Each watering should only consist of enough water to wet the roots. New sod is not able to soak up much water at once, and too much water will cause root rot. You never want soggy soil under your new sod. Start watering early in the morning just after sunrise and space out your sessions to allow the roots time to soak up all of the moisture. Stop watering your new sod in the evening, or right around sundown.
The roots will soak up water much slower when the sun is down, which can make it easy to overwater them. Too much water will foster fungus under the roots which can cause your new sod to fail. Grass loves water, however, new sod is different.
It is possible to overwater new sod, and it can even happen easier than you expect. New sod has very short roots which makes it harder for it to retain a lot of moisture. It is better to water new sod in a short burst with less, as opposed to large amounts of water at once.
Overwatering new sod will prevent the roots of the sod from getting the oxygen they need to thrive. If you are planting new sod in warm weather, overwatering can also lead to disease. One way to tell if your sod is being overwatered is to check the bottom of the soil a few minutes after watering.
If the soil under the sod is still soggy five minutes after your watering session has ended, chances are you are overwatering your new sod. Of all the tips we have for caring for new sod, the most important is not walking on it too early.
You should keep pets, children, and everyone else off of newly plant sod until at least the first mowing. Watering the sod at regular intervals will help the roots to establish themselves, and until they are firmly entrenched, your sod is vulnerable. Walking on the sod before the roots have taken cold can cause root failure or poor rooting. New sod roots are very short, so it is important to treat them with care and ensure they are not overwatered.
Paying attention to soil moisture levels and the condition of the turf is one way to avoid overwatering new sod. Generally, you should water new sod every day for the first three or four weeks, but if the weather's cold or it's been raining heavily, irrigating once a day may be giving the grass too much water.
Conversely, if the weather's hot and windy, new sod might require irrigation two or three times per day. To check that you're supplying the appropriate amount of water, lift up a corner of the sod after you've finished watering, and push your finger into the soil. It should be moist to a depth of about 1 inch. Every other day or every third day, apply water until the soil is moist to a depth of 6 inches.
Push a screwdriver into the soil to check. Finally, when the roots have taken hold, reduce watering frequency to twice per week and water until the soil is moist 6 inches deep. Laying sod at a time of year when grass is actively growing can help prevent overwatering. Overwatering can make your sod soggy, and this problem could prevent it from creating a robust root system. When sod has too much water, it is vulnerable to damage from disease, fungus and insects.
If you start to see the signs of excessive watering, skip one or two of your watering sessions. You want the sod to be moist, not soggy. If water comes up around your shoes and makes a squishy sound, the lawn is getting way too much water. Look for puddles at lower elevations in the lawn as well as any depressions.
Excess water runs down hill and collects in these spots. Puddles are a sure sign of overwatering. Pull up pieces of the sod in different areas after the sod has established for a few weeks. Healthy sod that gets the right amount of water will resist the pull because the roots are healthy and growing. Overwatered sod will come right up because its roots are dying or dead.
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