes than you will with sod.


----------



## daganh62 (May 4, 2018)

RDZed said:


> I might put together a step-by-step-how-to doc for soil sterilization prep for Stolon/Sprig plantings for Warm Season Lawns. I've personally done well over a dozen lawns over the last 30 years using a method that was tought to me by a 60 year Golf Course Superintendent in Hawaii. I've done hybrid Bermuda, Seashore Paspalum, St. Aug, Centipede and Zoysia lawns using his plan. If it stolons or rhizomes, I've got a pretty good recipe for success.
> 
> Edit: Warm Season turf grass sod purchases are a complete waste of money. Yet people keep buying it. You will establish a deeply rooted lawn 20x faster with stolons/rhizomes than you will with sod.


Thanks I would be interested in reading that.


----------



## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

daganh62 said:


> RDZed said:
> 
> 
> > I might put together a step-by-step-how-to doc for soil sterilization prep for Stolon/Sprig plantings for Warm Season Lawns. I've personally done well over a dozen lawns over the last 30 years using a method that was tought to me by a 60 year Golf Course Superintendent in Hawaii. I've done hybrid Bermuda, Seashore Paspalum, St. Aug, Centipede and Zoysia lawns using his plan. If it stolons or rhizomes, I've got a pretty good recipe for success.
> ...


I would too!


----------



## dpainter68 (Apr 26, 2017)

I would be interested in reading that also. How much do I need to water them the first week?

My kill off is going slow... I didn't realize it was so hard to kill Bermuda lol


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

dpainter68 said:


> I would be interested in reading that also. How much do I need to water them the first week?
> 
> My kill off is going slow... I didn't realize it was so hard to kill Bermuda lol


Water as much as it takes to keep both the stolons and soil moist at all times. I know thats not a concise answer but it all depends on your temps, humidity and soil type.

IIRC, My schedule for the first week was 8 cycles of 5 minutes each from 10am to 5pm, every 50 minutes, for 7 days. Then after I saw the nodes were rooting, I dropped it back to 5 cycles at 5 min between 12pm and 5 pm. Those hours are the hours you will lose most water to evap. The 'Golden Hours". 3rd week was 3 times a day. 4th week was regular schedule.

Edit: It was also the first week of June and the daytime temps were already in the mid 80's. My front lawn faces due sout to open sun from sunrise to sunset so it got absolutely blasted by sun for 13+ hours a day.


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Cory said:


> daganh62 said:
> 
> 
> > RDZed said:
> ...


Cool. I'll try to put something together in the next few days.


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

RDZed said:


> Water as much as it takes to keep both the stolons and soil moist at all times. I know thats not a concise answer but it all depends on your temps, humidity and soil type.


GPM also plays into this.


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

dpainter68 said:


> I would be interested in reading that also. How much do I need to water them the first week?
> 
> My kill off is going slow... I didn't realize it was so hard to kill Bermuda lol


Feel free to include triclopyr and/or fluazifop. However, both will require you to wait 2-3 weeks from last application until sprigging.


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

osuturfman said:


> 10-15 per M is ideal.


For that number are we talking crimped in sprigs or broadcast stolonizing?


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Got this question in a DM. Its relevant to this discussion...

Q: "I plan to harvest my own sprigs.. do you just broadcast them and lay them on the dirt and keep watered? Or should I do any light topdressing with sand or anything?"

A:Just dust the sprigs over the soil. Make sure when you cut the stolons that you have intact 'nodes' touching the ground. If its just grass clippings, they wont root.

I wouldn't use sand. At this point you need something that will retain moisture like a fine mulch or Peat moss. Sand cant do that. It might actually aid in evaporation because it holds heat. The key is keeping the stolon and soil as moist as possible, as long as possible. Put down the stolons and then spread the fine mulch or Peat over the stolons. Water the snot out of it until the media is wet and try to keep it swollen with moisture.


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Movingshrub said:


> RDZed said:
> 
> 
> > Water as much as it takes to keep both the stolons and soil moist at all times. I know thats not a concise answer but it all depends on your temps, humidity and soil type.
> ...


Absolutely. Too many variants.


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

RDZed said:


> Got this question in a DM. Its relevant to this discussion...
> 
> Q: "I plan to harvest my own sprigs.. do you just broadcast them and lay them on the dirt and keep watered? Or should I do any light topdressing with sand or anything?"
> 
> ...


Understood that the objective is good stolon to soil contact, whether that's via crimping the stolons, aka sprigging, or if broadcast stolonizing, you could roll to promote contract or top dress. For top dressing, I think peat moss, soil, or sand all work in different capacities. For stolonized putting greens, they broadcast the stolons, roll, and then top dress with sand. I stolonized two separate areas, once using a roller and the other top dressed with sand. I felt like I had better results with a light amount of sand, but was just my experience.

Aside from a verticutter, got any suggestions on how to harvest your own sprigs?


