Hi

10 days ago i seeded a lawn (measuring 14m x 2m).

I've been keeping it moist throughout this period.

I am now getting a little worried that the new lawn is looking rather "thin". Lots of blades have germinated, which have now reached a height of 1-2 inches, but there are a vast amount of areas where there's nothing.

Some blades appear to be 2 inches apart from their neighbours. Is this right?

Do I need to reseed, or am I being impatient?

(I followed the recommended application rate for the seed - and even went a bit over)

Many Thanks for your help.

gooner wrote:

[....]

(I followed the recommended application rate for the seed - and even
went a bit over)


the process of seed germination in and of itself produces
heat. when two or more seeds are touching one another during
the germination the heat is usually sufficient to kill both
seeds and therefore produce nothing.

recommended application rates are the result of years of
testing done by people who are knowledgeable, skilled,
willing to follow instruction and patient enough not to
skew the results by interfering with the process.

On Aug 3, 10:29 am, Jim wrote:
gooner wrote:

[....]

(I followed the recommended application rate for the seed - and even
went a bit over)

the process of seed germination in and of itself produces
heat. when two or more seeds are touching one another during
the germination the heat is usually sufficient to kill both
seeds and therefore produce nothing.

recommended application rates are the result of years of
testing done by people who are knowledgeable, skilled,
willing to follow instruction and patient enough not to
skew the results by interfering with the process.


This is the first time I've ever heard this heat thing and I'd like to
see a reference. I would think that natural heat from the sun would
be orders of magnitude more heat than what two tiny seeds could
generate. Plus, if the surface is constantly wet, figure out how much
heat it takes to warm water and tell me how seeds are going to do
that.

But as far as heat problems, the heat from the sun could be exactly
the problem the OP has, if he's seeded cool season grass in mid-
summer. Early Fall is by far the optimum time, followed by Spring.

On Aug 3, 11:43 am, wrote:
On Aug 3, 10:29 am, Jim wrote:





gooner wrote:

[....]

(I followed the recommended application rate for the seed - and even
went a bit over)

the process of seed germination in and of itself produces
heat. when two or more seeds are touching one another during
the germination the heat is usually sufficient to kill both
seeds and therefore produce nothing.

recommended application rates are the result of years of
testing done by people who are knowledgeable, skilled,
willing to follow instruction and patient enough not to
skew the results by interfering with the process.

This is the first time I've ever heard this heat thing and I'd like to
see a reference. I would think that natural heat from the sun would
be orders of magnitude more heat than what two tiny seeds could
generate. Plus, if the surface is constantly wet, figure out how much
heat it takes to warm water and tell me how seeds are going to do
that.

But as far as heat problems, the heat from the sun could be exactly
the problem the OP has, if he's seeded cool season grass in mid-
summer. Early Fall is by far the optimum time, followed by Spring.-

Indeed yes; summer is the highest stress time for grass, worse than
winter. If you live in the North, you want to give your lawn the
maximum time to get rooted before summer, by seeding it in fall when
things are relatively moist again; if you live in the south, you can
get away with seeding in early spring.

Me, I'm stocking up on closeout bags of grassseed and use their
germination to heat the house this winter.

On Aug 6, 3:11 pm, z wrote:
On Aug 3, 11:43 am, wrote:





On Aug 3, 10:29 am, Jim wrote:

gooner wrote:

[....]

(I followed the recommended application rate for the seed - and even
went a bit over)

the process of seed germination in and of itself produces
heat. when two or more seeds are touching one another during
the germination the heat is usually sufficient to kill both
seeds and therefore produce nothing.

recommended application rates are the result of years of
testing done by people who are knowledgeable, skilled,
willing to follow instruction and patient enough not to
skew the results by interfering with the process.

This is the first time I've ever heard this heat thing and I'd like to
see a reference. I would think that natural heat from the sun would
be orders of magnitude more heat than what two tiny seeds could
generate. Plus, if the surface is constantly wet, figure out how much
heat it takes to warm water and tell me how seeds are going to do
that.

But as far as heat problems, the heat from the sun could be exactly
the problem the OP has, if he's seeded cool season grass in mid-
summer. Early Fall is by far the optimum time, followed by Spring.-

Indeed yes; summer is the highest stress time for grass, worse than
winter. If you live in the North, you want to give your lawn the
maximum time to get rooted before summer, by seeding it in fall when
things are relatively moist again; if you live in the south, you can
get away with seeding in early spring.

Me, I'm stocking up on closeout bags of grassseed and use their
germination to heat the house this winter.- Hide quoted text -



Cool, let us know how many BTU's per pound you get!

"z" wrote in message
ps.com...

Indeed yes; summer is the highest stress time for grass, worse than
winter. If you live in the North, you want to give your lawn the
maximum time to get rooted before summer, by seeding it in fall when
things are relatively moist again; if you live in the south, you can
get away with seeding in early spring.

