Wilted Centipede Grass

Drought Stress

• Centipede grass is slow growing and low lying, making it difficult to notice drought stress. Test your lawn for drought stress by walking across its surface. If the grass fails to spring back into place, the grass requires water. Shallow, daily watering does not help shallow-rooted centipede grass. Instead, water deeply, up to 4 to 6 inches of water, when the grass appears lackluster and wilted.

Watering

• During the middle of the day, lawns lose irrigation water through evaporation. Watering at night or in the evening leaves grass susceptible to fungal infection. Cool water does not dry out adequately overnight, especially in humid environments. The optimum time to water your centipede grass is in the early morning hours. Give your lawn the chance to absorb water and the chance to aerate and dry throughout the remainder of the day.

Nutrients

• Centipede grass is a low-maintenance groundcover. Avoid applying excess fertilization. Although fertilizers improve centipede grass' color and growth rate, over application does more harm than good. Excess iron levels turn centipede grass leaves yellow and can kill the lawn. Accept that centipede grass is slow growing and understand that it doesn't require fertilization more than once per year.

Climates

• Centipede grass fails to grow in certain climates and growing conditions. Under less-than-optimal conditions, even when properly irrigated and fertilized, centipede grass becomes damaged and may appear wilted. Unlike other grasses, centipede grass never goes dormant. It waits until temperatures are right and resumes growth. Because of this, centipede lawn grass is susceptible to damage when exposed to frost. Centipede grass does best in slightly acid soils. Even in mild temperatures, alkaline soils damage centipede grass.