Frostseeding Plantain

[farmlegend]

Have some multi-species cover crop ground that’s taking it’s time in getting the dirt well aggregated, three years into it. Soils are in degraded long-term row crop ground, on the clayish side, tending to be wet.

I’ve had great success frostseeding clover here in southern Michigan, usually do so in March. Does anyone think it would work to frostseed plantain into this plot?

 

[SD51555]

Have some multi-species cover crop ground that’s taking it’s time in getting the dirt well aggregated, three years into it. Soils are in degraded long-term row crop ground, on the clayish side, tending to be wet.

I’ve had great success frostseeding clover here in southern Michigan, usually do so in March. Does anyone think it would work to frostseed plantain into this plot?

Fall plant it. You've got lots of time to do it yet.

 

[farmlegend]

Fall plant it. You've got lots of time to do it yet.

Thanks SD. There’s an existing cover crop in there now, I’ll try boadcasting plantain seed into it mixed with some cereal grain.

Will reserve some seed to experiment with frostseeding next March in another zone and report back on how it works out.

 

[farmlegend]

To update, none of the plantain I broadcast in early September showed up. But neither did most of the other seed that went out with it; we had essentially zero rain from early August until mid-late October. Will conduct a frostseeding experiment come March.

 

[bigboreblr]

I got tons of natural plantain. I hand picked a bunch of seed a few years back to plant at camp around the cabin yard, parklot, and trails. I will frost seed. Yuo may have frost sseded already in september.

Frost seeding works, it is not the most effect. Plat copetition, animals feeding on early greenup, and successive frosts killing young plants. Preparing a bed, or spraying gly then crimping in, will be best. I've done spring, fall, and frost seed with success at camp. Both english and common plantain. Boston or the few other forge types is the long n skinnier english plantain variety.

Kinda like chicory or lesser desireable brassiicas far as deer goes. They leave it alone until fall frost sweet them up. Careful what you wish for, that stuff will survive nuclear fallout.

 

[farmlegend]

FWIW, I used the Boston variety, bought it from Petcher Seeds.

I have never had success growing chicory on my dirt. I think it likes better drained soil than I typically have; still experimenting with different varieties.

 

[gjs4]

Are you guys seeing deer attraction with plantian?

 

[SD51555]

Are you guys seeing deer attraction with plantian?

When I ran exclusion cages on it, I showed heavy preference right at the same time as chicory.

 

[gjs4]

I personally see bucks gravitate to chicory more than does in my soils....but i always planted it to help balance clover success and browse tolerance with more drought conditions just to be honest. My place in Ohio should be used as testing grounds for a drought specific plot mix (LOL)....

 

[bigboreblr]

Its growing naturally in my home food plot and lawn mowable areas at camp. Deer like it after a few frosts. Tried taking a pic of it last winter for you guys on here, couldn't find a blade of it. Came back just fine this year. Gonna 2,4D tn gly the plot this late spring after rortilling and relasing the weed seeds, see how stubborn this thing is. I'd be glad if it came back.

 

[farmlegend]

Update -
Can report that forage plantain frostseeds wonderfully on my dirt. It came up nicely everywhere I cast it last March.
Fall plantings have been total disasters - but then again, the last two fall growing seasons have been epically poor for everything else I planted also. Zero consequential rain events from mid-August through first hard frost has a tendency to not be conducive to growing stuff.

 

[bigboreblr]

Not an ideal plot, but I have sping planted oats, turnips, and clover and had it survive into hunting season that year.

IF I had several years of failed fall plots I be doing that again.

I had my august planted fall plots fail at camp this year. I reseeeded one plot mid spetember and some stuff came back. I sprayed basagran and gly the day before I seeded, but didn't have rain from a long time after seeding. Could be a bit of both maybe. Basagran is sprayed to control mace sedge.

My foodplots stay wet too long in the spring from heavier lake effect snows. I have alot of sedge growing at camp because it can live fine without the need for soil bacteria most plants need. Even on the worst of sandy spots, that plantain grows. Spray gly on plantain, it does set it back and let other no-till seeds grow. It can hide in taller grasses all season too.

 

[SD51555]

Update -
Can report that forage plantain frostseeds wonderfully on my dirt. It came up nicely everywhere I cast it last March.
Fall plantings have been total disasters - but then again, the last two fall growing seasons have been epically poor for everything else I planted also. Zero consequential rain events from mid-August through first hard frost has a tendency to not be conducive to growing stuff.

Are you sure the fall planting failed? I wonder if your seed didn't just sit there waiting for better conditions. Some of those more natural seeds are very adapted to wait for things to happen.

That's how I got into the red clover business. I never saw it on my property, but once I killed the quack grass, I had solid red clover everywhere.

 

[farmlegend]

Are you sure the fall planting failed? I wonder if your seed didn't just sit there waiting for better conditions. Some of those more natural seeds are very adapted to wait for things to happen.

That's how I got into the red clover business. I never saw it on my property, but once I killed the quack grass, I had solid red clover everywhere.

Pretty sure. If it did, it bested the turnips, radishes, YBSC, vetch, and other fall-2024 seed planted along with it which never showed up. Frostseeded Endure Chicory also grew, but wasn’t as prolific as the plantain. Freaky how we had two consecutive really poor fall growing seasons. I think I’ve had four really poor fall growing seasons at my place in the last 30 years, with two of ‘em in ‘24-25.

The plantain has been a home run all the way around. My fussy deer are hitting it steadily, digging through the snow to get at it.