Tifton 9 Bahia Grass Seed
seed_bag_pics_009.jpgTifton 9 Bahia Grass Seed - Certified - Tifton 9 Bahia grass is considered a very durable pasture grass for horses. Tifon 9 bahia grows faster than regular Pensacola Bahia grass, provides more drought tolerance and better frost resistance.  Tifton 9 is an improved Pensacola Bahia grass variety that was bred and developed by Dr. Glen Burton, Agricultural Research Service, U.S.D.A., and the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station. It has several improved characteristics. Tifton 9 Bahia grass produces 30 to 40% more forage per year than the old Pensacola variety from which it was developed. See Table 1 for yield comparisons at Gainesville, FL.

Tifton 9 Bahia grass seed is commonly used for pastures and hay production across the Southern United States including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, North East Texas, and South West California. Other Bahiagrass varieties that are commonly used are Pensacola and Argentine . For more information on how well Tifton 9 Bahiagrass grows in your exact loacation please call or contact us .

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Pasture Applications:

New Pastures - Plant 40-80 lbs. per acre.
(20 lbs. takes 12 - 24 months to fully sod the pasture.)

*The more seed applied to the lawn or pasture on the first planting the faster the lawn or pasture will fully establish a sod or grass base and prevent future over seeding to fill in bare spots.

Over seeding an existing pasture: Over seeding rates depend on the amount of established or existing grass in the pasture area. Common applications for over seeding are 10 - 25 lbs. per acre.

BUY "CERTIFIED TIFTON 9" BAHIA GRASS SEED

Tifton 9 Bahia grass will be well adapted wherever any other bahia grass is grown. Tifton 9  Bahia grassyields more forage than Pensacola bahia grass from the same inputs. Its greater seedling vigor will facilitate quick establishment and permit the development of sod based rotations. Farmers report that turning under bahia grass sod has significantly increases yields of peanuts, corn, and cotton. A two- or three-year rotation of Tifton 9 bahia grass reduces soil-borne diseases and root knot nematode damage, and increases yield of vegetables.

Because Tifton 9 bahia grass is a variable population and has no visible characteristics that can be used for its identification, it is necessary to depend on certification to preserve its identity. Tifton 9 has Plant Variety Protection under the Title V option. Seed of Tifton 9 bahia grass can only be sold as a class of certified seed. Certified seed fields must be planted with foundation seed.tifton9bahiagrass.jpg
Management:

Bahia grass seedlings are small and grow slowly. For good establishment in one year, weeds must be controlled by frequent mowing or grazing. Unfortunately, there are no selective herbicides to help. Plantings in newly cleared land will establish quicker than those in old cultivated fields because of fewer weeds. Grazing should begin when weeds such as crabgrass are young enough to be grazed down close to the bahia grass seedlings.

  • Plant only certified Tifton 9 Bahia grass seed.
  • Have your soil tested. Apply 50 pounds per acre of nitrogen plus adequate phosphorous and potassium.
  • Prepare a firm weed-free seed bed.
  • Plant seed 1/2 inch deep with a grain drill or grass seeder. With excellent weed control, 10 pounds of seed could give a good stand by the end of the first growing season
  • Plant in early spring to give a full summer season for establishment.
  • Pack the soil after planting with a very heavy roller or the tractor to keep soil moist around the seed.
  • Control weeds with mowing or limited grazing to keep them down close to the top bahiagrass leaves. An application of 2,4-D will control broad leafed weeds if applied when bahiagrass seedlings are 3 to 4 inches tall. It will not control grasses. 
Tifton 9 Bahia grass, as well as other Pensacola bahia grass types, have more frost and cold tolerance than Argentine Bahia grass. Thus, it may produce more growth at the beginning and end of the growing season. Besides producing more forage, Tifton 9 bahia grass is much more vigorous in the seedling stage, has longer leaves, and is equal to Pensacola bahia grass in digestibility. The increased seedling vigor should provide for more rapid stand establishment and increased ability to compete with weeds. Grazing information is somewhat limited, but in one study steers made good weight gains on Tifton 9 bahia grass. This indicates that it is palatable and acceptable to cattle.

