All seeds require moisture and a certain temperature range before they begin to germinate. Once the germination process has begun, if conditions change, the seed or new sprout is vulnerable and can die. If the seed or sprout dries out — it dies out. Your mission then, is to provide adequate moisture at all times. The phase before you seen any sprouts poking out is most critical. Your commitment to watering new grass seed must stay strong. The germination time for grass seed ranges from 5 to 30 days depending on the variety. It can be even longer than this in cooler temperatures. Germination is how long it will take to actually see the grass growing. Until this point, the seed, or the soil and mulch in contact with the seed, must stay moist. It doesn’t need to be soggy or swimming, but moist. Once the new grass is visible, the roots are also growing down into the soil. This happens quite quickly. As soil moisture below ground is more accessible to the roots, the plant is not so vulnerable now. However, don’t reduce the amount of watering on new grass seeds yet. Seeds will not sprout all at the same time. Seeds will be buried at different depths, absorb water differently, or be of different quality or maturity. Many seed mixtures are blends of multiple varieties that will have different characteristics affecting their development. It is important to keep the surface area constantly moist until all seeds have germinated. Until the planted area is densely showing green growth, don’t allow it to dry out. Recommendation is to water daily. The amount of water depends on your lawns conditions, again, keep seed moist but not soggy.
