St. Augustine blades seeding?

Buddy – posted 17 May 2001 16:40

since resodding my front lawn about 3 months ago, I’ve had some ups and downs in keeping it healthy. No bug problems that I’m aware of (treated with Dursban as preventive measure). I’ve had some problems with yellowing of the blades and stunted blade growth I treated with liquid iron. I’m watering once a week 45min. a zone and just finished overhauling the sprinkler system so I’ve got good coverage in that respect. The yellowing seems to have subsided, and I’m getting some growth on the blades as well. What has me baffled is that some of the blades that I believe are St. Augustine grass have what appears to be “seeds” on the blade. I’m baffled. The grass looks otherwise normal and the blades with these “seeds” are just single blades throughout the front lawn. There are not “bunches” of it like crabgrass. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

seed – posted 17 May 2001 17:58

Buddy, here’s a closeup of the St. Augustinegrass seedhead, showing portions of two of the seed-bearing structures called spikelets:http://floridaturf.com/spikelet.htm

The spikelets are embedded in a corky rachis that is flat and green, and it is also considered a reduced panicle. In the image the female stigmas are feathery and purple, and the male anthers are tawny.

St. Augustine especially the dwarf varieties such as Palmetto and Seville can go to seed heavily in dry weather, especially the first year or two after it’s sodded. Whether or not any of these seeds actually fill out and are viable depends on the variety.

Phil