New Bermuda Problem

TJ – posted 06 June 2006 18:39

In March I installed about 500 square feet of Tifway 419 sod in my landscape here in South Central Florida. It was so hot and dry I watered twice a day to keep it from wilting for about two weeks, and was mowing at about 1.5 inches. After two weeks I took the mower down to 1.25 inches and have been watering almost daily ever since, about once a week I will skip one day of watering, but everytime I do I get brown patches which I thought may be due to it getting dry. I have since taken the mower to a little under 1 inch and have been watering every 2-3 days and it seems to be getting worse. I also mow every 2 days with a push style reel mower. I also have a Princess 77 plot that looks the exact same way and is already established. I have been fertilizing with a 26-3-12 slow release fertilizer with 2% FE monthly appling about 1 pound of N per 1000 square feet. What am I doing wrong??? Just in case the problem is a fungus I applied 8 pounds of Myclobutanil per 1000 square feet today. Any help would be great!!!

Thanks

TJ

Grassguy – posted 11 June 2006 01:52

do you water deeply and infrequently or shallow and frequently. did you get a soil test before installing the lawn. Its not a good idea to be guessing and throwing down fert with out knowing the P and K levels as well as the PH of the soil. Sounds like maybe the roots havent achieved the depth needed to start storing carbohydrates for growth and repair. what kind of soil do you have? clay,sand loam.