Once you have invested in high-quality King Ranch Florida turfgrass, the care begins. Most likely, you chose it to make your home or commercial property look attractive and protect the property values. Protecting your investment is not difficult, but it does take some intentionality.
Irrigation
The Florida climate can be brutal for new turfgrass. Ensuring that your new sod is getting adequate irrigation is arguably the most important step in protecting it. When sod is new, the roots are close to the surface. That puts them at risk from the heat and sun, especially during times of the year when we don’t have regular rainfall. Many governments allow extra watering of new sod for up to 60 days. However, that does not necessarily mean you need to use all 60 days.
Watering is important, but we also need to take care not to over-water. For the first 10 days, the roots will only be about ½ inch deep. About 10 minutes of watering in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening will be about right. Some experts suggest that after the 10th day, the owner eliminates the evening watering, but double the length of the morning one to 15 minutes. From day 16 to 30, make the watering every other day for around 25 minutes.
Timing matters
Just like the time of day matters with watering, the time of year for new sod matters. It’s important to note that new sod can be installed any time of the year. However, some months are better than others. Cooler-weather months (typically December through early March) are desirable. So are rainy summer months (typically late June through early September).
Hot, dry months with low humidity and little rainfall, such as late March to early June and late September through November are usually the most difficult months and require more watering.
Hold off on fertilizer
It is natural for us to want to give our new Florida turfgrass all the help we can, but fertilizer is not helpful at this stage. Experts suggest waiting until 30-60 days after planting before starting to use fertilizer. This ensures that there is an active root system to absorb the nutrients. Liquid and soluble nitrogen fertilizers should be applied by professional turfgrass managers. It’s also important to avoid over-fertilizing. Repeatedly using large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer can increase pests and environmental stress problems.
There are many choices in Florida turfgrass from King Ranch. We have varieties that are salt-tolerant, shade-tolerant or that are weed-resistant. Whatever your needs are, the experts at King Ranch Florida are ready to help.
King Ranch Florida Turfgrass is a full-cycle operation. We not only grow and harvest our different varieties of grass, but we will deliver and install your new grass as well. King Ranch Florida Turfgrass is proud of the environmentally-conscious “best management practices” farming policies it has implemented throughout its Florida operations. Contact us if you have questions about which variety of turfgrass will meet your needs and our experts will be happy to help you out.