Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Should have taken more pics but here is how this years attempt looks as of 7/22. I think I planted 6/25.
Sorghum Screen Fail thoughts
- Thread starter Wind Gypsy
- Start date
Brian662
5 year old buck +
Looks clean, you going to give it a shot of nitrogen before a rain?
paleopoint
5 year old buck +
Yet another alternative --- pearl millet.
I found it easier to grow than corn or sorghum.
It gets 7 to 8ft tall on my ground ----with an application of 50lbs of urea per acre upon planting...and another 100lbs at about a foot tall.
It stood until heavy snows covered it up. I bought it from Merit Seed.
I was looking for 'grain'-pearl millet. What Merit carries is 'forage' pearl. Which, I've been told, grows about a foot to 2ft taller than the grain type.
ps....if anyone knows where I can buy a bag of 'grain' pearl millet.....please PM me.
I found it easier to grow than corn or sorghum.
It gets 7 to 8ft tall on my ground ----with an application of 50lbs of urea per acre upon planting...and another 100lbs at about a foot tall.
It stood until heavy snows covered it up. I bought it from Merit Seed.
I was looking for 'grain'-pearl millet. What Merit carries is 'forage' pearl. Which, I've been told, grows about a foot to 2ft taller than the grain type.
ps....if anyone knows where I can buy a bag of 'grain' pearl millet.....please PM me.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Probably. I have a handful of bags of urea left, one bag of triple 19, and a jug of grandpa rays foliar fert and micro nutrients I couldn't walk past at the archery shop. The screen will likely see a bit of all of that. The trick is actually getting a predictable rain!! Has just been random pop up showers for the past couple weeks.
A different part of it has a pretty strong batch of horsetail coming up in it. Not sure if a guy is better off letting it go or spot spraying with 2,4-D or triclopyr. I've heard that 2,4-d can injure corn and impact growth so I'm a bit hesitant on the sorghum and egyptian wheat. Will need to research more. Might be able to walk with a wick wand and hit it to minimize damage.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Looking like I might have a viable screen this year, at least for archery season. Should have planted a little wider though.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Broadcasted some 19-19-19 and urea on it Thursday night due to the 1.3” of rain forecasted over the weekend. That rain is looking like a complete bust now though.. 0”
Where I planted my fall oats/peas/beans/radish/clover/millet blend is looking alright but I’m not seeing any radish which is a bit concerning.
Where I planted my fall oats/peas/beans/radish/clover/millet blend is looking alright but I’m not seeing any radish which is a bit concerning.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
I’ve spot treated horsetail clusters like that with lime. I’ve had it so thick it cast full shade, which is impressive for HT. It ain’t fast, but It’ll knock it out.
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Brian662
5 year old buck +
First full season with your drill? What are your thoughts?
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I got it last spring so this is the second season. So far I really like it. I learned a fair bit last year on how to better utilize it. With busy work schedule and 2 daughters under 2 at home it seems i'm rushed every time i plant so I really haven't taken the time to mess around trying things like i'd like to.
The main issue I had last year was with getting seed placed at consistent depths and getting it covered. With a little weight added to the right spot it's doing much better this year. It's spec'd at 2100# and has 7 rows but more weight is still helpful. I think the wavy coulters eat up a lot of the ground pressure. All of the drive gear and the drive wheel (which is heavy) are on the passenger side and being that it's a narrow drill it has a notable impact on the rows on that side getting more down pressure. I added 3 41# weights to the opposite side and now it runs level and gets seed covered a lot better. I think it'd benefit from even more weight and it has a bracket just for that weight but it's hard to find weights that fit it locally and I can't deal with the shipping charges.
My fields are very flat but not at all smooth so I think the narrow drill and being a pull type helps me get more consistent seed depths than I would with a 3pt.
I'm positive i'd be just fine without coulters to deal with residue but i do think the little amount of tillage from those wavy coulters makes for a nicer seed bed than I'd get without them.
3' widths takes longer than I'd like for sure but it's not horrible for the 4-5 acres i plant with it. I think it's a really well built product and fills a nice spot in the market for guys with smaller tractors. I'm still not sure I don't want a 3p500 or 3p600 but I'd probably want my fields to be smoothed out if I went that route.
