I’ve always had St. Aug. Purchased a new home that had centipede planted a couple months ago. We do have an irrigation system that covers the entirety of the new sod.

1. How often, how long, and at what times should I run the irrigation?
2. Any fertilizers I should be using yearly? If so, what time of the year, and what type?
3. I have a few similar weeds that are already starting to emerge. Bushy type weed that’s purple/redish in color with yellow flowers.

Location is Baldwin County AL.

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Posted by ELLSSUU

Member since Jan 2005

8059 posts

Posted on 4/13/26 at 8:08 pm to GeauxTime9

Fertilizer, I like StaGreen Natural 16-0-10 from Lowe's. It's inexpensive. Just make sure you do not exceed 2lbs Nitrogen per 1000 Sq Feet during the growing season. Curtail towards the end of the season. I just put down an app of .25 this past weekend.

Weed Killer, I'll like Celsius WG since it doesn't harm the grass in high temps. It can take two apps. I also use Tenacity. Both aren't cheap but a bottle lasts a really long time

For spot spraying, Spruce works well for me. Just do not get it on your good grass. It's also pet safe.

This post was edited on 4/13/26 at 8:11 pm

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Posted by CrawDude

Baton Rouge

Member since Apr 2019

5815 posts

Posted on 4/14/26 at 9:25 am to GeauxTime9

quote:
I’ve always had St. Aug. Purchased a new home that had centipede planted a couple months ago. We do have an irrigation system that covers the entirety of the new sod. 1. How often, how long, and at what times should I run the irrigation? 2. Any fertilizers I should be using yearly? If so, what time of the year, and what type? 3. I have a few similar weeds that are already starting to emerge. Bushy type weed that’s purple/redish in color with yellow flowers. Location is Baldwin County AL.

1. Irrigation - 1 inch + of water weekly in the absence of rain - calibrate your irrigation for that. One deep watering per week is better than more frequent, less amount, watering.

2. 15-0-x or 16-0-x - lower nitrogen, near 0 or 0 phosphorus. Most land university recommendation suggest no more than 1 lb of N per 1000 sq ft per year for centipede - split application, 1/2 lb N about now, 2nd application mid-June- early July, and you are done for the year. Less fertllizer than St Augustine in amount and frequency. Too much fertlizer can result in centipede decline.

3. Weeds - since you are familiar with St. Aug, any herbicide you can use on St Aug you can use on Centipede, plus a few more. As mentioned Celsius in hot-summer weather, MSM Turf is also a good one in warmer weather and Fertilome Weed Free Zone at “cooler” temperatures - winter, spring, fall - not summer (less than 85 F). Of course pre-emergent herbicide in fall and late winter help.

Lastly, mow centipede at a height of 1.5-2 inches, lower than St Aug, but higher than Bermudagrass.

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