arm
Leg
I heard that it won't without the freezing thawing. But I'm not sure. In fact, I should not have even commented but I'm the first one here so I did
bwese
Active Member
I drilled cir switch in May 6 years ago and that is the best stand of switch I have. I some other very good stands but that one was incredible the first year and looked like a mature field the second year.
You will get germination, hopefully you will get the seed into the soil a little bit so it can take off. A good rain would be your friend unless you broadcast on a steep hill then some washing away could take place.
You will get germination, hopefully you will get the seed into the soil a little bit so it can take off. A good rain would be your friend unless you broadcast on a steep hill then some washing away could take place.
Central Iowa
Life Member
I would put money on it we get some freezing thawing days yet.
Daver
PMA Member
That's what I was going to say. ^^
I don't know enough from experience to say for sure, but I suspect you could still "frost seed" it and get it going this year, but I think your risk factor would be much lower if you drilled it at this stage.
I got most mine done. Then, had a lot of other things come up. I do have some year old switch seed I stored properly. I think I'll seed that. Likely stratified some during storage. I do have a little more of this year's seed, I'll be putting out asap. You do need thaw/freeze ON AVERAGE to break down seed coating & have great germination. I've seen it seeded in May/June with success but ON AVERAGE, winter frost seed - much better. At THIS POINT, being "LATE" in game but surely not May or June..... I think I'm going to bump my rate up. Mine is also going on moist bottom ground so I also think that will help with germination for a lot of reasons.
Central Iowa
Life Member
Frosty here this morning.
Turkeys gobbling and bluebirds singing here, lol
I think I will just row crop this field again and try again next year. I still got 20 acres planted.
gundog870
Premium Platinum Member
The guy that is supposed to be drilling mine is not going to be able to get to my farm until May/June. He swears that he has had some of his best stands come with late plantings because it enables enough time to get in there and get a good kill on all of the weeds.
Is this just a load of BS because he is backed up so far, or is there possibly some truth to that?
My mix includes- Big Blue, Indiangrass and switchgrass.
Is this just a load of BS because he is backed up so far, or is there possibly some truth to that?
My mix includes- Big Blue, Indiangrass and switchgrass.
Daver
PMA Member
Although I have not done it this way myself, I have heard others report positive outcomes with what I would call a "late spring" drilling approach like what you are facing. Since it is fairly expensive to plant switch and all, I would recommend contacting John Osenbaugh or maybe even the ISU Extension Office or someone that truly knows what they are talking about from experience.
Aaron Palm at Iowa-Missouri Hybrids in Keosauqua would be another person too.
HorseDoctor
PMA Member
I certainly am not an agronomist and may be way off base (if so, someone please correct me) but it's my impression that native warm season grass seed does not need the freeze stratification to germinate. Perhaps if it was stored in a heated warehouse but otherwise not. The freeze/thaw cycling of "frost seeding" is mostly important to work the seed into the surface layer of the soil. The same thing might be accomplished by cultipacking the soil after broadcasting seed on bare soil. Drilling is more efficient and you can seed more ground with less seed vs. broadcasting which requires more seed but less equipment. Choice depends on cost of seed vs. cost of drilling. Over the past 15 years we have drilled almost all of our prairie seedings and had good luck with most of them. Drought years being the reason for a few failures, not lack of stratification/germination. I think that drilling May/June should work fine for you (assuming reasonable rainfall etc...). Good luck.
Barrett's Dad
Member
HorseDoctor - does your experience include switchgrass? If I correctly recall Paul's info on grass plantings, the switch is what needs the stratification for higher germination rates.
HorseDoctor
PMA Member
OK, ya made me do a little research... From what I read, IF your seed doesn't have a great germination rate, it may benefit from stratification. On The other hand that does not require freezing, only wet & chilly. Good seed should be OK planted late while mediocre seed may stay dormant until the next season. I guess we've always planted a mix (as required for CRP). Sooner or later there was switch, though maybe it would have been sooner if planted earlier. I actually did frost seed some switch a little over a year ago & it's not impressive yet, but natives rarely are the first year...
From what I read, IF your seed doesn't have a great germination rate, it may benefit from stratification. On The other hand that does not require freezing, only wet & chilly. Good seed should be OK planted late while mediocre seed may stay dormant until the next season. I guess we've always planted a mix (as required for CRP). Sooner or later there was switch, though maybe it would have been sooner if planted earlier. I actually did frost seed some switch a little over a year ago & it's not impressive yet, but natives rarely are the first year... I prefer to drill it in the middle of May to the first part of June.
