Seed dead? Start over?

[robv60]

Planted some Tall Fescue this weekend. I have been watering it for the last 3 days lightly, 3 times a day (or as needed) @ 10 minutes. My wife come home today around noon to check on some things and she cut the sprinklers on for me but unfortunately forgot they were on and let the water run for ~30 minutes-flooding certain areas of the lawn. Should I simply wait it out and see what happens or is it a safe bet that the seed is too water-logged and is now dead? Should I rake the straw off the entire area (~2000sq.ft) and start over with new seed? Frustrating. Its too early to tell whether or not the flooding hurt because no grass has sprouted yet. However, Im afraid that if I wait too long itll be too late to plant more seed. Grrrrr!

[xPosTech]

I'm probably the wrong one to answer this but whenever I've overwatered seed at any one time the water has carried the seed off, leaving bare spots and other places where it comes up like a Chia Pet. I would wait till it starts sprouting, unless you can see the bare spots now. If so, just broadcast those areas.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will come along to set me right.

[robv60]

have been watering it for the

Well, this all happened between 12-1:00, as of 5:00 all the standing water was soaked in and the ground is still moist. We also got a decent rain yesterday afternoon sometime around 5:00 and it didnt need to be watered until she watered it today, could probably have gone a little longer. Anyway, it wont be watered again tonight and probably not again until tomorrow at lunch. Hopefully all will be ok. Just have to wait and see.

[Dave]

You may have had areas of washout of seed. If the water isn't standing, you're probably okay otherwise.

Dave

[do_see]

You're probably all right as long as you didn't have any gullys washed out. Did the straw wash away? If not, I'd wait for it to germinate and see if you have any areas that don't fill in. Better yet, seed is relatively cheap. 2000 sq ft. Piece of cake. Just spread some more and you will be sure. You can't get too much seed. If you have water that stands long enough to drown the seed, you have drainage problems that need to be addressed.

[robv60]

How long would water need to stand to kill the seeds? Also, I have red GA clay soil, It has just been tilled twice, once in both directions so Its somewhat "loose". Most of the time when I run my sprinklers (10 minutes) the soil gets good and wet but never muddy. I think its draining ok but would need to have say, 2 15 minute waterings 30 minutes apart rather than one 30 minute watering. My wife said the water was on for 35 minutes which caused the standing water. Absorbed into the soil completely in about 3-4 hours. So, Im sure its not the best drainage, nevertheless, not bad for the concrete they call soil around here.

[robv60]

Didnt notice any gullys washed out, the straw is mostly still intact, a little thin in one area, but it was a little thin to begin with. While I have you all here, How much area should an average bail of straw cover? I cant help but to feel as though I may have it on a little thick. Seems like the grass wouldnt be able to grow through it or would get choked out.

[trader4]

Watering 30 mins instead of 10 isn't going to stop the seed from germinating. It's always better to have some extra water than too little. What do you think happens in nature when it rains for 4 days straight? When it's over, there is a hell of a lot more grass and plant life growing than before. As someone already pointed out, the only issue would be if the ground is uneven, sloped, etc and too much water caused the seed to run off, pool, etc. One benefit of using a slice seeder is that it helps minimize that problem.

The straw should provide only partial coverage. You want light to easily get through and you should be able to partially see the ground through it.

[robv60]

Cant tell if any ran off, but there were a couple spots that were a little lower than the rest of the ground where the water did pool up for a while. Think I will need to thin out the straw.