Will it work?

[S.T.Fanatic]

I have a very thin stand of soybeans for what could be many different reasons. I want to allow the weeds to grow a bit more before I spray for a few different reasons. My intentions are to plant a mix of WW and Winter barley with a clover/chicory blend. I'm hoping that by letting the weeds fill in a little it will help shade the soil a bit and help it from crusting.

Have any of you have any amount of success at starting a clover and or chicory plot by surface broadcasting into standing beans?

 

[j-bird]

Are you planning on terminating the beans? Letting the weeds grow means they are only consuming moisture and nutrients from your soil. Kill the weeds and not the beans and the beans may take off enough to create a shade issue with your other planting efforts. I personally would not spread seed until you know your going to get regular rain to support them. Not worth the seed germinating just to have it shrivel up ad die a few weeks later.....

Lots of folks plant clover plots with a nurse crop and have good results with it. Beans however tend to canopy depending on type and that is counter productive to establishing a new plot. If you retain the beans I would wait on seeding until the beans start to yellow.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

No I am not. The weeds as of now are only about 4" tall because of late planting. I will not be planting the above mentioned blend until late August early September depending on weather. The beans are so thin that they wont be shading anything out no matter how much they take off after terminating the weeds. I am allowing the weeds to grow a little taller so I can get some amount of thatch before killing them off. As of now the beans are not a concern. Just wondering if surface broadcasting will give me decent results or if I should just plan on tilling it up come fall before planting. I know it would work in a throw and mow application but there is no way I would have enough thatch even if i allow the weeds to grow up to planting time.

 

[Tree Spud]

I broadcast white clover & red clover in my beans last year in late Aug/early Sept. Saw very little that fall and was disappointed with their germination this spring.