# Plugger for bermuda



## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Is there a plug tool that is recognized as a solid performer that most use? I need to pull some plugs from my healthy areas and put them into a few areas that need help recovering.

Thx


----------



## Twodollarblue (May 26, 2020)

This one works well for my purposes;

https://www.amazon.com/ProPlugger-Garden-Planter-Weeder-Plugger/dp/B003MRTVUI/ref=asc_df_B003MRTVUI/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216532910363&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12103977477276557595&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010803&hvtargid=pla-351118530665&psc=1


----------



## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Thanks.

To confirm, the process is to take plugs out of the bad areas, fill these voids with plugs from good areas, and put the plugs from the bad areas into the voids where the good plugs were taken?


----------



## enforcerman (Jul 8, 2019)

DFWdude said:


> Thanks.
> 
> To confirm, the process is to take plugs out of the bad areas, fill these voids with plugs from good areas, and put the plugs from the bad areas into the voids where the good plugs were taken?


I usually fill the "good" area w/ dirt and don't put that other plug in there. Don't want to take the chance that "bad" plug has something in there thats causing it to die.


----------



## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Sounds good. Thanks!


----------



## monsonman (Dec 9, 2020)

Twodollarblue said:


> This one works well for my purposes;
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/ProPlugger-Garden-Planter-Weeder-Plugger/dp/B003MRTVUI/ref=asc_df_B003MRTVUI/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216532910363&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12103977477276557595&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010803&hvtargid=pla-351118530665&psc=1


This is the answer right here.

I had one of the corona brand ones but got tired of having to push (see slam) the plug out the bottom with the little push rod from the top. Decided to get a Pro Plugger a few weeks ago and couldnt be more happy.

Pro Plugger makes quick work if you are transplanting multiple plugs. They stay in the tube to you can bring them over to the new spot and just pour them out from the top with ease.


----------



## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

monsonman said:


> Twodollarblue said:
> 
> 
> > This one works well for my purposes;
> ...


+1 on the Pro Plugger. I own one and have shared it will several friends/neighbors who love it!


----------



## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Ordered! Thanks y'all


----------



## DeepC (Aug 12, 2020)

That pro plugger does work, but with our clay here in Dfw it can be a huge challenge. Its super frustrating when they get jambed in there over and over again. I lay a short peice of 2x4 on the ground and flip the plugger over and slam it down on the 2x4 to knock the plug out. And use a stick to push it through too. But its still worth using for sure.


----------



## Phids (Sep 24, 2020)

DeepC said:


> That pro plugger does work, but with our clay here in Dfw it can be a huge challenge. Its super frustrating when they get jambed in there over and over again. I lay a short peice of 2x4 on the ground and flip the plugger over and slam it down on the 2x4 to knock the plug out. And use a stick to push it through too. But its still worth using for sure.


I have a pro plugger and have heavy red clay and have not experienced that issue of it getting clogged, or at least not to the degree to which you are experiencing. It sounds like the plugs you are getting might be too wet and are sticking to the sides of the plugger? Sometimes the most recent plug I extract gets slightly stuck in the intake because of damp clay, but when I turn it upside down and push slightly, it slides right through.


enforcerman said:


> I usually fill the "good" area w/ dirt and don't put that other plug in there. Don't want to take the chance that "bad" plug has something in there thats causing it to die.


That's a good idea. I will often backfill the extracted plug holes with a sand/soil mixture and let the surrounding Bermuda take over. It's a good way of providing some localized aeration, as well as adding some space for soil drainage.


----------



## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

DeepC said:


> That pro plugger does work, but with our clay here in Dfw it can be a huge challenge. Its super frustrating when they get jambed in there over and over again. I lay a short peice of 2x4 on the ground and flip the plugger over and slam it down on the 2x4 to knock the plug out. And use a stick to push it through too. But its still worth using for sure.


Can confirm this is the only way with our "soil". It's really quite frustrating to not be able to use it the way it's intended. You *WILL NOT* be able to fill the entire thing with plugs. it'll get stuck and just compress everything together in the tube leaving you with a huge mass of crap to dig out of the tube.


----------



## Hogwild (10 mo ago)

Used the pro plugger last year. It worked great with my common Bermuda


----------



## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Hogwild said:


> Used the pro plugger last year. It worked great with my common Bermuda


Looks great!

Roughly how many plugs per sq ft did you place into the bad zones?


----------



## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Hogwild said:


> Used the pro plugger last year. It worked great with my common Bermuda


What's your HOC?


----------



## Hogwild (10 mo ago)

DFWdude said:


> Hogwild said:
> 
> 
> > Used the pro plugger last year. It worked great with my common Bermuda
> ...


4-6. The majority of the effort is watering so I wanted to use more to fill in quicker. I watered twice per day, skipped pre emergent and spoon fed nitrogen to the repair sections. A smaller amount will still spread well though, I think I was overkill but these were small repairs.


----------



## Hogwild (10 mo ago)

CenlaLowell said:


> Hogwild said:
> 
> 
> > Used the pro plugger last year. It worked great with my common Bermuda
> ...


I think the second pic is 2-1/2" to 3", the first pic is after a scalp


----------



## Hogwild (10 mo ago)

Here's another angle


----------



## Raleigh (10 mo ago)

I just purchased this plugger as well. How deep should these plugs be? Looks like you can set it to do 2, 4 or 6 inch.


----------



## Hogwild (10 mo ago)

Raleigh said:


> I just purchased this plugger as well. How deep should these plugs be? Looks like you can set it to do 2, 4 or 6 inch.


