If you missed a day of watering grass seed, we know you are curious about what will happen because we are always told that this should never happen. Lucky you because we have covered below what to expect if this accidentally happens to your grass seed, what to do after it, and how to prevent this from happening again.
While the grass seed grow, this is the period when they require a lot of attention if you want them to grow big, green, and reach their optimum health.
So continue reading to find out what will happen if you forget a day of watering them.
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What Will Happen if You Miss a Day of Watering Your Grass Seed?
💥 If you miss a day of watering your grass seed, there is no great harm done. Missing a day of watering the grass seed should be fine, but two or more days of missing it and having no rainfall might kill your seeds, which will require you to start over.
Planting grass seed, just like any other plant, requires specific care requirements, and watering is on top of the list, especially during the germination process. Your newly planted grass seed needs watering, with the frequency depending on the weather; water daily if the weather is over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, every other day if the temperature is cooler, and skip watering if it is raining. .
If the grass seed grow, you may reduce watering frequency but you still need to water deeply. While your grass seed is not going to die immediately if you missed a day of watering, it does not mean that regular watering is not a crucial thing. .
As you plant your grass seed, we bet you already know that it only germinates and will only continue its development process in ideal conditions, which does not include being exposed to dry conditions.
The time after planting new grass seed is when the critical growth period starts as they are establishing themselves, so you should not skip a day of watering them. The seeds that already sprouted may have stored some water, but keep in mind that the moisture they have is not enough to last them days, especially when the temperature rises and the soil dries out quickly.
What To Do if You Missed a Day ?
In general, forgetting a day of watering will not cause your grass seed to die, so relax now, your grass seed will still thrive even if the day passed and you forgot to give them water.
What you have to do is wait for the next morning and water like you normally would — once early in the morning and once late in the afternoon.
If you feel the need for watering grass seed at night to make up for the whole day that you missed, do not do it or you will face undesirable results. If grass seeds are given water at night time, they will possibly develop fungus and molds because of the absence of sunlight.
Sunlight prevents the growth of microbes and spores in grass seeds, so the lack of sunlight will allow illness to spread rapidly among the seeds or prevent these young seedlings from sprouting.
– Grass Seed Drying Period
Grass seeds dry out in 12 to 24 hours without water. However, the length of time that it will take also depends on the day’s weather. If the weather is sunny and the temperature reaches about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, expect your grass seed to dry out in just 12 hours.
How soaked the young seedlings may already be will also determine how quickly the grass seed will become dry, especially if they experienced prior rain. In just two days of missed watering, grass seeds will dry out and will not continue with the germination process because they cannot live without water beyond that duration.
What Should You Do To Keep Your Grass Seed Watered?
To keep your grass seed watered, you should set an alarm, put an automatic timer on the garden hose or sprinklers, set up an irrigation system, hire someone to do it for you, or plant during the wetter months of the year.
Keeping the soil evenly moist in a consistent manner is very important to your grass seed’s growth development. Your grass seed should be watered daily, deeply, and infrequently depending on your season, location, and temperature requirements.
After planting, make sure to water grass seed twice a day, and then reduce it to once daily after a week. However, if you cannot keep doing it consistently, we are here for you, and we have prepared options for you to be able to not miss a day without watering your grass seed.
– Set an Alarm
The simplest thing you can do to avoid missing a day of watering grass seed is to set an alarm clock to remind you to do the task. Whether you choose to water your lawn by hand or to manually switch on the hose to your garden, choosing to use either your phone or an alarm clock will be helpful because what’s important is to not miss a day of watering again.
– Put an Automatic Timer on Your Garden Hose
Remember that to be able to achieve healthy growing grass, you should consistently keep the soil moist, so an outdoor spigot is one of the low-cost options to not miss a day of watering.
Attach a timer to your garden hose to allow the water to flow at a certain time and with the amount of water you set it in advance. You can set it for about 5 minutes to 10 minutes in the morning and mid-day.
– Set Up an Irrigation System or Timed Sprinkler
An irrigation system is a system in which water is distributed to the entire lawn uniformly. This is surely an effective way to not miss a day of watering grass seed and make your lawn grass lush in no time.
An irrigation system is a more expensive but less time-consuming option than an outdoor spigot. Make sure that you install the irrigation system first before you start to spread the grass seed over the entire lawn. However, using a sprinkler to water your lawn is the most common method!
– Hire the Task Out
There is an existing lawn service in which lawn care specialists or personnel can be hired to ensure that your lawn is receiving moisture daily, even in the seedling stage.
This is a good idea if you have the extra budget to spend on this project.
– Plant in Wetter Season
Planting in the wetter season is another ideal option you can choose to make aid in the developmental process of your grass seed. Plant your seeds during early spring or early fall for cool-season grasses and during late spring for warm-season grasses.
This is when lots of precipitation occurs and the temperatures are not too hot nor too cold, which is perfect for your grass’s critical growth period.
Conclusion
As much as possible, do not miss a day of watering your grass seed.
Here are some key points for you to keep in mind:
- Watering is a crucial thing in your grass seed’s growth and development.
- Missing a day of watering should be okay, but do not go beyond that. Not watering for two or more days will lead to complications for the growing grass seeds.
- Watering at night to make up for missing watering during the day will only cause more damage.
- Grass seeds will dry out in 12 to 24 hours without watering, depending on the weather.
- Make sure to water grass seed twice daily, once early in the morning and then late in the afternoon.
After your grass seed successfully overcomes the germination period and becomes fully established with your effort and attention, it will flourish in your yard. This shows that consistent hard work leads to success.
