Anyone ever plant this and if so, can you tell me what your approach was? I’m putting in 1 acre and I read this stands up to the snow which is why I’m going with Cave n Rock. The field is current in Timothy Hay. OPTION 1 Is to wait until August and spraying it with Gly and Atrazine ( and I know Atrazine is RUP) to help with residual the following Spring and frost seeding it in March then hit with Gly and Atrazine again at early green up. Or OPTION 2, does someone think I can spray Gly and Atrazine in April and broadcast and Cultipack the seed ( this method is skipping the spraying the fall prior for residual). Any input would be great. Also, would like to know after it’s planted, what herbicide did you use for weed control. I will control it with herbicide rather than cutting. I will cut it the 3rd or 4th year.
Cave n Rock Switchgrass
- Thread starter BobinCt
- Start date
scott44
5 year old buck +
I have used your Option 1 I started killing the grasses with gly in late summer and frost seeded it the following spring withe spraying gly once that spring and nothing sprayed or burned since.
Summer of 2011 I prepped this fence line for switch first pic is May of 2013 after a year's growth, I thought it was a failure but I let it go since others had said the same. The second pic is January of 2018, no maintenance has been done on this except I spring mowed it years 2 and 3. You might think you have a failure after a year or two but give it time.
May 2013
Jan 2018
Summer of 2011 I prepped this fence line for switch first pic is May of 2013 after a year's growth, I thought it was a failure but I let it go since others had said the same. The second pic is January of 2018, no maintenance has been done on this except I spring mowed it years 2 and 3. You might think you have a failure after a year or two but give it time.
May 2013
Jan 2018
Mortenson
5 year old buck +
I also went the route where you have it dead as a doornail the prior fall. I pretty much followed Paul Knox's methods. I added a couple lbs of Kanlow to my CIR and it gets quite tall. Used gly and atrazine as well. Kids needed some fresh air yesterday, so we went for a hike on the trail cam loop... snapped a pic of what I assume is a Kanlow clump. She gets up there!
Bill
Administrator
I can only add that if you’re going to wait to kill the field in the fall why not plant round up ready beans this spring. Spraying a few time over the summer will really kick the weeds in the pants. Then follow up with the gly and atrazine in the spring.
Like others my plantings all looked like failures for the first few years.
I have used butyrac 2-4 D,B for broadleaf control.
I also have 10 acres of cave in rock that looks much like Scott’s height wise. But I’ve got another 10 acres of real world switch that looks more like Mortenson’s with the kanlow mixed in. It’s taller. Might be worth comparing prices. But if you want to see deer in it don’t use the tall stuff. Not that they are easy to see in CIR.
Real world
Like others my plantings all looked like failures for the first few years.
I have used butyrac 2-4 D,B for broadleaf control.
I also have 10 acres of cave in rock that looks much like Scott’s height wise. But I’ve got another 10 acres of real world switch that looks more like Mortenson’s with the kanlow mixed in. It’s taller. Might be worth comparing prices. But if you want to see deer in it don’t use the tall stuff. Not that they are easy to see in CIR.
Real world
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I like Bill's idea, you'll get a two birds one stone fix but be a year behind in establishment. I have done your option one like Scott and Mort and got a beautiful stand. I'm doing the same thing this year as well as the initial kill has been done and frost seeding this winter but I have a small area that is currently brome. I mowed it short in Nov and am going to spray it in April with gly and Atr. I will have frost seeded it when I do the others but will apply a heavier than recommended seed amount and I think I will be fine. My area is a third of an acre and I am going to do 5#s of seed on it. A bit over kill but it will gain me a year.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
For this situation I would plant a later maturing variety so you keep the ground shaded for as long as possible.
Bill
Administrator
That’s a good idea. Might even be the time to spring for a bag of eagle beans if deer densities are high. Being just an acre If you can get them past a few leaves they might make it.
hillrunner
5 year old buck +
I have followed Paul's advice several times using option one and have had a great stand the first year. The only time it hasn't yielded year one results was when I had a real bad problem with foxtail. I now know that quinclorak would have solved my foxtail problem, but at the time, the only thing I knew to do was mow. It took a couple years for that stand to take off.
I love cave in Rock. It's the only switch I have that is still standing at this point in the winter.
I love cave in Rock. It's the only switch I have that is still standing at this point in the winter.
hillrunner
5 year old buck +
The switch in the forefront of this pic is big blue stem which is part of a nesting mix prescribed for me by the nrcs office for pheasant nesting. If you look towards the back you can see a defined line where the cave in Rock begins. A month ago it was all standing, now only the cave in Rock remains after a few snows have come and gone.
roymunson
5 year old buck +
You guys are making me jealous. My neighbor/hunting partner has a couple of really nice stands of SG. 1 is only 2 years old and looks really good. From talking to you guys and what I've heard from others, that's an anomaly.
I have a bead on some neighboring property that may be available and if things would break my way, the first thing I'd do is put a giant patch of CIR or something similar in it. I can only imagine how much fun it'd be to hunt the edges of a 10 acre SG field
I have a bead on some neighboring property that may be available and if things would break my way, the first thing I'd do is put a giant patch of CIR or something similar in it. I can only imagine how much fun it'd be to hunt the edges of a 10 acre SG field
