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Native Warm Season Grass

Thanks Dbltree,
It's like the old "catch 22". Hate to burn too early, then have the weather get cool and those darn cool season grasses get going again, yet, hate to wait too long and all of a sudden, it's just too tough to burn.
Will probably do like you said, make a judgement call as time goes on, and hopefully, hit it right!
Crazy weather up here this year, it was 76 today again!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks,,,,,,,
 
I'm still a NWSG rookie so i need some help with these...
The first one I think is Big Bluestem...?
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and is this second one Switchgrass? there is some of this popping up where i sprayed the oust... There is native seed in wisconsin soil after all! :)
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Sorry, the pictures are sort of blurry...
 
The pic posted is not Big Bluestem

In this pic you can see Big Bluestem skylined...it has a "turkey foot" shaped seed head while Indiangrass has the thicker long plumey seed heads in this pic.

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The pic you posted almost looks a little like Canada Wild Rye to me?
 
I planted some Eastern Gamagrass seed the other day after stratifying the seed for a month in the fridge. It has to be planted an inch deep so it can't be broadcasted midwinter like switchgrass yet is even more dormant seed then switch.

The seed is large not unlike seed corn and can be planted with a corn planter but I tilled an area, broadcasted it and lightly tilled it in.

Easterngamagrass.jpg


EG is atrazine resistant so I hosed it down with 4 quarts per acre...we'll see how it does... :way:
 
Here is some gama grass seeds I collected last fall growing in rootmaker trays. Seem to be doing well so far this way!! The seeds I planted in rows on the bottom look just like corn at 4-5 inches tall.

GamaGrass-2.jpg
 
letemgrow said:
Here is some gama grass seeds I collected last fall growing in rootmaker trays. Seem to be doing well so far this way!! The seeds I planted in rows on the bottom look just like corn at 4-5 inches tall.

GamaGrass-2.jpg
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Dang! I never thought of that!! I planted mine but haven't seen anything coming up yet in the field...I may have to try this method next spring! :way:
 
I am hoping they have good roots by next weekend so I can just lift them out of the trays undisturbed and plant them along my creek bottom and see how well they can hold some soil. They should be getting close with how tall the tops are.
 
I picked out one gama plant last week and it has literally more than doubled in size!! Moved it up to a 12 inch bag and look at it now.

GamaGrass-3.jpg
 
Wow! That baby really took off! I checked mine the other day and I'm hopefull that some seed germinated but too early to be certain?
 
dbltree said:
Wow! That baby really took off! I checked mine the other day and I'm hopefull that some seed germinated but too early to be certain?
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Out in the field, you are probably looking for a 3-4 inch tall seedling that will look like corn. :way:
 
dbltree said:
Right now I probably need scuba gear to find them! :confused::D
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I know what you mean, I just finished planting my rice plots a little while ago. :D

The good thing about gama is they have air passages in their roots so it supposibly helps them when flooded.

Cross section of gama grass roots.

EasternGamaGrass.jpg
 
dbltree - I have been a fan of yours here and on QDMA for monthes. Thanks for taking the time to share your vast depth of knowlegde! This is actually the first time I have ever posted anything regarding NWSG or foodplots. I planted about 8 acres in of Clover/Chicory in early April. Which is how I stumbled across Lick Creek... I am amazed by your generosity with your time.

I have a couple of questions, if you or anyone else is willing to help, I would very much appreciate it. I manage an 11 acre townhouse complex that has substantial "green-space". The owner (essentially my boss) insists that we plant praire grass, right now. After reading hundreds of pages of posts, it is quite apparent that I am late in the game for 2010. I have burned the seedbed with gly and I could easily hire someone to spray atrazine.
1) Is it to late in the season to get NWSG started?
2) Please elaborate on the use of Atrazine. Can I use Atrazine with seed in the ground, before the seeds germinate?

Thanks in advance.

-Its O.K. to make mistakes. Just don't make the same mistake over and over again.
 
1) Is it to late in the season to get NWSG started?
2) Please elaborate on the use of Atrazine. Can I use Atrazine with seed in the ground, before the seeds germinate?
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The fluffy NWSG like Big Bluestem, Indiangrass and Little Bluestem can be spring seeded but "spring" has come and gone so I would be hesitant at this point.

It's possible a late seeding could be successful but I would probably shoot for a late November dormant seeding at this point.

Atrazine is safe for switchgrass and Big Bluestem but not for Indiangrass and Little Bluestem.

Plateau is safe for everything but switchgrass so it depends on which natives you plan on planting?
 
I am here to seek advice regarding my quarter section of nwsg. I have read a lot of what has been posted previously and it is very interesting and informative. I am just sort of wanting advice about my particular situation. Here are the basics. Southwest Kansas, center pivot irrigation with approx 375 gpm well, nwsg began germination et growing in late may/early June, may still be sprouting for all I know. Rather heavy infestation of crabgrass, exceptional rains this spring gave good to excellent subsoil moisture in very sandy, rolling sand hills. Began watering with a 36 hour complete circle, about a week ago changed to a 48 hour complete circle. At this point all the grass remains green without apparent distress. The nwsg grass persists in spite of a lot of crabgrass. The crabgrass is so thick it has supressed a lot of pigweed! This is a CRP planting. After this year I will not be allowed to irrigate it(don't want to as it is costing me approx 2500.00 per month to do so). I know mistakes were made in the planning and implementation of this but at this point what is done is done and I would seek advice about what to do in the immediate next few months and next year! Hope I gave enough information. I will check here frequently for any comments, thanks.
 
Just got back from a look around on the above mentioned ground and I would like to add a few more things. There are four corners associated with this circle of nwsg crp planting. Three are planted to the same exact mixture, one has been unplanted. These corners were drilled with nwsg last year. Two turned out good. The other seemed pretty thin so I had it drilled again this year. The corners are not irrigated. Southwest kansas is considered semi-arid desert I believe. To me, there is a little difference between the irrigated and non irrigated nwsg. It is hard to know all the factors that make the difference, There is no crabgrass pressure on the corners. Just thistle and pigweed mostly. It seems like the dryland nwsg is a darker green, a little more mature looking but sort of shorter I think. What we are thinking is to move to a 4 day complete circle next to encourage/take advantage of the nwsg rooting deeper than the invasive grasses? What do you think? So I have been reading a lot of info here about switchgrass. I am really wanting to make my place somewhere the bucks like to hang out. There are a lot of deer in the area. The southeast corner of the quarter is the highest elevation of the quarter. It is, it looks to me the result of the thin topsoil blowing of the rest of the ground and piling up there. I have dug into it just to look and it is some of the best topsoil on the quarter. Six to 7 acres of this corner are virtually flat. It is like a little plateau up there. I thought it would be a good idea to put it to switchgrass. What do you think Mr. dbltree? By the way the corners have not been farmed for years. It has been designated unsuitable for dryland farming.
 
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