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Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Thanks for the tip. Not sure I'm going to mess with spot treating weeds this year as I've got too much other crap to do but I could hit it with what I have left on my ag lime pile. The horsetail is pretty thick but it’s only in a couple select strips. Makes me wonder if those strips got missed while spreading lime last year..
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I don't like using anything for a screen that they want to eat or bed in.If it'd grain sorgum or milo we plant for deer to eat.Problem with it is everything eats it from raccoons,turkeys and every song bird depending on tannin levels when they eat it. When planting it doesn't like to be crowded and like fertilizer.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
You got me reading more about horsetail now, sounds like some nasty stuff! The AGphd guys basically said drain tile and paraquat are the only answers. Neither are particularly realistic for a small time food plotter.. Saw that horsetail is listed on at least some 2,4-d products' label but AGphd guys indicated it's not a guarantee.
So plan A - The SD lime application in concert with 2,4-d. Maybe a pass with single shank subsoiler (if I can find one) where it exists?
SD51555
5 year old buck +
There are a couple herbicides that list horsetail as a weed it can control, but I don't know enough about them to say give it a rip. One is sedgehammer I believe, and I cant' remember the other. I'd go the lime route if you've got it. This is one thing I've seen work very well. Before I got to liming, my horsetail pockets looked like this. This is an actual carpet of canada thistle and horsetail that followed a gly application on virgin ground in the woods. It popped up the following spring, and said "Hello, thanks for snuffing out my competition. Look at me now." That's when my crusade to quit spraying began.
Another experiment I tried about 7 years ago, was to see if lime and gypsum would stimulate acorn production on my native bur oaks. I put a hot dose out to the drip line of all my trees, like a 50 lb bag per tree, out about 15' in all directions from the trunk. When I came back the next year, you could see the halo from the lime application, and it knocked every single horsetail plant and fern out like Mike Tyson.
I had a really bad patch in my north plot last year. I went out with 4 - 40lb bags calcitic pell lime and nailed it. There's not a single horsetail there this year.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Woof. That horsetail and thistle is what nightmares are made of! Do you think you limed it into being alkaline? Do desired plot plants grow well where you limed?
SD51555
5 year old buck +
I'm pretty lucky in that I've got a low CEC in my topsoil, so my pH jumps up pretty well with a 1-2 ton rate. I don't know that I made it over 7, but things grow fantastic the more lime I put on. Where I had spread lime under all of those oaks, I had/have the best clover on the property. It's a magical combo of higher pH, I think higher carbon under the oak tree, and the oak leaves are a fantastic grass preventer.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
FWIW, and unrelated mostly to the conversation, but regarding the acorn production - I saw a podcast with Craig Harper (I believe, it was a few years ago) where they did a study on fertilizing oak trees to measure acorn production and it wasn't successful.
Impressive how the lime took care of your weed problem SD, did nothing else grow back or did you terminate in order to plant the clover?
Impressive how the lime took care of your weed problem SD, did nothing else grow back or did you terminate in order to plant the clover?
SD51555
5 year old buck +
I never sprayed under my oaks. I was too afraid to injure those old trees. I had originally just written off those spots inside the tree line, I didn't figure anything would grow under them. They ended up being very clean clover underneath, and that got me to start reading up on plant interactions and allelopathy. I got some books from Amazon that were pretty cheap, and they were collections of studies from all over the world on allelopathy. There, I found studies on oak leaves having a supressing effect on some grasses. Which oaks and what grasses? I have no idea, I just know that grass doesn't do well under my oaks and the clover loves it.
I have a pic of awnless barley and white clover growing together under my oaks, but I can't find it. It was a really nice pic. Even today, 7 years into that clover seeding, it still grows very well under the oak canopy.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I feel like the screen grew 2' over the last week, it's 5'+ in most places now and close to effectively screening the food plot which is coming on strong. I think it did get a little hail damage 8 or 9 days ago.
Not the best picture but a little reference:
Not the best picture but a little reference:
Brian662
5 year old buck +
What's growing in the plot? Looks good!
