An article that goes against my thoughts on diverse mix.
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S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
I just read the headline but my brain would agree. Not much is going to grow through a monoculture of rye or harry vetch. I would think that If weed suppression is your goal you would want plenty of rye and or harry vetch in your fall plantings. Spring plant buckwheat into that and your fall herbicide application should be little to none needed.
FarmerDan
5 year old buck +
Ummmm.....the hypothesis, then, is more weeds are suppressed by monoculture planting when compared to planting a diverse mix? Ok, so do we agree that both practices suppress weeds? But we are debating if one is better at this single accomplishment than the other? Awaiting experimental replication for additional evidence. Practically, so what? It's a good scientific proposition, but of not much use otherwise. PhDs (P=Piled, H=higher, and D = Deeper) learning more and more about less and less until they learn everything there is to know about nothing! Apologies to my many PhD friends who are doing what they need to do to publish and get tenure!!
In my opinion, winter plantings dont matter so much because weeds typically arent much problem. Weeds can be very problematic for summer plantings, therefor a monotypic planting is much easier to manage - depending on what it is - with mowing or herbicide. I used to plant everything. I am old now and try not to fight it so much.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
But.. if you fill the space with you fall plantings, spring weeds Cfp t have much room to settle in.
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That probably depends on the area of the country. This is a food plot in the south in early august - solid stand of wheat and clover without a weed in sight in early May. 65 hp JD tractor. No attempt at weed suppression. Herbicide or mowing would prevent this. Early summer planting with neither herbicide or mowing would have done nothing to prevent this.
Angus 1895
5 year old buck +
I think a dominant mono culture will have less weeds.
But will a dominant monoculture have more deer?
But will a dominant monoculture have more deer?
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Too many three dollar words and prior study references in that first article. My old brain needs to work too hard to decipher the intended message. When I started down this path.....I was sold on diversity and "crowding out" the spaces for weeds to grow. That involved creating mulch from my cereal rye.....and learning how to work around my base crop of clover.
Gotta say the rye / clover duo has provided the basis for me....with a few other crops added for diversity....like chicory, and brassicas when I can get it got grow. The weed issues I had are largely gone now.....due in large part to no tillage, fantastic rye mulch and outcompeting those weeds with the rye and clover 24 / 7 / 365. Mowed once this year.....and mostly spot sprayed some weeds.
I'm sure next year will provide a new puzzle. Part of the fun.
One thing seems consistent for me.....is to stay away from row crops like corn and beans if you dont want to fight with weeds. Get rid of the open spaces....keep that ground covered with mulch or crops you like.....or the weeds are gonna fill those spaces. 2 cents.
Gotta say the rye / clover duo has provided the basis for me....with a few other crops added for diversity....like chicory, and brassicas when I can get it got grow. The weed issues I had are largely gone now.....due in large part to no tillage, fantastic rye mulch and outcompeting those weeds with the rye and clover 24 / 7 / 365. Mowed once this year.....and mostly spot sprayed some weeds.
I'm sure next year will provide a new puzzle. Part of the fun.
One thing seems consistent for me.....is to stay away from row crops like corn and beans if you dont want to fight with weeds. Get rid of the open spaces....keep that ground covered with mulch or crops you like.....or the weeds are gonna fill those spaces. 2 cents.
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Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I read the summary but not the whole study. Seems like the study is pretty heavy on weed prevention which isn’t always the primary focus for a lot of us.
Does more biomass also = more nutrient tie up?
Does more biomass also = more nutrient tie up?
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
100# icicle winter peas
5# sunflowers
7# frosty berseem clover
1# radish
1# ptt
1# barkant forage turnip
50# Jerry oats
100# cereal rye
Two applications of summer herbicide and fall tillage.
I’m not the least bit concerned about next years weed issues.
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I know this varies by state. Most folks are most interested in “more deer” during deer season. Note that I am in the south and winters are not very impactful on deer. A dozen years ago, I used to do camera surveys over food plots. A mixture of brassicas, wheat, and clover attracted no more deer than a straight monoculture of wheat. I think down here, deer are attracted to a food plot more for ease than necessity.
Up north, where a winter food source may well mean the difference between life or death - pure nutritious biomass may be of most importance. I had planted a field half in wheat and half in winter rye and the deer much preferred the wheat. The following year, I was unable to obtain wheat so planted the entire field in winter rye. Just as many deer used the straight rye field as used the wheat field by choice the previous year. In the south - I have found a monoculture of wheat draws as many winter deer as anything - and is easy to plant and probably as cheap as anything.
Do you think you would have any weed issues if you had 90 degree temperatures from Jun 1 to Oct 1 - with almost all those named plants dying out middle of Jun?
100# icicle winter peas
5# sunflowers
7# frosty berseem clover
1# radish
1# ptt
1# barkant forage turnip
50# Jerry oats
100# cereal rye
Two applications of summer herbicide and fall tillage.
I’m not the least bit concerned about next years weed issues.
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S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
For one I don’t think about it.And two this plot will be over seeded with blansa clover and buckwheat then crimped in early June.
That 100# of rye and 100# of winter peas will create a nice mat to keep the weeds at bay (not to mention the alleopatic effects in the soil) while the quick growing anual clover and buckwheat does the rest until fall planting.
If plotting in the south I may think (and do things differently)
Maybe the doing things differently would be to not plant in the spring, mow a few times in the summer, spray and drill my fall plots?
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That 100# of rye and 100# of winter peas will create a nice mat to keep the weeds at bay (not to mention the alleopatic effects in the soil) while the quick growing anual clover and buckwheat does the rest until fall planting.
If plotting in the south I may think (and do things differently)
Maybe the doing things differently would be to not plant in the spring, mow a few times in the summer, spray and drill my fall plots?
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That may well work. What works best for me is to plant a mix of wheat and white clover in the fall - or wheat alone into perennial clover in the fall, and manage the clover through the summer by mowing or spraying.
IF your ground is such that you can successfully grow soybeans down here in the summer, you are likely to see an increase in deer numbers. Beans are easy to grow in a monoculture because you can spray them. However, I am unable to grow them due to deer density and hogs.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
Being that weed suppression is the topic at hand.
I would go the route of cowpeas and sunflowers, sunnhemp and or milo if I was further South.
However if the article is accurate, a double dose of cowpeas or lab lab may better fit the bill.
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I would go the route of cowpeas and sunflowers, sunnhemp and or milo if I was further South.
However if the article is accurate, a double dose of cowpeas or lab lab may better fit the bill.
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TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
Many authors refuse to recognize the difference between significant difference(p<0.01,etc) and clinical relevance
bill
FarmerDan
5 year old buck +
Thank you, bill, for covering my back!
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
I think that did more help for your soil than anything you could have planted.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Where you love the rye and clover is full and lush for fall planting. In south my rye and clover peak in May. If left alone it will look like a weed jungle by October planting time.
I’m wondering more and more if I wouldn’t do better to just let it grow up and weeds naturally repair the soil been doing my summer plantings. There’s something in me that just likes a pretty plot. Maybe I need to get over that.
