Guide to using Germination Sheets on Sports Turf. Discover the benefits of using germination sheets on sports pitches. Learn how to optimize grass seed growth, reduce maintenance, and improve pitch quality.
This guide should give you some good grass seed germination tips! If you have your own, lets us know in the comments.
What do Germination Sheets do
Germination sheets aim for quicker germination by creating/enhancing a micro climate of conditions, their ideal during cooler spring/autumn sowing windows if a quicker outcome is required during sport pitch renovations. Germination sheets also can speed up grass seed germination at lower temperatures.
The use of germination sheets are a game-changer for sports pitches, especially during cooler spring and autumn sowing windows. They create a microclimate that speeds up germination, regulates temperature, and retains moisture. The black sheets withhold heat, while the open mesh allows light, air, and water to reach the seed.
Grass seed needs moisture and the correct temperature range said to be 8-12c to germinate. Germination sheets can be ideal for raising soil temperatures and help retain moisture during colder spells.
Key Benefits
- Temperature regulation
- Speeds up grass seed germination
- Assists in moisture management, slows down evaporation
- Keep birds from eating the seed
- Help to prevent seed wash off, if rain is not too heavy
- Makes site users aware and keeps them off the area
Usage and Removal
This is determined by the growth of the new seed, in cricket with daily watering it can be 3-5 days max, if seeding in spring or autumn that could be extended. Whatever the period, you want to do daily checks to ensure the grass under the sheeting hasn’t bolted and is starting to yellow or and is rotting off.
I tend to remove the germination sheets once the new grass plant is about 12mm, some others say once it gets to 3cm (30mm) but personally l like to get germinations sheets off as soon as the new seed is up, to slow down the old existing grass which give’s the new plant a chance flourish.
Watering and Disease Risk
My own experience is that although germination sheets help hold moisture, they also attract heat, watering can be very dependent on temperatures, but watering needs can be as much as required on a daily basis.
Watering should be light in nature, as heavy watering could displace the seed into low areas.
Watering to bare areas can make the germination sheet stick to the soil surface, this can impede seed growth, some erect wire netting or some bent up corned rodent meshing.
Water using a fine water droplet, again to prevent under sheeting puddling and seed movement.
Disease risk can definitely increase but only where germination sheets are left down too long, disease flourishes in warm and damp conditions, so as l said above daily checks under sheets need to be made and they should not be left on any longer than needed.
Available Types
The ideal is to use specific manufactured germination sheets, which are also black, perforated and breathable, at the recreational level it has also been known that ground staff use debris/scaffold netting.
Horticultural fleece can also be used, but is very light weight and could be tricky in windy conditions.
Areas of Use
- Cricket pitches, after overseeding
- Winter sports pitches, specifically high wear areas
- Tennis, on high wear areas
- After renovations -Part or full area
- After any sports pitch renovations
Summary
Personally, germinations sheet definitely have their place, but l also think if you have the temperatures and the moisture you don’t need them, but if you don’t or you need a quicker germination then that’s when germination sheets can be of real benefit.
My experience as a cricket groundsperson, is l use them in our net areas as l need as quick a recovery and turnaround as possible, before re using the pitches 4-6 week later so germination sheets really assist in that. The shorter the recovery period of the pitch, the more vital they are.
On my winter sports pitches, l just use cut to size germination sheets on the goalmouth, as again there is a short turn around to the start of cricket.
Brian
External Link-
Also seed this How to Pre Germinate Grass Seed, in doing this you would need to reduce the time germination sheets are down- https://turfcareblog.com/how-to-pre-germinate-grass-seed-in-4-steps/
1 comment
Crowborough Rugby use scaffold sheets. Over the years we have bought enough to cover the middle third of our main pitch. We use them post seeding and get impressive results with germination and grass growth. The sheets help delay evaporation.