Tiff 419 browning

mauison – posted 26 September 2005 19:31

I have Tiff 419 and over the past couple of months have been cutting it higher than usual. Yesterday I cut it down to about a 1 1/4 and it’s all brown.

My neighbor says that, Tiff 419 should be cut low, about 1/2″ or so. It looks like hard brown roots now that I have cut it down. Will the leaves return? Te majority of what’s left is hard stems.

In order to keep it carpet looking…do I have to really mow it every 3 days…?

thank you

BuckinNC – posted 27 September 2005 10:01

Bermuda needs direct sun to green-up. When cut too long, only the top 1/2 to 3/4 inch gets the sun, the rest in the shade just stays brown. As the days shorten and the angle of the sun moves south, the available sun light is diminished and so the green tops get shorter.

My 419 does fine at about 13/16ths in the mid summer period, and I begin to bring it down gradually to 7/16ths by the end of September. Each time I lower the reel I get about 50/50 green/brown, but it all recovers and when I stop going lower everything greens back up in a week or so. Just a matter of where the sun can penetrate. I expect that your turf will green up but if you want to work it low, and you should, notch down gradually. I move down 1/8th of an inch every 2 weeks for a six week period. And, yeah, you need to cut it more frequently than in the summer as a lot less is going to be green and you can take it all away if you do not mow frequently enough. Might try hitting it with some iron to keep it green and maybe drop back a bit on high N which promotes growth as well as green up.

tommy – posted 27 September 2005 10:47

Tifway is a naturally taller growing hybrid(when compared to the other hybrids), and so it doesn’t require 1/2 inch mowing in hot weather. However, as the weather cools and the days shorten, it will actually benefit from being cut short. Many Tifway lawns are cut at 1 1/2 in the summer, and then renovated (scalped) in early fall- which helps them stay green longer in cool weather.

mauison – posted 27 September 2005 11:35

Thank you for all your help. I’d rather keep it low, if that is at all possible. I actually let it grow longer because I kept getting brown spots, so I guess I just complicated the problem.

Since I live on Maui in Hawaii, I have alot of sun…but I guess it still does not penetrate through the grass.

If it make any difference, I got a new 10 blade Tru-cut mower a month ago. After I cut it down, I also applied Scotts brand fertilizer, it says it will stop burning during the summer months.

As you can see I am a novice at this. I’s like to get my lawn to the point where, when you walk on it, it is not that spongy.

Thanks for your help.