# T-Nex (PGR) On Newly Seeded Bermuda Lawn



## randy (Jun 29, 2018)

Hi All! I'm new here and thought i'd post a question I can't seem to find the answer to in product documentation or any published studies.

I've seeded my parents lawn with bermuda. They recently purchased a home in our development. Funny story, the developer put annual Rye down when they closed in september. I killed it early spring and the neighbors thought I was nuts. Parents even got an HOA citation. I told them their lawn was going to die by the end of June anyway. Now my parents are the ones with the green grass 

It came in great and this is really month two for the bermuda. Quinclorac has been miraculous in getting rid of the crabgrass without harming the bermuda. It's infantile bermuda, so it hasn't generated any stolens yet. I was thinking of giving it some liquid potassium to speed that along.

In either case, my question is whether it's safe to spray T-Nex PGR on this infantile bermuda. Part of me thinks it would help the roots deepen and push it into further maturity quicker. The other part of me is worried I'd force it to miss out on early stage of development.

With 1lb of N per 1000sq feet, I'm mowing every 3 days.

Thoughts? To spray or not to spray?


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## DSchlauch (Jun 25, 2018)

I would want to get 2-3 mowings on the new turf prior to applying the PGR, after that you should be good to go.


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

Welcome to TLF 
I know people say that pgr helps with lateral growth. But in my use of it this year it just hasn't been the case for me. I actually let my yard come out of pgr control. Now 2 weeks later GDD at 450 I have almost 100% coverage of all the bare spots. If you are happy with your lawn as it is and don't mind it growing slowly then go for it. 
How old is your lawn? Was it established from seed? What kind of Bermuda?
More important. Do you have a way to put down the pgr? Do you have a calibrated sprayer?


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## randy (Jun 29, 2018)

I have a boom sprayer with adjustable pressure and I have it calibrated to spray 1g / 1k sq. ft for my mower speed.

Regarding PGR and getting different results than others... I have read a few studies on application timing and temperature. Primarily: https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/11723/PDF

Sprayed at higher temperatures, Trinexapac-ethyl has the effect of improving lateral growth while reducing upward growth.
Sprayed at lower temperatures, Trinexapac-ethyl has the effect of of reducing both.

This is why the product can be used for both seemingly contradictory purposes: 

stunting bermuda grass for the purpose of overseeding

improving turf thickness and delaying dormancy

When sprayed at lower temperatures, it stunts all forms of growth and gives your overseeded variety a chance to win once scalped / verticut. When sprayed at higher temperatures it improves turf thickness and delays dormancy by deepening the root structure, improving node frequency & density / increasing the density of clorophyll & preventing leaf elongation.

When sprayed in lower temperatures, there is the danger of increasing the chances of frost damage for the same reason it helps overseeded varieties win. And when sprayed at higher temperatures, you improve its ability to withstand future frost temperatures because of the root elongation.

So for you, if you had an experience where TE prevented lateral growth, I'd investigate if maybe it was sprayed too early in the spring. The time to spray is when it's hot.

All this still doesn't answer whether it is safe to spray on infant bermuda. It has definitely had > a dozen mowings. I suppose I could test on a small area.


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## Reel Low Dad (Jun 1, 2017)

I applied mine around 49 days after seeding. Just did a second app last night. For the first app I noticed a reduced growth for about a week then it went back to every other day mowing but I am also fertilizing heavy


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

It sounds like you've done your research, and have mowed it often enough. If it were my lawn, I'd hit it with about .75-1#/M of urea or 28-0-0, water it in, and then spray 0.25oz/M the next day. I did apply it to a small spot in my renovation to see what kind of results I would get, and it was actually a portion of renovation that survived the winter, where a majority of the lawn did not. If you've got it filled in, and aren't worried about stressing it out to cover any areas, I say go for it. You could do a reduced dose in an inconspicuous area to see what kind of regulation you'd get, as I've found it's better to start low, and work your way up to find a rate that works for your lawn.


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

randy said:


> I have a boom sprayer with adjustable pressure and I have it calibrated to spray 1g / 1k sq. ft for my mower speed.
> 
> Regarding PGR and getting different results than others... I have read a few studies on application timing and temperature. Primarily: https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/11723/PDF
> 
> ...


 Nice research and conclusion however reality doesn't always follow research. My Pgr was sprayed June 1st in 90 degree heat. The article is* 16 years* old. A lot of the hybrid seeded varieties weren't even out to be researched at that time. 
Reality also shows that you better not spray common Bermuda or other higher quality seeded varieties at the common bermuda labeled rate (even in well established yards). Label says it's ok but reality says otherwise. In other words don't dare use .75oz/1000

To your question 
How young is your grass? You say it's infint grass. When was emergence? ( important) What type of Bermuda did you seed?
@Colonel K0rn gave a good rate but we gotta know how young your grass is? 20 days after emergence I would say wait. You can't even put down some selective herbicides yet at that age. 45 days maybe if you have an outstanding stand of turf. 
Do you have pictures?

