Argentine Vs Pensacola Bahia Grass

There are some major lawn blade characteristics between the two major varieties of bahia grass planted primarily leaf width and color.

Argentine vs pensacola bahia grass.

How to plant bahia grass seed in florida. Although they are similar in many aspects they have. Argentine and pensacola are two types of bahia grass. This grass does well in poor sandy soils with limited nutrients and ph near 5 5 to 6 5.

Bahia grass tends to grow much taller than crabgrass does especially when the seed heads are allowed to extend above the blades of grass. As one of the tallest lawn grasses bahia should be maintained between 2 and 5 inches in height to remain healthy. Bermuda grass falls at the low end of the spectrum with an average mowed height of 1 inch. Argentine bahia grass has dense deep green blades wider than pensacola bahia grass with a few seed heads.

It tolerates hot and cold temperatures well but performs better than argentine in colder weather. Argentine bahia grass originated from the country of argentina and was brought to the u s. The areas that best support argentine are wetter soils higher humidity and soils of low fertility. Young bahia grass can be easily damaged.

Bahia grass and crabgrass look very similar to some people but crabgrass is a weed while bahia grass is planted specifically for use as turf. Both perennial grasses form pasture grass. These warm season varieties grow widely throughout and are adapted to the gulf coast regions of the southeast united states including florida and the coastal plain. Pensacola bahia has an extensive root system which makes it extremely drought resistant.

With either grass it is important to never cut more than one third of the blade height in a single cutting. Bahia grass can be grown more easily than most grasses in the high temperatures and sandy soils of florida. 1 iron supplement products and other soil amendments may be needed to keep bahia healthy and attractive. Pensacola and argentine are varieties of bahia formally called bahiagrass each with unique characteristics that mak.

2 in soils with ph above 7 0 bahia suffers iron deficiencies that result in pale yellow color. This grass has a thinner blade and better forage for horses and cows as to palatability. One is wide argentine leaf on left and the other one is much more narrow pensacola leaf on right the argentine makes the better lawn grass with generally a darker green color but it limited in planting areas due to cold tolerance it should. In these cases another warm season grass may be a.

Bahia grass vs crabgrass. For this reason pensacola grass is grown farther north than argentine grass because while frost can damage the top growth of pensacola bahia it recovers well.