If you are planning to overseed in the fall or grow a new lawn in the spring, you may be wondering how long does it take for grass seed to germinate?
Let’s go over some of the factors that affect grass seed germination:
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Germination Times by Grass Type
When it comes to cool season grasses, germination times can vary greatly from species to species. Here’s a chart that shows the germination time in days for each cool season grass type:
Kentucky Bluegrass and Creeping Red Fescue have the longest germination times (12-14 days) while Perennial Ryegrass has the fastest germination time (5 days).
Knowing the typical germination time for different grass types can help you to determine what type of grass to put down. For example, if you live in a climate that has a very mild spring, growing Kentucky Bluegrass or Creeping Red Fescue would thrive in this sort of situation since it takes a very long time to germinate and grow.
On the contrary, if you live in an area where the spring season heats up quickly, seeding with a perennial ryegrass may be your best option since it germinates quickly and can establish in a matter of days/weeks.
Pro Tip: If you want the darkest green grass on the planet, check out Fireball Perennial Ryegrass.
Pregerminating Grass Seed Speeds Up The Process
If you want to speed up the time it takes for grass seed to germinate, there is a simple way to do this in 4 steps.
- Step 1 – Put the grass seed of your choice in a paint strainer bag. 👉 BUY – 5 Pack Paint Strainer Bags
- Step 2 – Submerge the bag full of grass seed in a bucket and put something heavy on top of the bag to keep it submerged.
- Step 3 – Change the water in the bucket every 12 hours to keep things fresh.
- Step 4 – Once the grass seed starts to show tiny root tips breaking through the seed, it’s time to take the bag out of the water (usually 2-5 days).
Once the grass seed is ready and you’ve removed it from the water, simply put the bag of pregerminated seed on the concrete or lawn so that it can drain. Do not let the bag of grass seed completely dry out as that will kill the newly germinated seeds.
Since the seeds will be moist and hard to spread on their own, we recommend mixing the seeds with an organic fertilizer like Milorganite. This will help you to spread the seed/fertilizer mixture in a push spreader or hand spreader without it clumping up. The reason we recommend using an organic fertilizer is because organic fertilizers can’t burn grass, which makes it a safe material to mix with your germinated grass seed to help spread it around.
👉 BUY – Milorganite 32 lbs Bag
Don’t Forget To Top Dress With Peatmoss
Once you have spread your germinated seed, top dress the seed with peatmoss. The simplest way to do this is with a peatmoss spreader. 👉 BUY – Peatmoss Spreader
When you top dress your pregerminated seed with peat moss, you are increasing seed-to-soil contact and providing a barrier that holds in moisture and protects the seed from birds.
Top dressing with peatmoss can drastically increase the speed at which your new grass will establish as it helps to provide the perfect growing environment for the seeds to thrive.
Pro Tip: Depending on where you live, peatmoss may or may not be available. It can easily be purchased online here 👉 BUY – 2.2 Cu Ft Peat Moss
Seed Germination Is The Key To Success
Knowing how long your grass seed will take to germinate can help you to plan the right time of when to spread it. If you want to increase the germination speed, and greatly increase the seed germination rate, then pregerminating your grass seed is an easy process that can yield amazing results.