No disc plots

So, i have been reading this forum and decided to do the no disc method of planting this year. The guys around the club are getting ancy on me since it has been so dry.

We implemented the "Throw and grow" method on another post. Boradcast seed, mowed, and waited on rain.

How long should it take after the first good rain to have seed germinate without a prepared seed bed? I need them to trust the process but they are doubtful it works.

it takes the same amount of time for it to germinate. my club members were the same way until they saw the fields the first season. at first, due to the debris, the fields won't be as "pretty" but by december they'll look like any greenfield you've ever disc'd and planted

I'm not an expert, but I've had trouble with T&M if it didn't rain at planting time or very shortly after. Now, if it's been totally dry and no rain at all, then I'm not sure how that's any different from discing plots and letting seed stay under soil. I think everyone is going to have trouble this year, no matter what method you use.

It just depends on the variables at play and how promising of a situation you broadcast seed into.....Do you have any mycorrhizal fungi present helping the seed to establish? It will look like white fuzz that coats the seed and soil surface after planting. Its pretty easy to see early in the mornings. I think this is probably a very overlooked aspect that we don't talk about much but probably plays a huge role.

I don’t have special whatever’s but my seed drilled yestrday has 1/4” long sprouts as of this pm.

Actually it takes a good rain to sprout seed under a good layer of thatch. The thatch will protect the seed from both sun and rain. When we get a good rain, it will sprout. Temps play a part as well.

We got between 1-2" of rain last weekend. Going to check the fields sat to see how they look

I know you’re probably looking for instant success, especially with trying to convince other club members (I feel your pain)…but I would really try and temper my expectations. I’ve said this in other posts but its worth repeating again….this is a long term soil building process. There will be very few plots that transition to this type method and thrive in year one after having been managed by traditional means. You have to build the soil and allow time for the many components of healthy soil to be restored. Mycorrhizal fungi is just one of these many components. I’m just using it as an example to show how there’s so much more to it than simply broadcasting seed and mowing…..Here’s a pic from my planting I think maybe last year or the year before. This is where I spilled a little seed. See the white web of m. fungi?



How much difference is this making in getting my plot established versus the one you’re about to check? Google "mycorrhizal fungi"...…...

I prefer throw and disk. I spray my plots after there dead I spread my seed and fertilizer and run a disk over it. You get much better seed to soil contact that way and you still get the benefit of the thatch.

How do you keep the dang turkeys from eating all that seed?

I cover it over with a good layer of thatch. I imagine the seed in the pic was just some on the side of the field or something that I was using to show the m. fungi

I'm about to find out how big of difference there is between good thatch and zero thatch since I expanded all of my plots this year. I sprayed my existing plots and have good thatch, but the expanded plot areas are bare dirt. I'm going to seed, fertilize and cuiltpack on Sunday. I do plan on hitting the bare ground areas with extra seed and praying for rain Monday. I'm planting rye grain, Frosty berseem clover, Balansa clover and brassicas.

I've got 15 spots T&M'd. Half of them I sprayed and half of them I did not. 5 were planted the weekend before last and already had green sprouts coming up. really looking forward to seeing the comparison in germination between the non sprayed fields and the sprayed fields. other than some johnson grass trying to sprout by in a few small areas, most everything regardless if it had been sprayed was dead. We mowed the places that had not been sprayed alittle slower to see if i could mulch it better.

Unless you're covered up with grasses then you won't see much of a difference. Summer broadleafs are ready to terminate with or without spraying. It's stuff like Johnson grass, Bermuda or nutsedge that seem to bounce back if not sprayed. Most of them will terminate after a good frost though.

Johnson grass is the reason I started spraying several years ago. I had 2 plots at my old place that were ate up with JG and it out competed my plantings on both plots the 1st year of T&M. After a heavy dose of gly in the spring and fall I got it under control and I didn't have anymore issues with JG.