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

I gotcha. I was going for more general broadcast of stolons versus sprigging, although i used both terms. The terms have become blurred in recent years.

I mentioned rolling them out after the stolon app in a previous post. I generally dont find it necessary but some dont like the clumpiness of freshly laid stolons. That and it really doesn't hurt to do it.

Only time ive ever harvested my own stolons, I cut super low (not scalp), run a tine dethatcher over the lawn to pull up the runners and then run my bagged rotatory mower with a high lift blade over it. Mower set to the highest level.

IIRC, I think I managed to pull up about 6 bags worth of runners, all different lengths and sizes. They were pretty damaged but recovered just fine. Not the ideal way to go about it but it works.

As for the sand, thats just my personal opinion. Getting the roots down is my first concern. Leveling or topdressing can come later. That and I dont have endless amounts of water to dump like GC's do.

In Hawaii, I had the best results using shredded Redwood bark on SP.

Here in Va, I didnt put anything on top of the stolons. Their own weight and my watering sched managed to work out.


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Best way to put them down, ive found is to take 2 handfuls and rub them together like a cheerleader with grass pom-poms...until nothing is left. Silly but effective.


----------



## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

Movingshrub said:


> osuturfman said:
> 
> 
> > 10-15 per M is ideal.
> ...


Broadcast then ideally rolled to promote better contact with the soil.


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

osuturfman said:


> Movingshrub said:
> 
> 
> > osuturfman said:
> ...


My point was that you may need different application rates, based on die off rate, which can be impacted by method of planting; crimped or not.


----------



## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

Movingshrub said:


> osuturfman said:
> 
> 
> > Movingshrub said:
> ...


Good point. In my limited experience with sprigging, so long as you have healthy, actively growing sod to turn into sprigs, coupled with excellent water management, you will have a negligible amount of losses.

Here's a great study on four sites using Latitude 36 sprigs at varying sprig rates and N rates for establishment. In this study, they simply measured the volume of sprigs then sprigged by hand and rolled afterwards. What's interesting is even with rates as low as 200 bushels/acre or 4.5 bushels/M there was 100% coverage inside of 6 weeks. This really challenges some of the old-school dogmas related to sprig establishment. I suspect we'll see more of this type of work as bermudagrass usage, particularly in the transition zone, increases each year.

https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/27/3/article-p382.xml


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Good read. Also really goes to show it's not the volume of material.


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

RDZed said:


> Good read. Also really goes to show it's not the volume of material.


Or at least not at those planting rates.

I am curious what bu/A rate starts to really drive timeline change, cause there has to be a max amount of spread per stolon, per season. Assuming you aren't limited on anything else, there is only so much sunlight to drive growth. If four bu/M versus 18 bu/M doesn't make a noticeable difference, then why not one bushel/M? Anyone have insight as to the minimum?


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

@osuturfman thanks for that link. That was interesting. Definitely contrasts with much of the information I've received on N rates during grow-in.


----------



## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

Movingshrub said:


> RDZed said:
> 
> 
> > Good read. Also really goes to show it's not the volume of material.
> ...


You have me intrigued as well. For fun, I'll try 1 bushel/M of Tahoma 31 on my plots I'm running this summer.


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

@osuturfman I've seen suggested rates of 10-20 GA bu/M, depending on time of year/length of remaining growing season, along with rates of 1 pound of N/M per week. Also, I was surprised they used urea, rather than Ammonium Nitrate. I understand AN can be very challenging to get, but I would think it would be the fastest N release, in terms of useable N, versus waiting for urea to change into a form that can be used by the plant. Furthermore, I've remarked before about whether foliar applications of N would impact grow-in rate.


----------



## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

The two closest sod farms with the cultivar I want have refused to sell sprigs. I'm guessing this is done purely for profit.

Since I like to sprig lawns. my brain is churning away on the design of a cheap machine to rip a pallet of sod into sprigs. I've had another company say they'd do it for $50 per pallet.


----------



## Carrie-Waltz (Jul 16, 2019)

osuturfman said:


> 10-15 per M is ideal.


Totally agree


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

LoCutt said:


> The two closest sod farms with the cultivar I want have refused to sell sprigs. I'm guessing this is done purely for profit.


Honestly, the window to plant bermuda and have it root successfully may be closed for a few weeks now anyway, depending on your location. The sod farms may be taking that into consideration.


----------



## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

RDZed said:


> LoCutt said:
> 
> 
> > The two closest sod farms with the cultivar I want have refused to sell sprigs. I'm guessing this is done purely for profit.
> ...


Agreed - I harvested some sprigs this past weekend from my existing bermuda with a verticutter. My main concern is whether I can get it established and rooted well enough to survive any winter kill. Winters in my area are relatively mild, but still a concern on my mind. Would not be surprised if the sod farms have stopped selling sprigs due to that.


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

adgattoni said:


> RDZed said:
> 
> 
> > LoCutt said:
> ...


