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whats the difference

R

rick1

Member
whats the difference between sowing grass seed with a grain drill or broadcasting it.being the soil is worked up good
RICK
 
If you are sowing with a drill for a lawn the lawn may turn out to be pretty rough when you want to mow since all the grass will be in rows.
Broadcasting and working it in you won't have that. Just my experience.
 
With most crops you will get an adequate stand with substantially less seed per acre by drilling, at the price of many seeds today it adds up fast. Many people say they get a faster stand because of better seed to soil contact and in the case of a no till drill it helps preserves soil moisture.
 
Main difference I see is the convenience of being able to drill it on a windy day. All things being equal, the seed tends to come up in the row or tire track or pattern of the last implement used prior to broadcasting the seed.
 
Drilling puts some soil over the seed, so you get better results. You can get pretty good results broadcasting, if you go over the field with a pasture harrow (short tines down) afterwards. Otherwise, seed sits on top of the ground, and unless you get ideal moisture conditions, lots of it dies out after germinating.
 
With drilling, the seeds are IN the soil; but with broadcast they're on the surface where the birds and other critters have ready access to them.


Doc
 
i have a drill and a broadcast seeder,just wanting to see what kinf of different opinions i would get.
RICK
 
Grain drill will leave rows. If its not in your yard, for like erosion control, or plot or whatever, should be OK. If your doing it in your yard, could take a couple of years or more to spread enough to "hide" the rows. Guy over next to me did his yard like that about 4 years ago, and you can still see the rows, but he has pretty bad soil in his yard to start with, and some of it didnt grow. His brother told me it was left over from an area he planted to help with erosion in another area near there.
 
I dont own a grain drill anymore.Spread it,then cover with a harrow/mulcher.Then make 'water furrows'.
 
Check depth gauges, also spacing is a factor. It has been my experience that no-tilling grass is fine if you are adding to existing sod, but if you are establishing new hay/pasture/lawn it would be best to broadcast seed to get an adequate stand.
 
Use an air seeder powered off the 12 volt battery and mounted on a grass harrow,,,,best way to seed grass that I have found! Even with 4 inch spacing, the drill leaves too many gaps for weeds to grow in. If you don't have an air seeder then roll it firm, broadcast the seed and harrow lightly, then roll again to firm the soil against the seed. The first rolling will firm the ground and help eliminate the wheel markings, it will also stop the harrow covering the seed too deep. Drive close so you get an even coverage with the broadcaster.....Your call!.............Sam
mvphoto3447.jpg
 
Funny you asked this.. Four years ago I sowed by broadcast spreader 15 acres.. using a lawn broadcast and lawn tractor. I disc, and harrowed it until it was really nice.. Took some time but did it. Neighbor came by while I was doing it and said it was a pizz poor way to sow a field.. Year lator I was cutting and baling.. same neighbor came by and told me he'd never seen a field this nice in quite some time.. so much for pizz poor I told him..lol
 
I run a harrow over it pretty light, then broadcast, then drag it. The drag will even it out and cover it. I don't drag anything too heavy - the seed with get moved too much and e forced too deep. The last time I drug two cattle panels on top of each other. The stand came up just right.
 
I second the cultipacker system. We had great luck broadcasting/cultipacking. Imbeds the seeds and brings the moisture up to them. Also helps to coordinate it with incomming rain. With the accuracy of weather forcasting these days, use it to your advantage and seed the day before.
 
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