Feb
Seashore Paspalum Maintenance Tips
Fertilizer
– Paspalums use 66 percent less nitrogen than bermudagrass, and should be treated with 2-3 pounds per 1000 SF of total nitrogen per growing season.
– Do not exceed 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 SF per growing season
– It is best to use organic type or slow release fertilizers. These are ideally applied during early spring and fall. Paspalums do not require nitrogen during the summer months to maintain color but a high phosphorus rate is recommended. Ideal fertilizers for this application include (organic fertilizers, milorganite, Sustane or seaweed/kelp extracts), 15-15-15 or 11-52-0. (During the summer months or in areas with high salt content it is important to maintain a high level of phosphorus and to constantly check your calcium, magnesium, manganese, and iron rates. These can be applied with a foliar or granular application to achieve desired results. The color of the paspalum in the summer is a direct reflection of your micronutrients and is not as dependent upon nitrogen like in bermudagrass.
– Calcium is of great importance to paspalum and can be applied with a foliar product such as calcium nitrate or a granular product such as gypsum. Calcium should be applied a few times during the growing season as it takes 3-4 weeks for the roots to uptake a granular and 3-4 days for a foliar application to help the root system. The foliar will not last long in the plant and must be applied monthly to maintain appropriate calcium levels.
– Manganese and zinc foliar applications activate a salt tolerance mechanism that helps the paspalum tolerate high salt conditions.
Watering
– For established paspalum watering deep and infrequent is best. You will want to water every 3-4 days during the growing season and apply an inch of water per week.
– The general rule of thumb is 10 minutes of water for everyday your lawn is not watered. For example if you water every third day you will water 30 minutes. If you have extreme slopes or areas where water cannot penetrate the soil or runs off it is best to apply the 30 minutes in a cycle soak pattern. This would be to set your clock for two cycles during the morning and a soak time in between to allow water infiltration and control excess runoff.
– Paspalums should be watered early in the morning to eliminate any environmental competition and so the leaf dries faster eliminating any disease potential.
Mowing
– Paspalums have a wide range of mowing heights depending on the specific variety. Paspalums can be maintained between 1/10” for the finer leaf bladed plant and between .5 to 2 inches for the coarser varieties.
– Grass should be mowed 1-2 times per week for coarse varieties and 5-7 times per week to maintain grass at putting green height.
Herbicides
– Preemergent herbicides can be applied in February and post emergent grasses can be applied during the growing season.
– Rock salt and water solution can be used to treat selective broadleaf weeds
Growing in Sea Spray Seed
– Seed at a rate of .75 – 1.25 pounds per 1000 Square Feet for uncoated seed and 1-2 pounds per 1000 SF for Zeba coated Seed.
– The best time to seed is in late spring through mid summer when temperatures are between 80-95 degrees.
– Paspalum seed should be grown in with fresh water that contains less than 2000 parts per million (PPM) of total dissolved salts (TDS). Once the grass is established water higher in salinity will work well.
– During the seed grow in you will want to water lightly and frequently to keep the seedbed moist. An average amount of water during this time period is 6-7 cycles of 5 minutes per cycle.
Overseeding Paspalum
– During the cooler months of the year paspalum can be overseeded to maintain winter color. When nighttime temperatures are in the low 60’s it is ideal to begin the overseed process.
– Raise the height of your lawn by 1/2 “inch prior to scalping your lawn in the fall. Maintain your lawn at this higher than normal height for two weeks prior to scalping your lawn. When the height is raised you will scalp the lawn down a little lower than your normal mowing height as to not injure the paspalum. Your lawn can be mowed around ½” on finer paspalum such as Platinum or Sea Isle and to ¾” on coarser paspalums such as Sea Spray.
– A light verticut can be performed at this time to open up the turf canopy followed by mowing to clean up any additional debris left on the turf.
– Apply a starter fertilizer to the mowed down turf such as 6-20-20, 16-20-0 or 18-24-12.
– Seed your lawn with perennial ryegrass at a rate of 10-12 pounds per 1000 SF. We recommend BOBSeed, Chaparral, or Simple Seed for this application. These are a high end seed blend that will provide a deep green color throughout the winter months.
– Apply water 3-4 times throughout the day for 5-7 minute cycles to keep the seedbed moist during germination and grow in of the ryegrass.
– After the seed has been down 10 days apply a second fertilizer to stimulate the ryegrass growth such as 15-15-15.
– You will want to apply one last fertilizer application after the turf has been mowed and is growing well just before we receive any frost. The best time for this application is early November and some good fertilizers to use are 15-15-15, 21-7-14, or 15.5-0-0 (calcium nitrate).
– These fertilizers applications are very important as ryegrass does start to get a yellow tint after we receive heavy frosts but if it is actively growing prior you will have no trouble in the winter.
– During the cooler months of the year apply Seasonal Booster 7-7-7 or 16-4-0. These are foliar applied products and are available from West Coast Turf. Granular fertilizers will not work during the colder months so it is best to use foliars in December, January, and February.
Spring Transition
– When soil temperature reaches 64 degrees for three consecutive days you will start to see active growth of the paspalum. At this time you will want to begin to gradually take down your ryegrass mowing heights.
– The paspalum will emerge and take over the ryegrass as temperatures become favorable for growing.
– Once the paspalum begins to emerge it is important to manage the grass with organic fertilizers and put away any fast release fertilizers that will cause excessive growth to the paspalum.
– Apply an organic fertilizer such as West Coast Turf’s organic mix, Sustane, 11-52-0 or Milorganite to stimulate paspalum growth throughout the spring and summer. This is an application that should be applied around April 15th-May 1st to maintain growth and color throughout the summer.
Jay