Starting point for calibrating drill for seed mixes

Wind Gypsy

5 year old buck +
New drill owner here. So far i've checked seed rate calibration on one seed and the results were real close to the chart. My question is with some of these highly diverse mixtures, what part of the chart would you use as as a starting point? I'm trying to get close on the first go round so it doesn't take multiple rounds of calibration and weighing to get close enough.

I have albert lea's summer max which probably wont even get planted this year but as an example, what part of a chart would you reference for a starting point? https://alseed.com/product/summermax-cc6/
 
New drill owner here. So far i've checked seed rate calibration on one seed and the results were real close to the chart. My question is with some of these highly diverse mixtures, what part of the chart would you use as as a starting point? I'm trying to get close on the first go round so it doesn't take multiple rounds of calibration and weighing to get close enough.

I have albert lea's summer max which probably wont even get planted this year but as an example, what part of a chart would you reference for a starting point? https://alseed.com/product/summermax-cc6/
Call or email them and they will tell you recommended rate on drill
 
That's a tough one. lots of different size seeds. with sunflowers you're going to need the large seed cup setting. I would start with what the book says for about 25-30 lbs of soybeans and go from there. The small seed will fall faster. When I did calibrate I blocked off all but 3 seed tubes and did the math. I never cranked 999 times as recommended either, just 100 and did the math.
 
Call or email them and they will tell you recommended rate on drill
I had emailed them weeks ago with no response. Called today and got a lady who told me to just use oats as a starting point and expect the rate to fall a little short. I.E. if I want to seed 45#/ac of the blend the chart setting that gets 45# for oats is probably going to be a little on the light side but is a good starting point.

The other thing I wonder about is how a different metering systems may behave differently with mixes. The foam pad setup in the esch may behave differently than say a Great Plains.

The main thing I was looking for is just a basic logic and reasoning for how people choose a starting point with a blend.
 
New drill owner here. So far i've checked seed rate calibration on one seed and the results were real close to the chart. My question is with some of these highly diverse mixtures, what part of the chart would you use as as a starting point? I'm trying to get close on the first go round so it doesn't take multiple rounds of calibration and weighing to get close enough.

I have albert lea's summer max which probably wont even get planted this year but as an example, what part of a chart would you reference for a starting point? https://alseed.com/product/summermax-cc6/
I have the Land Pride 606NT Wind Gypsy so this may be different than what you have but the basics are going to be the same.

I like to mix my own seed for a number of reasons but probably primarily because I have both a large seed box and a small seed box on my drill and I can get the most accurate planting, and planting at the correct depths by drilling my large seed from one box and small seed from the small box. This is the seed I used to mix up my Summer Cover Crop blend.
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I like to use a diverse blend of seed from each of the 4 major categories so I get the best interaction for healthy soil and nutrient building. You may note that this blend is very similar to the Green Cover Seed - Summer Release (now Browse Release) and also the Vitalize Seed Co - Nitro Boost mix. I used the SmartMix Calculator tool on the Green Cover Seed website to determine the proper rates for each different seed in my mix.
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When it came time to plant I took notes to determine what seed was going into which box and arrived at the goal for each box to get my desired rate of 41#/acre - 5#/acre in the small box and 36#/acre in the large seed box
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Then I got out my digital scales and small pails and started weighing and mixing the seed.
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This is what the 8 different large seeds looked like when I mixed them together...
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First I calibrated the seed from the small seed box. I block off 2/3 of the box and just put seed in one end of the box to catch seed from 3 of my 9 tubes and average that weight per tube
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After calibrating the small seed box I used the shop vac to remove all of the small seed and then dumped some of the large seed mix into the drill (blocking off 6 of the 9 tubes) and calibrated for the large seed box...
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These are my notes/worksheet for the small seed box. I screwed up in moving the setting from 30 to 25 (went from 30 to 20 instead) or I would have had it right on the 3rd try, but lever setting #25 gave me 5.15#/acre...
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For a starting point I look at my notes from previous mixes I have planted and I get a good idea of where I should be based upon what rate I will be planting at. Last year I drilled a different Fall Cover Crop at 68#/acre using setting #41 so, since I only wanted to plant at 36#/acre with this mix I cranked it down to setting #27 to start with. That was a pretty good guess as that setting gave me 35.07#/acre. I bumped it up to #28 and came in right at 36.27#/acre which I figured was close enough...
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So I locked in those settings, filled both boxes with seed and went out and planted.
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I will calibrate my drill again 2 more times this year for other things I will be planting. It really is no big deal calibrating a drill. I do this every year and once you have done it a couple of times it really is easy as pie. Just make sure you keep good notes to refer to in the future. This has been the key for making calibration easy for me. I don't have to reinvent the wheel with every new mix I come up with. Truthfully, I can't remember the last time I looked at the Seed Rate Chart that came with my drill but I know it has been probably at least 4-5 years ago.
 
Last year I did all my own seed blending as you show in the pics above. Much the same with calibration. This summer I went with pre blended summer mix from Green Cover Seed. What a difference in time and work! I still have some pure variety bags.....so I intend to blend my mixes this fall. But I am sold on buying pre-blended seeds now. So much faster and easier. Still.....I may add a variety or two to what I buy......but combining ten varieties of seeds takes allot of time......and can get pretty messy.

Nice job of taking pics and documenting Wild Thing.
 