I used 4"


----------



## pp6000v2 (Mar 8, 2021)

Hogwild said:


> Here's another angle


Am I doing something very, very wrong? I plugged the heck out of an ~50sf area last season that became empty from killing off bull paspalums. While the donor spots in the rest of the yard filled in, the bermuda plugs have absolutely *not* filled in. If you were doing 6/sf with the proplugger, that's only 14% area coverage. I used the Corona plugger that cuts 3" squares, covering 30-40% the area. All last season I was throwing down 1.5 lb-N every month, keeping things watered... Do I need to keep the ground kind of constantly wet to get these things to spread? What spreading I got was typically a single or couple long scout runners that didn't do much rooting. Would sand capping the area keep the grass happier? It does get blasted by the sun all day facing South.

I just put down another 20 plugs this last weekend.


----------



## Automate (Aug 14, 2020)

pp6000v2 said:


> Hogwild said:
> 
> 
> > Here's another angle
> ...


How much sun does that area get? Also, did you go heavy on your pre-emergent?


----------



## david_ (Aug 22, 2019)

DeepC said:


> That pro plugger does work, but with our clay here in Dfw it can be a huge challenge. Its super frustrating when they get jambed in there over and over again. I lay a short peice of 2x4 on the ground and flip the plugger over and slam it down on the 2x4 to knock the plug out. And use a stick to push it through too. But its still worth using for sure.


For me, soil moisture has been key.

Too wet and the ProPlugger won't pull the plug out of the ground.. just cuts the grass and leaves the plug behind. Too dry and you can't get it into the dirt, even jumping up and down on the plugger. Also keep your plugger clean to reduce friction. I'm using 4" depth setting.


----------



## pp6000v2 (Mar 8, 2021)

Automate said:


> How much sun does that area get? Also, did you go heavy on your pre-emergent?


Garage is to the left there, the house faces South. So it gets direct sunlight from solar noon to sunset. There's no other shadow being cast by trees or anything. The top layer of dirt does cake and curl/peel sometimes so I have to get in there with a cultivator to break it up, which I figure would help the bermuda to spread. 








I've made sure not to apply pre-em in that area because I want the runners to root. What pre-em that's made it's way in there is just granular "overspray" from my spreader, so only a very small amount.
The ground is otherwise as moist as everything else around it. Pulling out the dirt plugs to put in the sod plugs, the dirt below the top layer is moist and not hard rock. There's the sprinkler you can see within the red box outline there in my landscape bed that hits that area, and another that is just out of the frame at the top left corner of the red box.


----------



## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

@pp6000v2 Could it be high traffic that is keeping it down?


----------



## pp6000v2 (Mar 8, 2021)

Redtwin said:


> @pp6000v2 Could it be high traffic that is keeping it down?


Not in that particular area. I do struggle with the corner of the sidewalk at the top of the driveway due to foot traffic, but I'm gonna give up and do a 3 foot paver extension off either side of the driveway so my wife and kids unnamed people walk on hardscape instead of the grass when they get in and out of cars.


----------



## Hogwild (10 mo ago)

pp6000v2 said:


> Hogwild said:
> 
> 
> > Here's another angle
> ...


I didn't use any sand. I made sure to water in the morning and at night with a watering can, just enough to keep the area from drying out. This area gets a lot of Sun as well, I was actually using a PGR on the rest of my yard except on the repair areas. How deep does your Corona cutter cut? I was actually removing large rocks from when my house was built when using my pro plugger which I believe was inhibiting my root growth in this area.


----------



## pp6000v2 (Mar 8, 2021)

Hogwild said:


> I didn't use any sand. I made sure to water in the morning and at night with a watering can, just enough to keep the area from drying out. This area gets a lot of Sun as well, I was actually using a PGR on the rest of my yard except on the repair areas. How deep does your Corona cutter cut? I was actually removing large rocks from when my house was built when using my pro plugger which I believe was inhibiting my root growth in this area.


I'd have to stick a tape in it, but I'm willing to believe the spec sheet's quoted 3.5". I end up having to stick a garden trowel under the tool as I pull it out to cut the extra deep roots that otherwise prevent the plug from being pulled out by the Corona tool alone. Where I have good turf to take from, I have deep root systems. Where I'm putting the plugs, the bare areas are pretty rock free. What rocks I find end up being from the adjacent hardscape that are knocked out and pressed into the dirt via kids, mower wheels, etc.

Maybe it is just a matter of not enough watering, or at least, not frequent enough watering. My irrigation controller has 2 more unused programs. Maybe I need to set one to run that zone for 5 minutes in the morning, and the other to run that zone 5 minutes in the evening.

How much or little were you mowing that area? Same as the rest of the yard, or letting it grow wild until it filled in some?


----------



## Hogwild (10 mo ago)

pp6000v2 said:


> Hogwild said:
> 
> 
> > I didn't use any sand. I made sure to water in the morning and at night with a watering can, just enough to keep the area from drying out. This area gets a lot of Sun as well, I was actually using a PGR on the rest of my yard except on the repair areas. How deep does your Corona cutter cut? I was actually removing large rocks from when my house was built when using my pro plugger which I believe was inhibiting my root growth in this area.
> ...


I mowed it with the rest of my yard every 3/4 days to force it to spread horizontally. I think the frequent mowing helped thicken it up.


----------



## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Got my pro plugger over the weekend, and y'all were right. It is fantastic!

Thanks


----------