This is nonsense. Seeding in the fall almost always results in lots of dead
grass. It doesn't have time to develop a deep root system before the stress
of summer heat and drought. Seeding for permanent grass in the South is
almost always done in the fall, usually no earlier than September.

wrote in message
ps.com...
On Aug 3, 10:29 am, Jim wrote:

the process of seed germination in and of itself produces
heat. when two or more seeds are touching one another during
the germination the heat is usually sufficient to kill both
seeds and therefore produce nothing.

recommended application rates are the result of years of
testing done by people who are knowledgeable, skilled,
willing to follow instruction and patient enough not to
skew the results by interfering with the process.


This is the first time I've ever heard this heat thing and I'd like to
see a reference. I would think that natural heat from the sun would
be orders of magnitude more heat than what two tiny seeds could
generate. Plus, if the surface is constantly wet, figure out how much
heat it takes to warm water and tell me how seeds are going to do
that.

Sounds like BS to me as well.

On Aug 7, 8:19 am, "jeffc" wrote:
"z" wrote in message

ps.com...



Indeed yes; summer is the highest stress time for grass, worse than
winter. If you live in the North, you want to give your lawn the
maximum time to get rooted before summer, by seeding it in fall when
things are relatively moist again; if you live in the south, you can
get away with seeding in early spring.

This is nonsense. Seeding in the fall almost always results in lots of dead
grass. It doesn't have time to develop a deep root system before the stress
of summer heat and drought. Seeding for permanent grass in the South is
almost always done in the fall, usually no earlier than September.

OK, thanks for the correction. Never been down south to see grass
seeding, myself. (^_^)

"jeffc" wrote:
"z" wrote in message
ps.com...

Indeed yes; summer is the highest stress time for grass, worse than
winter. If you live in the North, you want to give your lawn the
maximum time to get rooted before summer, by seeding it in fall when
things are relatively moist again; if you live in the south, you can
get away with seeding in early spring.

This is nonsense. Seeding in the fall almost always results in lots of
dead grass.


September 15 is the best time of year for seeding turfgrass here in N Ohio.

jeffc wrote:

[....]

This is nonsense. Seeding in the fall almost always results in lots of dead
grass. It doesn't have time to develop a deep root system before the stress
of summer heat and drought. Seeding for permanent grass in the South is
almost always done in the fall, usually no earlier than September.

jeffc, there is a word in your second sentence causing
you 'fall' and fail at making a coherent point.

jeffc wrote:

[....]

This is nonsense. Seeding in the fall almost always results in lots of dead
grass. It doesn't have time to develop a deep root system before the stress
of summer heat and drought. Seeding for permanent grass in the South is
almost always done in the fall, usually no earlier than September.

jeffc, there is a word in your second sentence causing
you to 'fall' and fail at making a coherent point.

On Aug 7, 7:19 am, "jeffc" wrote:
"z" wrote in message

ps.com...



Indeed yes; summer is the highest stress time for grass, worse than
winter. If you live in the North, you want to give your lawn the
maximum time to get rooted before summer, by seeding it in fall when
things are relatively moist again; if you live in the south, you can
get away with seeding in early spring.

This is nonsense. Seeding in the fall almost always results in lots of dead
grass. It doesn't have time to develop a deep root system before the stress
of summer heat and drought. Seeding for permanent grass in the South is
almost always done in the fall, usually no earlier than September.

And your reference against Fall seeding of cool season grasses would
be? Last time I checked, Fall is followed by Winter, then Spring.
So how is it that the grass that is seeded in Fall doesn't have time
to develop a root system. If you do even a quick google, any lame
brain can quickly find ovewhelming recomendations from agricultural
services to seed cool season grasses in Fall.

wrote in message
oups.com...
On Aug 7, 7:19 am, "jeffc" wrote:
"z" wrote in message

ps.com...



Indeed yes; summer is the highest stress time for grass, worse than
winter. If you live in the North, you want to give your lawn the
maximum time to get rooted before summer, by seeding it in fall when
things are relatively moist again; if you live in the south, you can
get away with seeding in early spring.

This is nonsense. Seeding in the fall almost always results in lots of
dead
grass. It doesn't have time to develop a deep root system before the
stress
of summer heat and drought. Seeding for permanent grass in the South is
almost always done in the fall, usually no earlier than September.

And your reference against Fall seeding of cool season grasses would
be?

Obviously I meant to say "seeding in the spring", since he was talking about
seeding in spring in the South, and I called that nonsense.

Yep, how annoying! What a waiting came. It will take a few weeks for the grass plants to germinate and then get to two or three leave stages (number of leaves showing). Not all of the grass seed sown will come up at the same time. In order of germination speed and establishment the quickest to appear are Rye Grasses, then the Fescue and Bents. Do not over seed yet as it is too early and a waste of seed. Do not let the surface crust over as the grass plants will struggle to get through. I found a web site called www.lawn.co.uk that had some great lawn forums on it. Only deals with lawns and their care. It may be useful

I have the same problem (here in the Czech Republic) and would like to know whether I should wait before throwing down more seed, and also (most importantly) how to do it! :-) I am a real novice at this, and my in-laws did the original seed-laying 2 weeks ago, and they seem to be fairly proficient at it, but it certainly wasn't a professional job!