How often should I water my newly laid sod? I live in S. California (909) and I have St. Augustine

Question

My landscaper recommended that I water it 10 minutes at 5am, and 3 minutes at about 5:30 (if I wanted too) I thought that wasn't enough when he told me, but he's the expert, so I went along with it.

The sod was laid this past saturday. Sunday morning it was not watered at 5am because the timer did not go off, not knowing this because I was sleep. I watered sunday evening at 5:30 for 3 minutes like he said. Monday morning, I woke up before 5am to see if the timer worked, and it didnt, so thats how I know it didnt work on sunday. So here goes:

Sunday- watered 3 minutes at 5:30

Monday- watered 10 minutes at 5am; 3 mins at 5:30pm

Tuesday- watered 10 minutes at 5:30am

Wednesday- finally got timer to work; watered 12 minutes at 5:30

Should I increase my water to 3 times perday during the first 2 weeks?

Answer 1

Your landscaper knows the right management taking into consideration the condition of the soil substrate, the type of grass, the humidity, and the heat in your ares. The internet doesn't know any of these things. watering for longer than 10 minutes would waste water and do your sod damage.

If you water the sod too much, you will end up making it soggy, causing the roots to rot and/or set the sod up for invasion by pests, like flea beetles.

Yes, there are differences in the types of grasses and their sod. St. Augustine is much thicker and more matted than zoysia, Marathon, or Bermuda, so it holds more water after watering.

Listen to your landscaper for the best results-- that's what you hired him for, right?