Just a question which may have been already discussed on a previous thread:

If you dormant seed, will putting a pre emergent down in late Feb or early March effect germination? Do you need to go with siduron?

Yes--use Tupersan/siduron or nothing. If not, the seeds may not sprout, and if they do the numbers will be reduced and the sprouts much weaker.

just came from Southern States- bought 3lb TTTF and 3 lb KBG seed to dormant over-seed the H.O.A. common area that is adjacent to my lot.....hope to get it spread in the next couple weeks.

gotcrabgrass wrote:At second glance the air temps are a moving average mean. That means that days like today, 65 and sunny, are smoothed out. I don't know how long it needs to be warm for germination to start, but three contiguous days over 55 have not been rare this "winter".

I'm not in your area, but I am seriously having this concern now. I put down my urea around Thanksgiving, and my 4" ground temps have stayed below 45F - so no big concern to me right now.

HOWEVER, I spread my TTTF on 1/11/12 and my 4" soil temps have been same as flat-lined at 35F ever since. But as you mentioned, the seed is on top and it sees the sun. Yesterday's high was 63F here, today's high is 61, then 51, then 52...it's going to be warm for a while. I'll be tracking soil temps, and probably monitoring surface temps with my IR thermometer...but I'm getting nervous. What's the potential I'm going to a) lose my nitrogen? b) kill my seed?

I will defer to the BL wisemen, but the concern is that you might get growth now, followed by a cold snap that will kill the new growth. The seed itself can tolerate cold, but not the seedlings. Any nitrogen that is consumed supporting the new growth will be lost.

So, the worry is that the seed will germinate early because of temperature and moisture, but then the new seedlings will get killed in a cold snap. Certainly possible in Iowa.

I have elected not to dormant seed at all this year. I just sprayed with Tenacity this past weekend to kill mild winter weeds. My target it to spring seed in week 3 of February along with Tenacity. Two weeks after that I will fertilize.

Okay, just took some IR temp readings. The air temp right now is 58F. The soil surface temps are 50F in the shade and 59F in the sun. I got down on my hands and knees and looked at the seeds. Here's what they look like - is this the onset of germination? This doesn't look good! CRAP!

If it were my lawn, I wouldn't worry. A couple of years ago, I dormant seeded too early. We had about two feet of snow and then it warmed up. When the snow finally melted, I had little seed sprouts coming up everywhere. This was in January. We had some brutal temperatures in February. But most of the little seeds made it through just fine.

That's not a guarantee, of course. But I guess I'm saying that you might be surprised at how things can just work out.

Same thing as TT for me. The insulation of snow made for some nice, cozy, wet conditions and when it finally melted during one mild week, there were sprouts. This was January. Pretty much all of it survived until spring. Of course, this was kbg which is definitely more cold tolerant than TTTF or PRG.

Same as TT for me, too, although the year I did it the weather was pretty mild (although not like this). It worked out well.

Decay on the seed coat isn't a problem, that's what it's supposed to do. Decay through the seed equals a dead seed, but it might have been an old maid (lit, the popcorn in the mix that doesn't pop, but it works here too).

I've got my seed, but the weather has me tentative to put it down. I've never dormant seeded before, heck I never even heard about it until this past summer, so I'm a little hesitant. However, the next (and that seems to be a big NEXT) snow storm we get, I'll be out there the day before with my seed and spreader looking at the neighbors' strange looks.

Same as Solenski. Got seed, waiting for some cold to show. Extended forcast isn't showing me any promise of that happening before mid Feb. The weekend of Feb 11-12 I'm pulling the trigger and letting the seed fly.

ronert wrote:Same as Solenski. Got seed, waiting for some cold to show. Extended forcast isn't showing me any promise of that happening before mid Feb. The weekend of Feb 11-12 I'm pulling the trigger and letting the seed fly.

I'm with you ronert, mine will go down around the same time. The area I'm seeding is a small bare area so if its a failure not that big a deal. I consider this an experiment anyway. Will probably make a thread in the Renovation section that details this. We like pictures so I'll be taking them along with a report of the daily temperature and moisture amounts for each month. I'm in Eastern Kansas and will plant TTF.

- Shawn

I have a fairly low area that I need to add four bags of tops soil to, Should I wait til it is a little warmer to drop the top soil & dormant seed, or do it in the next few weeks?

I live in the Chicagoland Area

I cant see why not. I have a few patches I did myself, and the freeze/thaw we've been having worked the seed in nicely it seems

HanLawn wrote:just came from Southern States- bought 3lb TTTF and 3 lb KBG seed to dormant over-seed the H.O.A. common area that is adjacent to my lot.....hope to get it spread in the next couple weeks.

Spread the seed this afternoon, lets see what the temperatures do over the next few weeks.Hoping for a mid-late April germination.This mixture should result in about 83% KBG/17% TTTF, good for future self repair and spreading in the HOA common area grounds.

1. So, I've been waiting for the next "significant" snow fall to come and, well, it hasn't. Is there a time when it's just too late to dormant seed?

2. The only reason I ask is b/c I'm waiting for it to snow, and it just isn't happening. Is it ok to dormant seed without snow in the forecast this time of year?

You can dormant seed anytime the ground is frozen or if the soil temps are to low for the seed to germinate. With spring right around the corner I would say now is as good as any other time.

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1-3 inches of snow forecasted tomorrow. no other time to dormant seed and spring is getting closer. just dormant seeded the bare patches that didn't take with my reno. i also dormant overseeded my neighbor's lawn with my leftover mix. i hope it sprouts this spring =)

I just dormant seeded my back yard. I have seeded it every winter for the past three years. Its starting to look really good for a no maintenance yard.

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simpson wrote:I just dormant seeded my back yard. I have seeded it every winter for the past three years. Its starting to look really good for a no maintenance yard.

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No maintenance ????? It doesnt require cutting, fertilizing, weed control,watering or other upkeep?? whats your secret?