Growing Bermuda in the shade…

groundskeyperwilly – posted 24 August 2006 09:18

with generator powered spotlights. Is it worth the effort to just use light (the lights being positioned about 15ft away, @ a height of about 20ft off the ground) with the abscence of warm soil when the outside temps dip below 75 for about 10 hours per day? We are trying to make every effort not to re-sod. We are located in Fort Myers, the west side of I-75.

BuckinNC – posted 25 August 2006 07:05

No

groundskeyperwilly – posted 14 September 2006 08:15

BuckinNC, what are your reasons for saying No? What are we not doing enough of with what I listed? Thanks again for anybody responding.

BuckinNC – posted 14 September 2006 12:06

OK – to grow grass under artifical light you need special sources, generally in the 660-750 nm range. Not just any spot light will suffice. The sources, lamps, you will need are rather pricy – maybe $300 each and likely cover an area of 36 square feet or so. And probably do best when left on for 16 hours a day or so, with a life expectancy of maybe 1,000 hours.

For more information got to: http://www.growlightdirectory.com/ one of many sources.

Problems with you idea 1) very few lamps for external use, 2) outrageously expensive to purchase, 3) would suck up a lot of generator capacity as most lamps are 1,000 w = 1Kw.

I guess an outright No was not entirley correct. Could be done I guess if money were absolutely no problem

[This message has been edited by BuckinNC (edited 14 September 2006).]

bentreel – posted 14 September 2006 20:17

My question would be, what is the origin of the shade. If this is an immovable object, building, etc. You are looking at keeping the lights there indefinitely. Is this a large area? I think you would be better off re-evaluating that area and look at zosia, or a ground cover.

groundskeyperwilly – posted 14 September 2006 22:01

The origin of shade is the roof canopy of our Stadium. It cannot be moved. The area affected is 10ft X 110ft. Ground Cover? You mean a type of Turf blanket? Any idea is worth talking about @ this point. Thanks

tommy – posted 14 September 2006 22:16

Ya, Zoysia sounds like “the ticket”! Its expensive, but cheap compared to all those grow lamps.

groundskeyperwilly – posted 15 September 2006 05:06

Tommy, bentreel, are you in agreeance that ordinary Spotlights are not the ticket? I’m not familiar with Zoysia, but it is a good shade grass? We’ll look into it. Thanks for the ideas.

tommy – posted 15 September 2006 13:09

Zoysia does not need direct sun, but it needs some light. In other words- the area your talking about is fairly open to in- direct light, even though the sun is not hitting it full on. Choose a Zoysia variety that best matches the rest of your turf. If you have hybrid bermuda, choose one of the lower growing Zoysia types. Your local sod farm should be able to help you pick the best match for your situation.

bentreel – posted 15 September 2006 15:17

I would forget the light idea. Also, one other thing about zoysia, it is very slow to recover. If you sod 100% you should not have any waiting concerns.