I've got roughly 30 acres total of switchgrass. Half of it was frost seeded in Jan/Feb and the other half no-till drilled in the middle of May. The drilled switchgrass seems to be almost a year ahead in growth compared to the frost seeded switch. Both were put down on fields that were killed the fall before and pretty much bare dirt. All the seed was from the same bags.
If I plant anymore it will be with a no-till drill.
trev
I've got roughly 30 acres total of switchgrass. Half of it was frost seeded in Jan/Feb and the other half no-till drilled in the middle of May. The drilled switchgrass seems to be almost a year ahead in growth compared to the frost seeded switch. Both were put down on fields that were killed the fall before and pretty much bare dirt. All the seed was from the same bags.
If I plant anymore it will be with a no-till drill.
trev
arm
Leg
That's some pretty valuable information and completely changes my perception on planting this. Thanks!
Barrett's Dad
Member
Some pheasant guys here in PA do an artificial-type stratification before drilling the seed. They soak the bags of seed in a cold-water stream for 24 hours, let the seed drain, and then store in a fridge/cold storage for 6 weeks before planting. This gets nearly all of the seed through stratification and then drill it into place in the late spring, resulting in a higher germination rate the first year.
Just some food for thought. If anyone is interested in trying it, I can provide a link posted by one of the PA pheasant guys recently.
Just some food for thought. If anyone is interested in trying it, I can provide a link posted by one of the PA pheasant guys recently.
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Some clarifying stuff....
Stratification.... When you are talking NWSG - you cannot put Switch & the rest in the same category... BB, Indian, etc. FLUFFIES (BIG BLUE, INDIAN) or normal looking grain types (western wheat, Virginia wildrye, etc, etc) - No - all those do not have the hard seed coat that requires stratification. Switchgrass uniquely does. You can get varying degrees of germination on switch planted without stratification. depends on soil type/moisture, rain, weather, etc, etc. You cannot beat the germination of stratified switchgrass though. I've seen almost no switch germinate that was late planted. I've seen some settings where almost all luckily did. And everything in between. BUT - yes, switch is the unique seed you want to stratify.
With above.... Drilling into weeds later..... If you're planning on mowing it all year, fine. obviously kill the heck out of weeds before drilling. Side note, again, UNIQUE to switchgrass.... Atrazine is the herbicide used on bare soil that often allows for no mowing to be needed if done PROPERLY. This is for Switch and can be used with Big Blue as well. Indian & BB are Plateau/Journey/Panoramic tolerant, switch is not (can take 2 oz roughly MAX). Indian does not tolerate Atrazine. Plateau does well on controlling weeds on ground with a lot of residue & junk on top, Atrazine does not. If you're mowing and not using a residual, all irrelevent
Just figured I'd confuse you all some more by throwing out a few more things all at once I know guys will wonder about.
Stratification.... When you are talking NWSG - you cannot put Switch & the rest in the same category... BB, Indian, etc. FLUFFIES (BIG BLUE, INDIAN) or normal looking grain types (western wheat, Virginia wildrye, etc, etc) - No - all those do not have the hard seed coat that requires stratification. Switchgrass uniquely does. You can get varying degrees of germination on switch planted without stratification. depends on soil type/moisture, rain, weather, etc, etc. You cannot beat the germination of stratified switchgrass though. I've seen almost no switch germinate that was late planted. I've seen some settings where almost all luckily did. And everything in between. BUT - yes, switch is the unique seed you want to stratify.
With above.... Drilling into weeds later..... If you're planning on mowing it all year, fine. obviously kill the heck out of weeds before drilling. Side note, again, UNIQUE to switchgrass.... Atrazine is the herbicide used on bare soil that often allows for no mowing to be needed if done PROPERLY. This is for Switch and can be used with Big Blue as well. Indian & BB are Plateau/Journey/Panoramic tolerant, switch is not (can take 2 oz roughly MAX). Indian does not tolerate Atrazine. Plateau does well on controlling weeds on ground with a lot of residue & junk on top, Atrazine does not. If you're mowing and not using a residual, all irrelevent
Just figured I'd confuse you all some more by throwing out a few more things all at once I know guys will wonder about.