Yep. I know my local farm only sells Bermuda stolons from May 15 thru Aug 1 and any Zoysia from June 1 thru Aug 1. They wont make any exceptions either.


----------



## Gibby (Apr 3, 2018)

I did between 45-50 GA bushels/M on 7/18.

The areas that were more heavy did fill in faster but not by much.

Also, I did not top dress or roll them. Just tossed them on top of centipede that was sprayed with glyphosate, scalped and dethatched.


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Gibby said:


> I did between 45-50 GA bushels/M on 7/18.
> 
> The areas that were more heavy did fill in faster but not by much.
> 
> Also, I did not top dress or roll them. Just tossed them on top of centipede that was sprayed with glyphosate, scalped and dethatched.


Wait, I'm confused. 45-50 bushels of stolons per 1k sf? What is /M?


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

RDZed said:


> Gibby said:
> 
> 
> > I did between 45-50 GA bushels/M on 7/18.
> ...


Same thing.


----------



## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

The window was open when the sod farm said "No."

A sprig will grow if it has 3 joints. I have no idea where this comes from; I was told that by "Southern Turf Nurseries", but not the STN of today. Their farms were in the Tifton area then. They also told me to use something to help "poke" the sprigs into the soil a little. They used a device about 30 inches wide which had disks as wheels (made from an old plow). These disks were straight with the row and light enough they didn't cut the sprigs, but they did get a little dirt over some of the sprigs. They also said "water" as has been documented here in TLF. This assumes there is loose soil on the ground when sprigging. The technique was probably developed to sprig fairways where light top dressing was impractical. They said 10 bushels per 1,000 sq. ft., but more would speed the process up. I used around 20 bushels per 1k on my lawn and it was covered in 6 weeks. Since Bermuda grass grows at night, it's the night-time temperatures that are most important. You want 60+ F.

They told me a very interesting story. They bagged sprigs and transported them to a waiting cargo jet for transport to Saudia Arabia where they sprigged greens . Since it was impractical to irrigate the "fairways" of this course, they (the Saudis) dyed the soil green but they had real greens.

Although I have never worked at a golf course, I think most courses are 100 percent sprigged. I also think sprigged turf makes higher quality turf faster. Sod could catch up, it'd just take longer to get it smooth enough. Or perhaps my information is just obsolete.


----------



## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

LoCutt said:


> The two closest sod farms with the cultivar I want have refused to sell sprigs. I'm guessing this is done purely for profit.
> 
> Since I like to sprig lawns. my brain is churning away on the design of a cheap machine to rip a pallet of sod into sprigs. I've had another company say they'd do it for $50 per pallet.


Just rent a small tree chipper. Seriously.


----------



## Gibby (Apr 3, 2018)

osuturfman said:


> LoCutt said:
> 
> 
> > The two closest sod farms with the cultivar I want have refused to sell sprigs. I'm guessing this is done purely for profit.
> ...


$50/pallet seems a good price. I can't rent a chipper around here for that cheap.


----------



## Jagermeister (May 18, 2021)

Revitalizing this thread.

@Movingshrub @RDZed, I have a lot of thin areas in the shady parts of my yard. I plan to prune / remove trees to open up the sunlight this winter and then sprig / plug in the spring. I plan to use my Sun Joe to scarify / verticut the stolons and use these for sprigging.

My question is around pre-m plan and timing. What should I do for pre-m to ensure the stolons root? I was planning to use a split app of prodiamine, simazine, sulfentrazone, and pennant magnum.


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

Jagermeister said:


> Revitalizing this thread.
> 
> @Movingshrub @RDZed, I have a lot of thin areas in the shady parts of my yard. I plan to prune / remove trees to open up the sunlight this winter and then sprig / plug in the spring. I plan to use my Sun Joe to scarify / verticut the stolons and use these for sprigging.
> 
> My question is around pre-m plan and timing. What should I do for pre-m to ensure the stolons root? I was planning to use a split app of prodiamine, simazine, sulfentrazone, and pennant magnum.


Ronstar pre em applied at sprigging

Simazine works as well but very short term.
You could do both. I haven't used pennant magnum or sulfentrazone so no experience with those. However, sulfentrazone is active in the soil so I could see how it *could* have a benefit. With that said, ronstar works pretty well at grassy weed control.


----------



## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

Jagermeister said:


> Revitalizing this thread.
> 
> @Movingshrub @RDZed, I have a lot of thin areas in the shady parts of my yard. I plan to prune / remove trees to open up the sunlight this winter and then sprig / plug in the spring. I plan to use my Sun Joe to scarify / verticut the stolons and use these for sprigging.
> 
> My question is around pre-m plan and timing. What should I do for pre-m to ensure the stolons root? I was planning to use a split app of prodiamine, simazine, sulfentrazone, and pennant magnum.


Or none and apply post-em/pre-em later - 6 weeks after sprigging.


----------

