You know the grass has started to grow when it displays guttation.
Guttation is not dew. Dew results from the condensation of water vapour from the atmosphere and it forms small drops over the whole surface of a grass blade. Guttation results from soil moisture which flows up the blade as xylem sap and is extruded from the tip of the blade.
The problem is that when roots are warm and moist, they pump liquid into the blade. But, on a chilly night, the stomates on the blade close so the liquid has nowhere to go other than to be extruded from the tip. It seems that grass is not all that smart and the cold blade does not know how to tell the roots to close down for the night.
I always watch for guttation in the spring. Well, this morning was not the first time I have seen it this year, merely the first time I had gotten around to taking a picture of it.
Guttation drops hang from the tips of grass blades; some have rolled down the blade.