Call me skeptical and old fashioned but I feel that if your looking to use pgr to grow in your yard from seed then we might be disappointed. 
But prove me wrong. Take pictures now and show me th progression. I still have a lot of renovation left to do and if it works I will be the 1st to toot your horn.
You are in new territory I doubt anyone is going to go out on a limb and tell you it's ok. Test an area and wait 7 days and look for injury


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## randy (Jun 29, 2018)

@Tellycoleman So, in revealing how much of a noob I am at all of this, I put down the sta-green bermuda from Lowes. It doesn't even say what kind of Bermuda it is. I killed the rye, tilled and seeded in April. Watered it every 6 hours and then was gifted with 2 weeks straight of rain. It came up in about that time and had it's first mow at the beginning of May. I threw down 1lb of N and have been mowing every 3 days ever since. Crabgrass came up and I spot treated with quinclorac that first mow and then broadcast sprayed quinclorac a few mows later (all is well there). I will send a photo later. That's my parents yard story.

My yard story is a bit different. We've been cultivating the common bermuda and it is almost spread to 100%. We've got issues in shaded areas and in the ditch where there is a lot of hard clay and rock. This morning I put down T-Nex on my lawn at .5oz (they recommend .7). In my yard I am also cutting at 2.5" due to it being common bermuda and because of a hilly area that causes a bit of scalping. Even at those heights, we are mowing every 3 days and it's nuts with very little lateral growth into a few trouble spots.

I still havn't sprayed T-Nex on my parents (infant) Bermuda. What worries me is that the infant Bermuda has no runners like my common bermuda does. I think it might need Potash and I have a jug of it that I plan to give it shortly.


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## randy (Jun 29, 2018)

@Fistertondeluxe Was the t-nex application applied to a yard that was entirely 49days old? Is your crop starting to produce runners yet? Did the t-nex have any affect on this?



Fistertondeluxe said:


> I applied mine around 49 days after seeding. Just did a second app last night. For the first app I noticed a reduced growth for about a week then it went back to every other day mowing but I am also fertilizing heavy


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

@randy Its past time to fertilize your parents lawn. For bermuda I would at least put down 1 pound N per month. During establishment i would go a little heavier and maybe split up the application. If you have time. when fertilizing monthly you can have a lot of Volatilization (cant spell) of the nitrogen. So the grass absorbs all it can and the rest is lost to water rain heat. If you split the application in half and apply every 2 weeks then you have less Volatilization. 
Also does your parents stay on top of mowing the lawn. If the are just mowing once a week then that could be a reason for slow spreading. Most of the bermuda's energy is being spent growing up instaed of out. Just suggestions.
I think your like me you research the heck outta something before you do it


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## randy (Jun 29, 2018)

@Tellycoleman To answer your questions...

I have been mowing every three days. My parents do not mow at all. I am starting to realize that every 3 days might not even be enough. The reason, when I was there tonight to take pictures I realized it was already overgrown! I ended up mowing at 2.5" and it took enough off for me to worry. Here are photos:

Front yard:


See how long it is? I was hoping the T-Nex would push that growth lateral and down instead of skinny and up. I will also follow your instructions on fertilizing every 2 weeks (we have clay, so I thought it would hold better).

Back yard:



You can see the spots where the hard clay has prevented the seed to take. I was hoping runner would help there and when I start to see them the plan is to cultivate those hard areas a bit more.

Domination line: (neighbor is all crabgrass)...


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

That lawn is better than I thought. I had an idea in my head of what it looked like and what you showed me was completely different. A picture is worth a thousand words.
With Bermuda the lower you can cut it the thicker it will get. Bermuda over 2 inches tends to get long thin and lanky. You might have a good case for pgr use. You said it's been 60 days post seeding?
After seeing pictures it might be a good idea. If you start to fertilize your gonna have to do something. You won't be able to keep up with surge growth unless you cut every other day. 
Sub 2 inch cut +fertilizer + pgr might actually be a good idea.
I take back everything I said.


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## randy (Jun 29, 2018)

@Tellycoleman Yeah. I was pretty satisfied with how it came in. It was a ton of work. Unfortunately, it is still a bit bumpy and it's hard to go too low on the cut. Do you think I could get away with 2.5" or should I really try to go lower?

I put the t-nex down this morning along with a small dose of propicanazole as a precaution.. Later tonight, I'll give it another mow, throw down some fert. and water it in. Fingers crossed.


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## randy (Jun 29, 2018)

T-Nex on a well established lawn and T-Nex on the newly seeded lawn were really successful. I was mowing every 3 days and there was still hardly anything to cut. The grass started spreading more (seemingly from underground though), and leaves seemed to be growing more in number, less in length.

One thing I did notice (after 23 days), it seems the t-nex effect ran out and almost overnight the leaves grew longer than I have ever seen them in spots. Almost unnaturally long for Bermuda.


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