Watering a newly seeded lawn is important. It is the most important task at this stage in lawn development. Missing a day of watering your grass seed can feel like a major setback. Maybe you plan to try and water more deeply the following day. Or you may have the sudden urge to water your lawn at 2 am to “make up” for missing the previous day’s watering session or sessions. However, this could even lead to more damage than just missing a day.
Missed a Day of Watering Grass Seed: What Happens?
In most cases and for most grass seeds, missing a day of watering will not kill it. However, if the ground dries out, and it most likely will to a sufficient degree, the grass seed will halt its germination process. Grass seed will only germinate in ideal conditions, conditions that nature has decided will provide it with the best chance of survival once it has become a seedling. Dry is not a favorable condition.
If you miss a day, then, how can you get things back on track? Water again, and deeply, the following day. It’s that simple. Will you have lost a few seeds? Possibly. But nature is often good at waiting if nothing else. Most seeds, especially in the first week after the seed is placed, can remain in stasis for a day or even a week if they were particularly healthy.
Night is Not the Time to Water Your Grass Seeds
Once you have missed a day of watering grass seed or seedlings you may think that just watering them after dark is fine. Or even in the early hours of the morning. However, this is not the same as watering these plants during the day.
When water is applied during the day, most of it is absorbed as the seeds and plants are active and actively growing. The warm sunlight also encourages excess water to evaporate. At night, without the warmth of the sun, these plants are much less active and water evaporates much more slowly. Sunlight also discourages the growth of certain undesirable spores and bacteria.
If water is added at night and allowed to sit around, these undesirables can lead to moldy seeds and fungal growth. This can cause the seeds to stop germinating altogether or allow disease to spread quickly among new, tender seedlings.
Why Watering Grass Seed Every Day is Critical
Grass seeds and seedlings need to be watered every single day to ensure that they survive. These types of plants are, naturally, meant to germinate in the spring in places where this is the time for plentiful rainfall. This is especially true for cool-season grasses and those with more tropical origins.
Watering your grass seed every day creates an environment where these seeds feel naturally inclined to want to grow. It also makes it easier for them to break out of their seed coats and reduces the energy the sprouts and seedlings will need to expend to gather or synthesize resources.
If there is a break in the supply of water, the seeds may halt the germination process or be unable to continue it. Grass seed does not have a large store of energy per seed, even if the seed is particularly healthy. As such, it cannot last long under dry conditions or in stasis. A day should be tolerable and cause little damage. However, the more often the seeds or seedlings are allowed to dry out, the more likely the grass seed or sprout is to run out of steam and die.
How to Make Sure You Keep Your Lawn Watered
With watering your grass seed daily such a critical task to overall lawn development, there are quite a few tools you can employ to ensure that it is done.
Set Alarms – A simple phone alarm could be all you need to set up if you’re in charge of watering the lawn by hand or turning on the hose manually.
Set Up a Timed Sprinkler or Irrigation System – A timed sprinkler or irrigation system is the expensive solution here and one that needs to be installed weeks in advance of broadcasting your grass seed. It is, however, the least time-consuming option and the one that could help you keep your lawn and garden looking its best for a long time to come with the least effort.
Affix a Timer to Your Garden Hose – A less expensive version of an irrigation system is a timer that affixes to your outdoor spigot and to which a garden hose is attached. This timer will only allow water to flow at certain times of the day and for a set amount of time or at a set volume.
Hire the Task Out – Lawn care companies can come out to most city or suburban locations and will use all of the tools and techniques at their disposal to ensure that your lawn, even in the seed and seedling stage, is kept at optimal moisture levels. Further, their local experience means they know how often to water new grass seed specifically in your location.
How Long You Need to Water Your Lawn Daily
Wondering how long to water your grass seed daily? This is the short answer: Until your grass seedlings are 2 inches tall.
Just planted seeds? Water daily. Seen the first hints of sprouted grass? Water daily. Have seedlings an inch tall? Water daily. Seedlings over 2 inches tall, evenly, across the lawn? Stop watering daily. Height is the key indicator for when you can stop watering your lawn daily. How often you need to water your grass seed each day during this time will depend on your climate, grass seed type, and other environmental factors.
After the seedlings have hit 2 inches, they have established themselves as likely to survive the rest of the season. Now is the time to switch to watering in a way that encourages root establishment.
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