How Long After Plowing Can I Disc?

Fergienewbee · May 9, 2010

I plowed almost a week ago. Can I disc or do I need to wait a little longer? I read you should wait two weeks. Some plots were disced and then plowed; others had a lot of quackgrass sod and were plowed for the first time.

Thanks.

Larry in Michigan

El Toro · May 9, 2010

If the soil isn't wet I would disk it. Hal

GordoSD · May 9, 2010

Pick up a big handful of sod. If you can make a ball with it it is too wet. If you can't disk it.

Gordo

Leroy · May 9, 2010

Depends entirely on the ground and what cover is on it. If it has a lot of green cover you might want to leave it wilt down but some types will never wilt down and need to be cut up while green and then the moisture content of the soil. You could at times start to disk as soon as you had a plowed strip as wide as the disk but generaly what you start plowing in morning at noon it would be good to disk it as it would have dried just enough to crumble good. Quack grass by plowing and disking you will have spread it, that needed roundup (and I am not a fan of roundup) 2 weeks befor plowing, you will never get it killed by working the ground, you will only spread it. Other than that you should have been disking as soon as ground was dry enough and if you had drying weather your ground is going to be too hard the disk will not want to penetrate it and will need more weight on disk with more passes.

paul · May 9, 2010

Depends on soil type, climate, rainfall, etc.

'Two weeks' would be meaningless 'here', wouldn't mean anything.

A spring plowing 'here' you either work up about 6-8 hours after plowing when the clods are drying but the centers are still moist.

Or, you let the clods dry out completely, they turn into bricks, you wait until it rains, and then again, disk when the clods are dry on the outside, but damp on the inside yet so they fall apart.

The calendar is meaningless, you need to use a clock to time out the ground so it's dry enough to drive through, but the clods are still damp enough to fall apart.

We have clay here, perhaps sandy soils are different.

And yea, you'll be fighting that grass all year, it regrows from each of the many cuttings you made, so you'll need to keep that spot ripped up and black for a long, long time until they die. Let it green up & the grass will all be re-rooted. A disk especially just reseeds the stuff, a field cultivator used every week for a month will help some to get the roots to the surface & dried out, don't give anything a chance to root & grow.

--->Paul

BushogPapa · May 9, 2010

I certainly would not disc it very deep..and with the disc set to not cut much..the 1st time over..and maybe have a weighted Cultipacker behind it..

You don't want to turn up any more green than you must..

Ron..

Art Massing · May 9, 2010

Fergie,
These gentlemen are right on the money when they tell you that it depends on the condition in your field.
If the soil is dry enough to work, and plows up friable and loose, you can disk it as soon as you finish plowing.
If it plows up hard and cloddy, you may have to waite for a good rain,then let it dry again, before you can work it down with a disk (or anything else).
The main thing to remember: don't work the soil when it is too wet. As someone else as already said: squeeze the soil in your fist as tight as you can. If it will still fall apart with light pressure after you release it, it is dry enough to work.
Of course if your planting rice, there is a completly different definition of "Dry Enough" but I'll leave that explanation to someone from one of the Southern States (Ha!)

Good luck,

Art

504 · May 9, 2010

We would plow and then drag a harrow over it to knock the top of and seal in the moister so it didn t dry out, then whenever we got back to that field it was disc, harrow at an angle(helped fill in the low spots and made it easier to see the planter marker)and plant.

Anonymous-0 · May 10, 2010

We plowed 22 acres yesterday. (It was a bit wet in a few areas) Going to start discing this afternoon. Ground was fescue sod, yellow clay and a bit of sand mixed in (washed off hillside above field) Top soil drains really well, subsoil holds water FOREVER. If it ISN'T disced today, I'll have rock hard slabs of clay sod to work with in another day. YMMV

MattCatlin · May 10, 2010

I shouldn't be replying my vast experience plowing and discing (sarcasm) occurred this year turning under about 7 acres of old pasture grass on my little farm with an N and a dearborn 2 bottom

followed by a dearborn disc. I found it far less bumpy to disc immediately that when it sat a few weeks. My disc wasn't heavy enough to cut all the way through the 6 or 7 inch deep plow slice so it didn't bring the sod back up to the surface. I am finding it takes quite a few passes to get those big old furrows flattend down.

How Long After Plowing Can I Disc?

Fergienewbee

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El Toro

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GordoSD

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Leroy

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paul

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BushogPapa

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Art Massing

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504

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Anonymous-0

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MattCatlin

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