phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
i tagged this on to the end of gunther's post about more or less the same topic....but i have a few other questions and figured i'd get a separate thread going.
i'm in a similar boat to gunther in terms of what to do with the rye. I am strip plotting a basic but modified LC cereal/legume mix and LC brassica mix. I am pretty much a "no till" operation as a matter of lack of equipment. The entire plot is just over 1/3 acre. The strips of each component are about 7000 sq ft each. Last fall's cereal/legume mix (rye, oats, med red clover, crimson clover) is now predominately rye and crimson with some MRC as well...not sure how but it appears the crimson did not winter kill. My rye is about 24-26" tall and seed heads are forming and the crimson is blooming. These rye/crimson strips will be planted to the brassica mix (PTT, GHFR, DER) in mid July. I dont have access to a cultipacker, but i have access to a walk behind DR brush mower. I'm kinda thinking i need to terminate the rye sooner than later so that it can begin to break dry out and break down so i can mow/spray the remaining clover at the end of June/beginning of July and then broadcast my brassicas into the thatch. I have had plenty of success previously broadcasting brassicas into pretty thick killed sod/thatch, but i think the rye may form too thick of a thatch. I am also not sure what to expect in terms of the allelopathic tendency of the rye?
i'm in a similar boat to gunther in terms of what to do with the rye. I am strip plotting a basic but modified LC cereal/legume mix and LC brassica mix. I am pretty much a "no till" operation as a matter of lack of equipment. The entire plot is just over 1/3 acre. The strips of each component are about 7000 sq ft each. Last fall's cereal/legume mix (rye, oats, med red clover, crimson clover) is now predominately rye and crimson with some MRC as well...not sure how but it appears the crimson did not winter kill. My rye is about 24-26" tall and seed heads are forming and the crimson is blooming. These rye/crimson strips will be planted to the brassica mix (PTT, GHFR, DER) in mid July. I dont have access to a cultipacker, but i have access to a walk behind DR brush mower. I'm kinda thinking i need to terminate the rye sooner than later so that it can begin to break dry out and break down so i can mow/spray the remaining clover at the end of June/beginning of July and then broadcast my brassicas into the thatch. I have had plenty of success previously broadcasting brassicas into pretty thick killed sod/thatch, but i think the rye may form too thick of a thatch. I am also not sure what to expect in terms of the allelopathic tendency of the rye?