Coated grass seed can offer many advantages, depending on the specific coating that it has. Grass seed coatings can come in many types, just like the grass seed itself. One coating could help reduce the need to frequently water the seeds while another may provide a nutritional boost that can help your new lawn grow up faster.
While all of these things are true, there are still some people who avoid buying coated grass seed. These coatings are often engineered to be advantageous but like other garden chemicals and sprays, these advantages are not without a cost. For some, the coated grass seed vs uncoated debate comes down to the simple fact that they would rather not add any chemicals or synthetic substances to their lawn. Below you can learn why you may want to choose coated grass seeds or why you should avoid them.
What is Coated Grass Seed?
Coated grass seed is grass seed that has been dipped, sprayed, or pressed fully with another substance that is, ideally, going to provide an advantage to that seed when it tries to grow. Often this coating is made of clay or another substance that will help the seed stay moist after planting. Sometimes the coating will be anti-fungal or antimicrobial in some way to prevent certain diseases from attacking the seed. These coatings may also have a fertilizer component.
What is Uncoated Grass Seed?
Uncoated grass seed is grass seed with no coating. It may still have a dip or spray treatment applied (this often makes the seeds look bright blue or blue-green). This dip or spray is often there to prevent damping off or another disease that could affect the young grass plant.
Comparing Coated Grass Seed vs Uncoated
Using coated grass seed can, in many cases, make growing your lawn from seed easier. However, with the wrong coating in the wrong situation, you may end up having less success than you otherwise would. Below are the benefits and disadvantages of using coated or uncoated grass seed when you go to plant your lawn.
Benefits of Coated Grass Seed
Coated grass seed can have several different benefits depending on the coating or treatment applied to the seed. Always check the packaging or directions for the product you’re looking at to see which benefits apply. Below is a list of common benefits for coated grass seed.
Moisture Retention
The single best benefit you can get from coated grass seed is moisture retention. The majority of grass seed that fails will do so in the germination or sprouting stage. Failures at this stage are most often caused by a lack of moisture. Sprouts can dry out in just a few hours in hot weather. The coating helps these sprouts hold onto moisture and gives them the best chance to survive.
Fertilizer
Some coated grass seed products, though not many, do include a slow-release fertilizer or light fertilizer in the coating. As this is such a small amount of fertilizer and the process to add it is expensive, this is a rare additive and one that leads to debatable benefits.
Easier Broadcasting
Coated grass seed is larger and more uniform in size than uncoated grass seed. This makes it easier to spread evenly across your lawn.
Disease-Resistance
Occasionally, grass seed will be coated with a chemical that keeps the seed safe from certain microbes and diseases during the germination process and early in its life. This coating may be seed on its own or will be under another layer, typically the moisture retention coating mentioned above.
Disadvantages of Coated Grass Seeds
At times you may wonder, “Why is coated grass seed cheap?” The answer is simple. You get less grass seed and more clay per pound. However, the grass seed you do get is more likely to survive and it should be easier to spread evenly over your yard.
Coated grass seed could, in some circumstances, be more than double the price of uncoated or untreated grass seed. Beyond cost, coated grass seed is not ideal for use in clay-based soils as adding more clay could cause the seed and the ground to retain too much moisture.
Coated grass seed also adds certain substances, including clay, to your soil. Depending on your current circumstances, the soil composition, and your stance on synthetic chemicals, this may rule out coated grass seed as an option for your lawn.
Benefits of Uncoated Grass Seed
There are two primary benefits of uncoated grass seed, which I’ll talk about below.
Lower Cost
That’s right. The first primary benefit is cost. Uncoated grass seed is less expensive than coated grass seed pound-for-pound. Second, you get more actual grass seed per pound. On average, a pound of coated grass seed is made up of 2/3 pound grass seed and 1/3 pound clay, dye, or other coating material.
No Extra Chemicals
The secondary benefit of not using coated grass seed is that you’re not putting any of the coating or any unknown chemicals on your lawn. As grass seed for lawns isn’t a purely agricultural product, and even when it is it is used to produce food for animals rather than people, not all coating “ingredients” need to be disclosed in the same way as they would if this were not the case. By avoiding the coating, you are also avoiding this unknown.
Disadvantages of Uncoated Grass Seed
The disadvantages of uncoated grass seed are simply that you do not have the advantages that a given coating could offer. This means extra care needs to be given to ensure that your grass seed gets enough water and is protected from pests.
Factors That May Affect Your Choice Between Coated vs Uncoated Grass Seed
There are four main factors that you should consider before making your choice between coated and uncoated grass seed.
- Chemicals and Unknowns – The first thing to consider is if you want to add the coating that is on the seeds to your soil. Sometimes all you are adding is a little clay but many times you are also adding dyes, synthetic fertilizer and another chemical, and possibly a synthetic moisture-retention component or an un-named ingredient.
- Clay and Water Retention – If you have clay soil, soil with strong water retention properties, or a yard with rich soil and plenty of shade you probably do not need coated grass seed and would not benefit from using it.
- Spreading – Coated grass seed can be easier to broadcast evenly. However, if you already own a good seed spreader or another broadcasting device, this may not be a benefit that means much.
- Cost – In most cases, coated seed costs more pound for pound. You also get about 1/3 less grass seed in each pound of coated grass seed.
When Coated Grass Seed is the Better Choice
Is coated grass seed better? Not always. Coated grass seed is the better choice if you are comfortable adding the coating you have selected to your soil and you have average to serious moisture retention concerns. The latter problem affects most sunny lawns in the south and many in the north if the sun is coupled with sandy soil.
When Uncoated Grass Seeds are Your Best Bet
Uncoated grass seed is your best bet if you have a good irrigation system, plenty of shade, you’re seeding or overseeding in the winter, or you aren’t comfortable adding the coating to your soil. Even if you do have some issues with the soil drying out, grass seed is generally supposed to be scattered over your lawn in a way that provides a good amount of redundancy.
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