S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
Doing your due diligence then!!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Starting Over.
- Thread starter Foggy47
- Start date
Your potassium and sulfur levels look low, although they're low on both plots. I had never thought about sulfur levels until a year or so ago, based on what I learned in another forum, and supplemental reading. I had some anemic clover plots until I started adding some P and K via 0-20-20.
extension.psu.edu
Sulfur Fertility Management for Grain and Forage Crops
Discusses the role of sulfur in plant nutrition, the forms and behavior of soil sulfur, predicting sulfur needs of field and forage crops, and meeting crop sulfur needs.
extension.psu.edu
SD51555
5 year old buck +
That's an interesting soil test. I remember you'd put on a boatload of dolomitic lime years back. It's neat to see higher mag numbers in highly sandy soil. Something also dawned on me last night. CEC is a rating of the level of nutrients your soil can hold at any given time. My native topsoils run at 8 and holds all the nutrients I'd ever need. What didn't dawn on me is that with a CEC of 4, that capacity is chopped in half. Mind blowing math, I know!
Anyway, potassium is not easy to hang onto in sand. The best place to store your potassium is in living plants. When those plants die and get rained on, most of the potassium washes right out, and it needs to be caught by the next crop. This used to be a big deal when buying straw. If the straw got rained on, it's manure value after being used for bedding was lowered. It was also a benefit for whomever was selling the straw. They got to skim some K off before selling the carbon.
This is where you can really get into trouble with fallow periods and heavy rains in sand. Remember the rick clark slide on how much potassium is stored in rye residue. You can do a potassium soil test with your eyes by looking at the standing biomass you have in a rye crop or any high carbon crop. If the rye is there, the potassium is there, but it's up in the air, not in the soil probe.
Anyway, potassium is not easy to hang onto in sand. The best place to store your potassium is in living plants. When those plants die and get rained on, most of the potassium washes right out, and it needs to be caught by the next crop. This used to be a big deal when buying straw. If the straw got rained on, it's manure value after being used for bedding was lowered. It was also a benefit for whomever was selling the straw. They got to skim some K off before selling the carbon.
This is where you can really get into trouble with fallow periods and heavy rains in sand. Remember the rick clark slide on how much potassium is stored in rye residue. You can do a potassium soil test with your eyes by looking at the standing biomass you have in a rye crop or any high carbon crop. If the rye is there, the potassium is there, but it's up in the air, not in the soil probe.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Maybe a tenth or two over tests a few years ago. I've been hoping for more improvements. Slow changes over time.
matinc
5 year old buck +
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Yes
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Yep, that is about where my rye is at too. Planning to crimp mine within the next two weeks. I think there is considerable leeway on that dough stage......it doesn't get to hard seed for some time.
I may leave some of my rye this year.....and see it it will re-seed itself.
I may leave some of my rye this year.....and see it it will re-seed itself.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
It should, mine always reseeds. Not necessarily 100%, but you should see 40-50% or more. Cultippacking after WR has dried should shake seeds loose.
deepsleep
5 year old buck +
I've had similar failures with broadcasted fall clover and I think it was a result of shade tolerant preexisting weeds in the rye exploding after crimping/cultipacking. They're tiny in the fall but have too much of a head start on the clover for the clover to compete. They don't look like much when you're dealing with thick rye residue. Did you spray anything on those plots last fall before/after drilling? I've had better success if I spray first, then go in and broadcast rye/clover, then cultipack. I hope to eventually quit spraying, but for now, I have too much seed in the seedbank. The rye stunts it all spring and summer but it survives long enough for me to release it by cultipacking the rye. Other possibilities include residual herbicide toxicity, or too much rye straw killing your recently germinated clover seedlings. I think the too deep theory is unlikely since you should have had it come up in areas where the drill was uneven or going over rocks/stumps/etc. Regardless, don't till it. I made that mistake in my woods plots when I got a tractor/disk. We had previously don't very light tillage with UTV equipment and had great plots (with lots of spraying). Tilling brought up a flush of weeds unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I like the idea of Butyrac or mowing or both as mentioned above. See what happens. If you don't like the result, hit it with Gly and drill grains/clover at your usual time.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Look like that rye is close to mature. From the look of that one, I'd check a few more. Some might be mature enough to reseed. You can always grab a dozen or two heads, let them dry out some, then test germination. I take a 12 inch houseplant saucer and fill it with dirt and put the seeds in. I do this mostly with whole oats not meant for feed. Always sprouts up 85% or better.
I mowed a fe heavily weeded plots up at camp over the weekend. All had some rye in it, maybe 2 or 3 heads a square foot. PAst 2 years I had no luck timing a visit up there and rain. Always been wet and I can't spray up there. Was wet p there this past few days. However, my mower isnt bother too badly by moist grass. Really wet stuff it clumps up. Did have to mow in 2 passes because it was a bit wet. LEft one plot unmowed, it has low fertility and need organic matter pretty bad. It's looking better each year though.
I mowed a fe heavily weeded plots up at camp over the weekend. All had some rye in it, maybe 2 or 3 heads a square foot. PAst 2 years I had no luck timing a visit up there and rain. Always been wet and I can't spray up there. Was wet p there this past few days. However, my mower isnt bother too badly by moist grass. Really wet stuff it clumps up. Did have to mow in 2 passes because it was a bit wet. LEft one plot unmowed, it has low fertility and need organic matter pretty bad. It's looking better each year though.
matinc
5 year old buck +
This was the aftermath of two trips around the field with this roller crimper. I know i now need an extra 160 pounds on to crimp better but for $500 I am totally impressed. I do question to the group. I know many of you use gly and 24d but honestly is it that needed as your deer will be eating it and then you eating them.
