Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

seeds

What to Know Before You Buy That Grass Seed for Your Lawn

Is your lawn in need of replacing or repairing? Here in Western North Carolina, we recommend using cool season grasses—and August 15 to September 15 is the best time to plant!

Grass Seed

Seeding after these dates increases the chance of failure caused by winter injury. If you don’t accomplish seeding cool-season grasses in the fall, your best alternative is mid-February to early March.

Recommended grass species:

Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and fine fescues—such as creeping red, chewings, and hard fescue—are cool-season perennial grasses used for lawns in the mountains. These grasses perform best in spring and fall and have a tendency to show signs of stress in the summer. Recommended rates of seeding for these grasses for new lawns/reseeding are between 1.5 to 2 pounds of seed per thousand square feet for Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass and 6 pounds per thousand square feet for tall fescue.

 Understanding the label:

Grass Seed Label

Much like a label on pesticides you purchase, the label on a bag of grass seed provides invaluable information about:

  • The seed variety or varieties: In the example given, ‘Grand Slam GLR’ is the variety of perennial ryegrass, ‘Midnight’, ‘Everest’ and ‘Bewitched’ are the varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, and ‘Radar’ is the variety of chewings fescue.
  • Purity: Purity is the percent by weight of each seed component (variety or species) in a mixture and is a measure of “seed quantity.” In the example given, 24.06% is pure ‘Midnight’ Kentucky bluegrass, 19.93% is pure ‘Radar’ chewings fescue, 19.73% is pure ‘Grand Slam GLR’ perennial ryegrass, 19.71% is pure ‘Everest’ Kentucky bluegrass, and 15.63% is pure ‘Bewitched’ Kentucky bluegrass.
  • Germination percentage: Germination is expressed on the seed label as the percentage of pure seed that is capable of growth. Germination declines with age of the seed and therefore seed older than 9 months to 1 year may be less viable than fresh seed. The date when the seed was tested for germination is included on the analysis tag as an indication of freshness and to protect the buyer. Purchase only the freshest seed of the highest purity and germination.
  • Date: The date when the seed was officially tested. It is January (01) 2019, in this example.
  • Other crop seed:Crop seed content is the percent by weight of all seeds identified in the bag that are grown as an “agricultural crop.” These must be specified by name if they exceed 5% of the weight of the seed bag. Look for the lowest possible crop seed content. In this example it is 0.08%.
  • Weed seed: The percent by weight of all seeds in the container that have not been identified as pure seed. In the example, this value is 0.0%.
  • Noxious weeds: Expressed on the label as the number per pound or per ounce found in the seed lot. Weeds classified as noxious can vary by state and are difficult to manage even with proper chemical and cultural practices. In this example, none are specified, which is the best!
  • Inert matter: The percent by weight of all material in the seed container that will not grow. This value should be as low as possible because seed cost is based on bag weight—inert material contributes to bag weight but does not contribute any value in term of seed quality or purity. In this example, it is 0.86%.

Know before you buy!

Reading the label will help ensure that you not only get the best value on the seed you buy but that you will minimize the number of unwanted weeds in your lawn!

Article by Bob Wardwell, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

 For More Information:

Replacing your lawn:

https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/lawn-replacement-lawn-new/

Carolina Lawns: A Guide to Maintaining Quality Turf in the Landscape https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/carolina-lawns

 

 

Seed Starting: From Sowing Indoors to Transplanting in the Garden

Indoor Seed Starting_MelanieO_CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Are you drooling over the garden catalogs arriving daily in your mail box? Are you longing to get out into the garden? Get an early start on the season by growing your own transplants from seeds! Although this will not save you money—unless you want to grow a lot of one kind of plant—it will allow you to grow varieties not available in the garden center, or to use seeds you or friends have saved. Growing your own transplants will also give you a head start on growing plants like tomatoes that take too long from direct seeding in the garden to fruiting for our growing season.

