When you’re gardening your lawn, one of the first things you’d want to do is to plant good grass seeds to have a good starting point. Planting seeds is generally simple and easy to do, but a grass seed not growing can happen occasionally.
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If ever this happens, you might get a little confused. So today, we will be clearing some of your doubts when your grass seeds suddenly stop growing.
Answering The Question
The first thing that you might think when seeds don’t grow in your lawn is that there is something wrong with the seed. That’s perfectly fine, since everything that starts is with the grass seed.
However, there’s more than that. Remember, grass seeds are living things, so the way they grow has complexities. Think of it as a puppy or a baby, there are different ways where their growth can be stalled.
Simply put, there isn’t one answer as to why your grass seeds didn’t grow. Remember, there are a lot of factors in play when it comes to the growth of your grass seeds. There’s the water supply, the nutrients in the soil, the method of planting, the weather, and so on.
With that said, let’s give a rundown first on what could go wrong among these many factors in your plant.
The Grass Seeds and The Weather
As we previously mentioned, the seeds are the first that should peak your interest if it doesn’t grow. Different kinds of grass seeds have different germination patterns. The species of grass seed that you will plant will be the basis of the germination time.
The different types of grass out there include buffalo grass and ryegrass. These vary in germination time since the Kentucky bluegrass takes longer while the latter is faster. Be sure to check how long your seed will germinate.
Kentucky Bluegrass
The weather also affects the germination time. You should know that spring is the best time to plant. However, spring differs in many areas.Moreover, especially with climate change, there’s a lot of vagueness regarding spring’s temperature.
As a result, there could still be a degree of coldness and wetness during spring. This could hinder your grass from growing. Usually, grass seeds won’t germinate if soil temperatures do not reach 50 degrees.
Ryegrass Field
To make things simpler, it would take 7-10 days worth of 60 degrees air temperature for the soil to reach 50. Hence, keep track of the weather updates all the time. For an even simpler way to solve this, August is believed to be the best month to plant grass.
The Soil and How You Treat It
Think of the soil as a mother’s womb. It’s basically the casing of the seed that feeds it nutrients and allows it to develop. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong with the soil, especially since it’s prone to be infected with various contaminations.
When talking about the soil, ask yourself first, why did I plant my seed here? Unless you’re beginning from square one, chances are you’re planting your grass seeds on bald patches of your lawn.
So with that said, try to think why the previous grass died or why the soil has bald spots. Some of the reasons why your soil is balding are insects, pesticides, drought exposure, or the pH levels.
Soil Layers
For the insects, it’s common knowledge that the presence of pests can definitely harm your grass. This natural factor is the main reason why more mistakes can happen. What do we mean by this? Simply put, there are a lot of owners that will spray different pesticides on the soil.
Pesticides have varying degrees of effects on your soil. While not necessarily a danger, wrong use or the wrong product can definitely damage your seeds. So be sure to check how to properly use pesticides.
Moreover, pests aren’t the only things that can cause you to spray chemicals on your soil. The presence of weed can cause you to spray chemicals to kill it. Try to avoid this, especially since weed can be prevented through different techniques. An example of weed prevention is landscaping your lawn with weed barriers.
Sunlight And Water
Now let’s jump to the other factors that mother nature causes. The fundamental principle in planting anything is that you should have a good supply of water, sunlight, and the soil should be rich.
This means that if something wrong happens fundamentally, chances are your seeds won’t grow.
Water feeds your plants and hydrates it against harsh sun rays. However, excessive water will stall the germination. So be sure to avoid planting grass seeds on rainy months.
Green grass lawn in sunlight
For sunlight, chlorophyll and photosynthesis are caused by proper sunlight exposure. With that said, 1-2 hours of sunlight exposure might cause problems for your seed. Hence, try to avoid planting seeds in shaded areas.
That’s why it’s common for large trees to have bald spots beneath them. You want to expose your grass seeds for 3-4 hours.
The pH level
Now let’s go to something more uncommon to the novice gardener. The pH levels of your soil varies. It can have high alkalinity or high acidity. Different plants thrive under different pH levels.
For your grass seeds, the ideal level would be 6.5 in the pH tester. For you to not get confused, a pH tester has levels from 0-14. The neutral level would be 7. Meanwhile, lower than 7 means the soil is acidic, while higher than 7 means it’s high on alkaline.
Thus, your grass seeds thrive under acidic soil. This could be the reason why your grass seeds are not growing. So make sure to buy a cheap yet effective pH tester and test your soil. If your soil needs to be more acidic, you can add citrus using fruits like lemon.
Basically…
The bottom line of everything we’ve discussed is to really just do your homework and take care of your yard. It will take no more than a few clicks to research on the different needs of your grass as well as the technicalities of gardening.
Moreover, don’t do anything rash towards your lawn’s soil. Avoid using products that are pitched to you by that sketchy salesman. Instead, do your research and always remember that you’re dealing with a living thing. Hence, organic things should always be a necessity.
With that said, have fun gardening! Remember, all it takes to grow your lawn is a patience and a little bit of knowledge!
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