Caring for Florida sod is fairly easy, except when the sod is new. New sod is often very delicate and requires a lot of love and care to help it grow and thrive. During Florida sod’s growth and establishment phase, it needs a lot of irrigation and fertilization.
Here are the details you need to best care for your new Florida sod:
Irrigation
Your new Florida sod needs plenty of irrigation, or watering. New sod does not have an established root system but rather feeds from short, shallow roots. Because the roots are so small, new sod requires frequent watering to grow and thrive.
Ideally, you should water your new sod three times a day. However, you need to make sure you do not overwater your Florida sod as it could drown or die. Only water new sod for about five to ten minutes at a time to ensure you don’t overwater.
It will take seven to ten days for your new sod to establish a working root system. After the initial seven to ten days, you can switch to watering your Florida sod every other day.
Fertilization
Just like babies or puppies, new Florida sod needs extra and special nutrition to help it grow and thrive. Accurate and ample fertilization is key in the initial stages of your sod.
Wait about sixty days after laying down your sod to start fertilizing, as it takes that long for the roots to grow enough to benefit from extra nutrients. Do a soil test to determine what nutrients your soil lacks, and buy fertilizer with those nutrients.
Use fertilizer with slow-release nitrogen in order to ensure that the benefits of the fertilizer last longer than one day. Be sure to follow Florida state guidelines about fertilization frequency as not to over-fertilize your sod.