Last year I did all my own seed blending as you show in the pics above. Much the same with calibration. This summer I went with pre blended summer mix from Green Cover Seed. What a difference in time and work! I still have some pure variety bags.....so I intend to blend my mixes this fall. But I am sold on buying pre-blended seeds now. So much faster and easier. Still.....I may add a variety or two to what I buy......but combining ten varieties of seeds takes allot of time......and can get pretty messy.

Nice job of taking pics and documenting Wild Thing.

Yes - It does take some extra time for sure. I've been doing it this way for so long it is just hard to break the habit, plus I do save quite a bit on seed, and especially on shipping.

Do you have 2 separate seed boxes on your drill Foggy?
 
Yes - It does take some extra time for sure. I've been doing it this way for so long it is just hard to break the habit, plus I do save quite a bit on seed, and especially on shipping.

Do you have 2 separate seed boxes on your drill Foggy?
yep.....and I used them both at the same time last fall.....and will again this fall. (clover and brassica go in the small box...... and cereal rye, peas and radish in the big box).

The mix this spring all went into the large box. I did put down some Egyptian wheat using the small box.
 
yep.....and I used them both at the same time last fall.....and will again this fall. (clover and brassica go in the small box...... and cereal rye, peas and radish in the big box).

The mix this spring all went into the large box. I did put down some Egyptian wheat using the small box.

Yep - That is my primary issue with buying seed premixed - it would all have to be drilled from the large box. I know that Grant Woods and others don't see an issue with that and their plots seem to come out OK, but to me it just defeats the purpose of having 2 boxes on the drill.
 
Yep - That is my primary issue with buying seed premixed - it would all have to be drilled from the large box. I know that Grant Woods and others don't see an issue with that and their plots seem to come out OK, but to me it just defeats the purpose of having 2 boxes on the drill.
PRECISELY why I modified my Tar River Saya to drop the small seed box seeds BEHIND the seed trench........as found in the Great Plains drills. My small seeds from last year are growing......but I feel they were buried unessesarily too deep.......and that had to compromise the germination rates.
 
Good info always from these guys… gonna dust off my drill this week
 
Much will depend on the seed metering system of the specific drill. Personally, rather than sweating it, I'd just pick some middle setting and make a short calibration run with a bag over one tube and see what I get. I'd adjust up or down from there and repeat the run. Once setup to make a calibration run, making multiple runs is not a big deal.
 
Finished seeding my brassica, clover and rye today. 8 plus acres. (Big box per acre was 100 lb Elbon Rye, 5# AW Peas, 5# GH Radish. Small box was 5# Med. Red Clover, 2# Durana White, 1 # PTT, 1.5 # DER.). My seed weighting and mixing operation is below. Basically I weigh one Coffe can of small seeds.....then mark the inside of the plastic can with a felt tip marker......and just use volume measurements for the other acres. Mix small seeds with an electric drill and paint mixer. The big box seeds get mixed in the hopper a bit....and the agitator does a pretty good job too.
My calibration worksheet is shown too. Easy when you do it the same way every time.

I did use the "alternate seed drop tubes" that I had installed earlier this summer. They drop the small seedbox seeds BEHIND the openers and are worked into the ground by the roller cage and flaps. I think this will work out pretty well....as that roller really disturbs the standing plants and should get good ground contact.

Also, when done.....I vaccuumed out the seed boxes and put a fabric softener sheet in each seed cup. Some say mice will eat the plastic cups. I dont have a mouse problem....but I figured for a few cents......why take a chance?
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A few more pics on what I was planting into today. Pretty nice clover and some of the summer release from late June. Seems that crop is "coming on" pretty good in a few places. I just dont think that a "summer release" is going to fit into my plans in the future. Just too short of growing season here in zone 3. Instead.....I will focus on terminating that rye at the best time.....and plant my brassica green at about the same time - Mid July or so. Then plant rye and maybe some clover and late brassica around Labor Day.

I am showing the bucket that hangs on the seed gate adjustment handle.....in hopes that others may prevent injuries (Like I did) from walking into that damn handle that sticks out. Grrrrr.

Most of my plots are about 25 to 40 feet wide and a hundred or more yards long - some up to 500 yards or more. They serve as plots and shooting lanes in many cases.

Anyway....here are more pics.
 

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I like these worksheets, I think I may make one for my drill. I forget everything until next year, then I have to relearn it all over
 
I like these worksheets, I think I may make one for my drill. I forget everything until next year, then I have to relearn it all over
Yep....that is what happens for me too. Suffer from CRS syndrome (can't remember shit). Now I put my worksheets in a binder......and have some reference material for next season.
 
I like these worksheets, I think I may make one for my drill. I forget everything until next year, then I have to relearn it all over

I finally made up some worksheets for doing the math when I calibrate.

I used to write everything out every time I calibrated...

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Then decided to just make up one worksheet for the large box and 1 for the small box. I printed out several of them and keep them with my book in the barn...

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Works for me...
 
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Yep....that is what happens for me too. Suffer from CRS syndrome (can't remember shit). Now I put my worksheets in a binder......and have some reference material for next season.
Yep - I get that too Foggy. So this is another reference I am putting in my binder. Haven't typed it up yet..still have to organize it and type it up but these are various settings I have calibrated for over the psst few years. These will be a real bonus to refer back to in the future which will get me planting without having to calibrate.

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I finally made up some worksheets for doing the math when I calibrate.

I used to write everything out every time I calibrated...

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Then decided to just make up one worksheet for the large box and 1 for the small box. I printed out several of them and keep them with my book in the barn...

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Works for me...
I am so gonna steal these….I was just firing up my iPad. Thank you
 
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