Sod Production in Shallow Beds of Waste Materials1

Abstract

Sprigs of ‘Tifgreen’ bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L.) and seeds of ‘Argentine’ bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flügge) were planted in 10 different media consisting of combinations of 5 waste products spread 10 cm deep on black polyethylene plastic sheets. Experiments were conducted in 1976 and 1977 utilizing the following media components: composted heat-treated sewage sludge (SS); composted sugarcane processing byproducts (SB); composted municipal wood chips (WC); sandy muck soil (SM); and water treatment sludge (WS). In 51 days the bahiagrass had formed sod which was comparable in tear strength to commercially available sod. Excellent rooting of the experimental sod occurred in 7 days; commercially cut sod had rooted much less as determined by root weights and the force required to uproot the sod. Bermudagrass sprigs did not develop sufficient coverage in 51 days to yield acceptable sod but did so by 65 days. The sod also rooted more quickly than commercial bermudagrass sod. Both grasses rooted better than commercial sod because root apical meristems were not cut off during harvesting. The media which resulted in the best and worst combinations of evaluations were different for each grass species. Excellent quality bahiagrass sod was produced in media containing SS, and the least acceptable in WC+SS and WS+SB media. A system now exists to make use of a number of urban waste products for sod production, while at the same time shortening production time.