Some improved forage varieties lose vigor with advancing generations. Tifton 9 bahia grass was bred to continue its improved characteristics through advanced generations. On the other hand, if seeds are harvested from non-certified fields where Tifton 9 has been allowed to crossbreed with old-type Pensacola bahia grass plants, improvements may diminish. Therefore, use of certified seed of Tifton 9 bahia grass seed will insure that the grower is getting maximum use of the improvements.

Tifton 9 Bahia grass should be adapted to, and can grow in, the same geographic areas and on the same soil types where Pensacola bahia grass is now grown.

Land Preparation and Planting

An ideal site on which to plant Tifton 9 Bahia grass seed would be new ground or areas where bahia grass has never been planted. Next would be fields that have been in row crops or have been cultivated for several years. These sites should have almost no bahia grass plants and relatively low populations of bahia grass seed in the soil. This should result in a fairly pure stand of Tifton-9 plants. Many of the sites to be planted to Tifton 9 bahia grass will be old pastures that need to be renovated. These may have been planted to bahia grass or have been infested with bahia grass through movement of seed by animals from one area to another. The end result is that something needs to be done to eliminate the bahia grass plants present, and also reduce the population of seed in the soil.

In order to convert an old bahia grass pasture to Tifton-9 bahia grass, the following land preparation and planting procedures are suggested:
  • Plow with a moldboard plow. This will bury many of the surface weed seed too deep to germinate.
  • Plant an annual forage crop, such as pearl millet or sorghum-sudangrass, during the warm season and a small grain, ryegrass, or clover, during the cool season. The growing of annual crops with associated cultivation helps to eliminate any remaining bahia grass plants and reduces the population of bahia grass seed near the soil surface.
  • Bahia grass can be planted from February through July in most areas of Florida. Plantings made from late March through May can be lost due to drought, especially in South Central Florida. Thus, it may be wise to avoid planting during this time period. Plant on a clean-tilled seedbed that has been prepared by using a heavy cutting disc, or other suitable tillage tool, plus a finishing disc that leaves a smooth surface free of trash.
  • If possible, use a cultipacker type seeder or some other precision seeder in order to place all of the seed at a uniform depth. Seed should be planted at 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep.
Fertilizing for Establishment
The soil should be limed to a pH of 5.0 to 5.5 before planting. On land that has been cropped in the past, it may be more efficient to apply the major fertilizer elements after planting. Apply fertilizer when the bahiagrass seedlings have emerged from the soil. Apply 30 to 40 pounds of nitrogen per acre along with phosphorous and potash according to a soil test recommendation. When the bahiagrass plants are large enough to start spreading, apply an additional 40 to 50 pounds of nitrogen.

Weed Control During Establishment
No herbicide is available for use at planting and while plants are young and immature. Therefore, be sure to start with a clean-tilled seedbed. Use mowing to control broadleaf weeds. No control is available for grassy weeds, such as seedling bermudagrass, crabgrass, and the "old" bahiagrass seed that might germinate. Once the grass is well-established, the phenoxy-type herbicides, such as 2,4-D and Banvel, can be used to control broadleaf weeds.

Seed Production
Seed of Tifton 9 bahia grass will be grown and sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed. Certified seed is seed that has been determined by an official seed certifying agency to conform to standards of genetic purity and identity as to kind or variety. Certification of seed production fields will be done by the Georgia Seed Development commission in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

Plant variety protection is provided under Title V of the federal "Plant Variety Protection Act" of 1970. This means that the variety can be sold only as a class of certified seed. A bag of Tifton-9 seed must carry a blue certified tag to be legally sold. For the buyer of seed, the blue certified tag gives assurance that the seed is Tifton-9.

Table 1. Forage yield (lbs/acre) at five harvests in one growing season.
Variety

May 31

June 29

Aug. 3

Sept. 9

Oct. 25

Total Yield
Tifton-9

1940

1110

3260

3340

1520

11,170 lbs
Pensacola

1190

950

2630

3090

870

8,730 lbs
Argentine

560

480

2220

3460

1040

7,760 lbs

Courtsey of http://ufl.edu/
Courtsey of http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/bahiagrass.htm