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Diagnosing lousy stand

O

oldmanbishop

Member
Ok, so I just bought a drill that I"d like to use to put in some oats this spring. I thought it would be a good idea to test it out first. So, I tilled up about 2.5 acres and planted it with buckwheat underseeded with red clover.

For tillage, I moldboard plowed half of the land, then ran a heavy field tiller over the whole thing then drilled/cultipacked. Now that we got some rain, I"m seeing both buckwheat and clover coming up, but it is much better in some spots than others.

The moldboard + tiller area looks a lot better than the tiller-only area, so I"m thinking I might need to run the tiller deeper or go slower. But even the moldboard + tiller area is pretty hit or miss.

Any suggestions? What do you guys think? I"m in central PA by the way.
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I think a little better seed bed would help--better seed to soil contact. Looks like you have a bumper crop of stones. IMHO.

Larry
 
I'm probably going to have to deal with some amount of stones in the soil. Maybe with all that oat money I'll be able to buy a rock picker.

Aside from that, what do you think would give the most bang/buck in terms of seedbed prep? Leveling? Trying to pulverize the clods with tiller or disc?

Thanks
 
Other areas of the country is different. Here in the tundra, plow in fall, disk/field cultivate in spring, harrow right before and right after you plant.

If you live in a warmer climate, you can do it all in spring, hope for a rain between the plowing and disking to mellow the lumps.

Plowing in mid summer, beating down the heat baked lumps, lack of rain keeps the ground dry, you hardly ever get a good seedbed.

Too dry, too lumpy, too much heat the seeds like a slow cool damp start.

The tiller might be good to work up your ground now; if you tilled up sod in mid summer, your ground was dry, your ground was hard and lumpy, the tiller didnt work it as good as you thought, sod doesn't till up well or easy, ESP in mid summer.

Paul
 
Ok, thanks for the advice. You mentioned a pass with the harrow after planting. Would that be to cover the seed? Couldn't you just use chains on the drill? or is there a good reason to make another pass?
 
Small grains, legumes, and grass like firm seedbed. We like smooth fields for those crops. The harrow will push a few of the tiny seeds a bit too deep, but it also helps cover,others, and smooths the field well. I find more benefit than bother. A packer works too instead.

Paul
 
Does your drill have a press wheel attachment? In our part of the world you never see a drill without it for the very reason Paul mentioned about a firm seedbed. When sowing in dry conditions it is critical to get a good seed-to-soil contact.
 
My drill is an old JD/VB without press wheels. I did pull a cultipacker behind it, but the ground wasn"t really leveled out enough.

We do get pretty good rainfall here (PA).
 
IME here on NYs border with Canada on heavy clay, when you plow in summer, even in a wet year like this, getting the clods broke up is hard to do. Every air space creates a dry spot under the seed. Harrowing with a finer harrow like a spring tooth or peg tooth will help move the clods around and fill under them. A cultipacker works great too. A standard disc works better on moister ground, but it still leaves some good sized clods. I imagine your tiller running over the plowed sections is compacting and filling the spaces giving you the firm, water carrying seed bed you need.

We always think of water raining down and wetting our ground, but water in a loose seed bed travel through it and no upward capillary wetting can take place. THe best method is still fall plowing and letting the freeze thaw work the ground down for you, but that doesn't help in summer.
 
You can never work that field properly until you remove at least the larger rocks/ How you going to combine in there? Or mow?
Pick rocks then use a spike tooth harrow on it after a rain
 
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