I have a 1/2 acre old field I am doing t n m in this year. I sprayed 2 weeks ago and went to seed and mow yesterday. The field is pasture grass and weeds about thigh to waist high. I was going to mow at 6” to get the heavy stuff out of the way then seed and mow around 3” but my mower belt broke when I was around 2/3 done mowing at 6”. I seeded into what I had because rain is on the way all week. I dragged it in and seeds made good soil contact. Now my question:

Will going back in 1-2 weeks to mow the grass down further hurt the new seedlings? Or should I just leave it how I left it?

I’d just leave it.

Leave it. You saved yourself some work. It’ll do well.

I vote leave it

Dances with weeds huh??

Something you can do if it doesnt come up as good as you like is to go back over it in a few weeks and top sow some crimson clover......

Well I was able to make it back out to the property yesterday afternoon before the rain moved in.

That looks really good........I wouldnt worry about trying to mow it shorter.............I think leaving the grass stubble a little longer probably helps protect the new emerging seedlings as they come up so that the deer dont get on them before they're able to get a good root started.

JohnMark, i just got my plots seeded and cut yesterday. They look just about like yours. Last year was my first time doing the T&M and it looked just like that. It did really well last year. If youre like me, its hard to drive away from that and even think of it as planting a food plot. But somehow, you go back in a little while and its a food plot.

If you get a chance grab a 50lb bag or two of 34-0-0 and throw on it during this rain

I hope ittl do well. I had to go back yesterday. Couldn’t leave it half done when I had all that money in seed and fertilizer.



I put out 150# 8-24-24. On the half acre. My soil test called for 30 lb n, 60lb p, and 60 lb k per acre. How much additional nitrogen should I add and when?

The reason I said that is because with it being an old hay field and having a lot of grass you'll likely get some N tie up as it decomposes all of that carbon you just terminated......Just keep an eye on it.....You can see N deficiency if it starts yellowing.....It should jump out of the ground and put on several inches of growth rapidly being a nice dark green color......Probably wouldnt hurt to hit it with a 50 lb bag of 34-0-0 every 6-8 weeks or so for now.....Over time incorporate clovers and other legumes into your rotations.......also stored organic N that is built in the OM will help offset any N tie up.........

Not to get too deep into the weeds but this is one reason I've pondered over whether its better to leave the summer vegetation whole and not mow it.....Shredding it all is gonna cause much more decomposition to start happening. This is the very reason why people make compost ahead of time and then apply it to their beds......You dont have the soil actively trying to decompose material and feed plants at the same time......not as much you can do about that in a natural setting but it's good to recognize what's happening

1 week update. Coming in well. Several rains recently.

Looking good!

I had a couple plots last year that came up and yellowed, and I kept adding nitrogen and nothing changed. Added some triple 17 and they took off. Even though the soil tests all showed I needed to add nitrogen for cerea grains.

So this year, mixing 34-0-0 and triple 17.