When to begin? Timing is everything
Choose what you want to grow, then use the Extension planting calendar for Western North Carolina (see Resources below) to figure out when you need to start the seeds to have the transplants ready to put in the ground at the right time. Study your seed packets for more precise information about how long before your planting date you should start each seed type and how deep to plant them. If you don’t have seed packets, Suzanne Ashworth’s book, Seed to Seed: Seed Saving Techniques for the Vegetable Grower is one useful book for seed-starting.

Petunia seedlings_Satrina0_CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Starting the seeds
Plan to use grow lights, as even a very sunny window doesn’t give enough light to grow strong plants. (See the blog Starting Seeds Indoors: Using Grow Lights.) You can start your seeds in small cell packs, peat pots or cubes, or reuse clean plastics, such as individual yogurt containers. Make sure anything you use has holes for drainage. Start your seeds in a sterile commercial mix, that does NOT contain fertilizer. Plants don’t need fertilizer until they have their first true leaves! To grow the strongest plants, move seedlings to a pot one size larger once they are established and growing steadily.

outdoorsinmay_ethnobot_CC BY-NC 2.0Hardening off the seedlings
Before planting seedlings in the garden, they need “hardening off” to prepare them for tougher outdoor conditions. Don’t try to rush the season for tender plants or a late freeze may ruin all your hard work! A week or so before you’re ready to plant, start putting your seedlings outside in a shady place during the day. Be sure to keep them well-watered and out of strong winds. Bring them in at night. After a few days of this, if night temperatures are above 45°F, you can leave them out to get them used to more sun and gentle breezes.

 Last step: planting in the garden
Ideally, put your plants in the ground on a cloudy day, or after the hottest part of the day. Water about an hour before planting and then again when they are in the ground. Make sure peat pots or cubes are thoroughly soaked and completely underground so they don’t wick water away from the plant.

Article written by Joyce Weinberg, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

Resources
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/western-north-carolina-planting-calendar-for-annual-vegetables-fruits-and-herbs
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/starting-plants-from-seeds

Starting Seeds Indoors: Using Grow Lights

This time of year, gardeners are often a bit itchy to get going! One way to partially alleviate that itch is to inventory your tools and review your gardening practices. So, let’s look at seed-starting and review the basics of indoor lighting.

GOPR1261_jalexartis_CC BY-NC-ND 2.0_Flickr
Plant seedlings under grow light

The light plants need
Plants use almost the entire spectrum of the sun’s light, so once they germinate, seedlings are much affected by the kind of light they receive. Most important are the ultraviolet range at the low end of the spectrum and the infrared portion at the upper end. The blue part of the spectrum encourages leafy growth, while the red seems to affect stem growth, budding, or flowering. In other words, blue light serves as the seedlings’ nitrogen, and red as their phosphorus, affecting the development of flower and fruit production of the adult plant.

Artificial light
Fluorescent light bulbs, unlike traditional incandescent bulbs, provide red and blue light without producing much heat. Fluorescent “grow lamps” provide an even better balance of light at both ends of the spectrum.

Remember that fluorescent bulbs also produce some heat, so you need to adjust their height above the plants. You can establish the best distance by holding your hand above the plants and adjusting the bulb’s distance to a “just right” feel.

Another thing to keep in mind: long fluorescent bulbs produce more light at their center than closer to the ends. If plants are to remain under lights for any length of time, switch them around to even out their exposure so they don’t get “leggy.” Consider more expensive LED lights if you intend to grow plants indoors long-term.

Damping off
Another cause of sickly seedlings is “damping off,” a fungal disease that will rot the lower stem and/or roots. Reduce the risk of disease by using fresh or sterilized potting soil, decontaminating pots and flats with a bleach solution, and careful watering. As with adult plants, when you water, don’t just sprinkle those plants, water thoroughly and then let the soil dry out a bit before watering again. 

Article written by Glenn Palmer, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

Resources:
http://butler.osu.edu/news/are-all-grow-lights-created-equal

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

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