Seedbed Preparation

[Anonymous Poster]

Location: Central Florida

I have 7 acres, and just had the remaining 5 cleared. I used a disc harrow then planted ryegrass. In some areas the ryegrass came up, then turned brown??

Questions:

What do I need to do to make the ryegrass grow in the brown areas?

Should I fertilize?

Is it a good idea to use a fertilizer spreader for spreading seed? I am considering re-seeding the areas with a fertilizer spreader.

Thanks,

Joe

 

[TerryinMD]

What kind of debris was turned under? If you planted immediately after turning under a lot of vegatation and wooded material, it could be draining nitrogen from the soil and killing the young grass.

Terry

 

[Turfman]

Fertilizer on a sick grass is usually the kiss of death. Did you do a soil sample? What was on the land before? Did someone sterilize the soil? Preplant prep of the planting bed is important. E-mail me privately and I'll try and help you. but I am not familar with Florida's climate or growing season.

Kevin

 

[JoeR]

I had a root rake remove mostly palmettos and dead pine trees. The soil is sandy, but some of the rygrass is growing well in the sandy areas, while other spots are brown.

Joe

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Joe,
Were the dead pine trees in the same areas as the dead grass?
Al

 

[TerryinMD]

JoeR,

I'm not an expert by any means on grass. Just what I know from my experience. I'd suggest that you email Turfman and see if he has any suggestions. Also, you may wish to contact your county extension office. You may have a problem that is particular to your area.

Terry

 

[JoeR]

Yes, the pine trees were in the same area. This whole area burned in 1998 during the Florida wildfires, and almost all of the pine trees died from the fire. The fire was so hot in 1998, that many palmettos didn't make it either...

Joe

 

[JoeR]

Here is a picture of the land before it was cleared and with the green and brown ryegrass. I put ryegrass on all the fields. Some areas are green, some brown, and some areas are almost bare.

Thanks for the help.

Joe

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Joe, That is a crying shame it didn't turn out like you had hoped. Thats a lot of work. I would get some soil samples taken for the good, bad and the ugly locations and see what turns up there. Also I would question the seed, age, date codes and source. Is anyone else who bought from the same run or source having problems? Hope you can get this turned around.
Al

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya Joe
just looking at ya pic is that water lieing on the top and is it swampy ground ?? to me it lookes like eather to much water or if realy sandy to little .a N lock up will happen on new ground more with spray drilling if ground has been worked the lock up dose not have as bigger affect .
catch ya
JD Kid

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hey Joe,

When did you plant the seed?
Rye grass doesn't do well when its hot, and we had some warm days this fall. My AC was on until Dec. 18th.
Just a thought.
Nice piece of ground, where is it located?

jr

 

[pdxman]

I know that ash can raise the acidity of the soil. Could the brown spots be in places that had burned more? Thats where I guess a soil test comes in handy. Just a thought.

 

[JoeR]

Hi,

I thought the heat could of been a problem too... We hit about 84 degrees for a couple of days. I just can't explain why it is so patchy.

My property is located in East St.Cloud.

I planted the seed the weekend after Thanksgiving.

I never thought about the ash, but that could be a problem too.
Take care,

Joe