Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
daveatl

Watering - 30 minutes or 30 mins [5mins day/6x week]

daveatl
12 years ago

I have an irrigation system and I did the tuna can thing to measure how long it takes to fill them up [with 1 inch of water] and it takes my system 30 minutes to do it.

Now the question is should I water my bermuda for 30 mins once a week or should I water it 6 days a week for 5 mins -- is there any difference between the two and why???

I would love for TEXAS WEED to chime in on this one.

Comments (17)

  • dchall_san_antonio
    12 years ago

    Texas Weed is the bermuda master. He wrote the Bermuda Bible to answer the basic questions on fertilizing, mowing, and watering. Your answer is in there.

    The bible does not get into the why that you asked for. There are three reasons why. First is that the best way to grow deep roots is to water deeply and then give it enough time to allow the surface of the soil to dry out. This forces the roots do dig deeper into the soil and give your extended drought tolerance. The second reason is that weed seeds need to be watered every day for a few days in order to sprout. A third reason for infrequent watering would be to discourage fungal disease. Bermuda is much less sensitive to disease than other grasses, but if you wanted to try to develop a disease, frequent watering would be the approach.

  • daveatl
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Your obviously not reading the post. If I water for 30 mins a week would it matter if I do it once for 30 mins or 5 mins each day for 6 days.

    It is receiving the same amount of water just in different increments. I've seen golfing greens with bermuda watered heavily every morning and look great [w/o disease, fugus, or weeds].

    If I follow the bible, I would actually wait until there's a problem [the grass doesn't spring back into place] to water. To me that is too far of a threshold to take the bermuda to everytime. It's like waiting until the point/brink of starvation to eat.

    However, thanks for the input -- I want some more responses to see how others maintain their bermuda.

  • bpgreen
    12 years ago

    I'm not a Bermuda grower, but you can't water deeply if you water for 5 minutes a day 6 days a week.

    The reason that you wait for signs of stress is that if you water before there are any signs of stress, the grass may not develop the deep roots that you want it to have. If you water too often, watering deeply just wastes water because the grass won't send roots down deep (maybe Bermuda will, but most grasses will only send roots deeper if they need to).

  • dchall_san_antonio
    12 years ago

    Your obviously not reading the post. If I water for 30 mins a week would it matter if I do it once for 30 mins or 5 mins each day for 6 days.

    My reply was directly to your concern. Furthermore you wanted the TW answer. I'm sure he'll be by soon enough, but he sticks pretty close to the bible. If you want to violate the bible, go for it. Nobody is looking over your shoulder.

    I referred you to the Bermuda Bible which you are apparently familiar with. Since TW wrote the BB, are you expecting him to give you permission to violate what he wrote? The short answer is, "Yes!" there is a huge difference between 30 minutes all at once and spreading it out over a week. You asked why so I explained why the difference matters. Was there another question in there that I missed?

    In truth the answer is neither 30 minutes all at once nor 5 minutes per day is correct. The answer is to water when the grass needs it. Bermuda is tough stuff. Waiting until you see the FIRST signs of drying...anywhere in the yard...is a good approach. It wastes no water and keeps the grass thriving. In the summer the answer might be that you need to water every 4 days while in the spring and fall you can go to once a month. But the worst thing you can do to any established lawn is to water it every day for a few minutes - for the reasons I mentioned above.

  • Big_Papi
    12 years ago

    "To me that is too far of a threshold to take the bermuda to everytime."

    You asked for an answer to this question and you got the correct one.
    Most experienced people water once, twice at the max, per week. Watering as your describing is an invitation for a bumper crop of weeds.
    The watering that you are describing would be appropriate for a newly seeded lawn, and nothing else.
    A little bit of stress is not necessarily a bad thing.

    My new lawn is a Princess77 Bermudagrass lawn. I've followed the Bermuda Bible and I can tell you that the information in it is correct.

    I went from this.
    {{gwi:101219}}

    To this,
    {{gwi:101220}}

    In approximately a month and a 1/2 using the guidelines in the Bermuda Bible.
    You should probably look around the net some, Texasweed posts a lot at some sites that aren't allowed to be mentioned in here. You might even find a complete thread that documents how to do a renovation, with some pictures that will doubtless look very familiar to you.

  • andy10917
    12 years ago

    Here's a demonstration I use to explain the difference between the two watering methods:

    Take an old newspaper and place it in the sun on a hot, dry day. Use a sprayer bottle of water, and spray a 6" X 6"area of the newspaper with water lightly every 10 minutes, until you have used 2 oz of water. Wait 15 minutes and then feel the newspaper. It will be dry. Go 10 pages into the newspaper. Dry again.

    Now, get two ounces of water (the same amount of water as the first test) and pour it onto the same area of the newspaper. Come back in one hour or two hours - the newspaper will still be wet! Go 10 pages into the newspaper. Very wet. I've seen the newspaper be wet a day later, too.

    Why? The water soaked into the newspaper deeper than the sun can evaporate it. It is out of the reach of the sun's effect and air's drying capability.

  • nearandwest
    12 years ago

    "Your obviously not reading the post. If I water for 30 mins a week would it matter if I do it once for 30 mins or 5 mins each day for 6 days."

    Yes, it matters. Watering more deeply and infrequently promotes a healthier stand of turfgrass. There is numerous research, testing, and data which has proven this to be true.

    "I've seen golfing greens with bermuda watered heavily every morning and look great [w/o disease, fugus, or weeds]."

    Really? How do you know that these golfing greens were watered heavily every morning? And you know for a fact that these greens were without disease? How do you know this? What is the difference between a disease and a fungus? And...what is a fugus?

    I look forward to your response.

  • nearandwest
    12 years ago

    "If I follow the bible, I would actually wait until there's a problem [the grass doesn't spring back into place] to water. To me that is too far of a threshold to take the bermuda to everytime. It's like waiting until the point/brink of starvation to eat."

    If you are not willing to follow the wet/dry cycle of watering as advised, then you shouldn't ask for the correct recommendation. If you want to waste water and not have a healthy stand of bermuda, then do it your way.

    There is a reason why we have 2 ears and only 1 mouth.

  • WestchesterGrower
    12 years ago

    Maybe when you ask a question, you shouldn't become so cocky and defensive when people try to help you, Dave. Especially when they give you the right answers...

  • wrager
    12 years ago

    Aren't most greens laid on a sand base? If so, that would alter how you water, which could explain the every day routine.

  • nearandwest
    12 years ago

    Most golf course putting greens today are grown on a sand/peat mix, more commonly in an 80/20 ratio (80% sand, 20% peat moss). I seriously doubt that there is a golf course superintendent anywhere who is growing bermudagrass putting greens and watering "heavily" every single day. The proper use of wetting agents allows for watering intervals at least 2-3 days apart at a minimum. Good putting green management does not include "heavy" watering on a daily basis. There is an area that may be an exception, and that is the desert southwest, where temps are ridiculously high and humidity is ridiculously low. But even then, I would doubt that they water "heavily" every single day.

  • kevingalaxy
    12 years ago

    Dave judging by your tone i would be very offended if i was bpgreen. Perhaps you should stop with the "i want" and be more courteous. Moran you got the answer.

  • nearandwest
    12 years ago

    Actually, I think it was dchall who was the target of the disrespect. Nonetheless, that type of attitude has no place in a civil online conversation. I agree with you, Kevin.

  • david_tx
    12 years ago

    If there's anyone in this thread not reading posts, it is the OP. dchall answered the question correctly and succinctly.

  • earthworm
    12 years ago

    The important thing is that the question was properly answered.
    I was able to quickly comprehend the logic behind the whats and whys.
    And that a regular lawn is NOT a golf course lawn....It could be, but who that much time and expense??

  • daveatl
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you all for your input/responses.

    I have been following the Bible and it actually has produced a lawn that looks like this:

    {{gwi:101221}}

    {{gwi:101222}}

    [And yes I know the grass needed to be cut in these pics]

    However, point of frustration is two-fold I have over 35 roses in my garden [which must be watered daily if over 90 degrees] and if I use my irrigation system I cannot water them without also watering my lawn. And lately I've been seeing alot of clovers and weeds in my lawn [more than likely from over watering].

    Therefore, my only solution is something I did not want to do: water the roses via hose by hand and properly water the lawn via the Bermuda Bible schedule. Sucky thing is that Atlanta is so damn hot to stand outside for an 1/2 hr daily to water these thirsty roses.

    As for those that read into my response(s) as having an attitude or insulting tone, I did not mean to express myself in this manner, more than likely the frustration with my lawn/roses coming out within the written word.

    Thank you one and all.

  • Big_Papi
    12 years ago

    I use a buried under pine straw soaker hose and water timer in my flower beds. It works like a charm and no water wasted. I run it, when my plants need it, for 4 hours. It was super easy to set up.