# So I Messed up



## notmydaytoday (Sep 16, 2016)

Here is what I done. Disked up our field put on fertilizer broadcasted seed 6 acres of orchard grass ran a harrow over to cover got nothing to grow but weeds and wild onions. we finished planting mid Sept.

Done the same thing but planted fecue and clover mix on 10 acres and didn't get much better results.

Not for sure what when wrong.

Other that seed when to deep maybe or wait to late in the year?

Do I mow it and spray with round up, Will that kill off the onions?

Found a no till drill to rent for reseed so as not to get seed as deep am I thinking wrong if so tell what my other options are.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Dragging in with a harrow might have some deep but some shallow also,so if none grew I wouldn't say it was all to deep.Typically if harrowing seed in just bump the rate 25% or so to compensate.

I'd guess poor soil to seed contact and if may have germinated and died as ground dried out,hard to say without more info.

Did you get a killing frost shortly after germination?


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I wouldn't be harrowing in grass seed. A culti-roller or what ever name they go by is a much better choice. We like use a till-roll-broadcast-roll sequence and it work well for alfalfa. I'm not a fan of fall seeding either, I've seen too many failures with it, but we have have a somewhat different climate than you do .


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Here if you don't spray off the field, all the weed roots and bits have a head start on the grasses you seed and will be hard to get ahead off.

When you said nothing came up, how old is your seed? With our Timothy the germination rate after a year is terrible, 2-3 years nothing will germinate. I poured 50 lbs of left over seed on 100 ft2 of where I dug up my septic tank and not a single seed germinated. After mowing some late hay I saved a handful of chaff off the top of the mower and tossed it down and it came up thick.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Herbicide carryover could be another reason it didn't grow!


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Possibly not a firm seed bed (packing after harrowing)???

Larry


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Did you pack your field with a culti-mulcher or culti-packer or roller before seeding? If not it could be possible that the harrow buried the seed too deep....especially if the spikes were down.

Regards, Mike


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

notmydaytoday said:


> Here is what I done. Disked up our field put on fertilizer broadcasted seed 6 acres of orchard grass ran a harrow over to cover got nothing to grow but weeds and wild onions. we finished planting mid Sept.
> 
> Done the same thing but planted fecue and clover mix on 10 acres and didn't get much better results.
> 
> ...


Seems to me something should have come up if most went too deep with a harrow even if not enough to make a stand. I am guessing that you have possible multiple things going on, all of which have been mentioned-poor soil condition, herbicide carryover, extremely dry after some germination. Sounds like you should keep the weeds mowed until 2 months before you want to seed, burn it then, and again about 2 days before planting with a no-till drill-was the fertilizer you applied based on soil test? Fescue will come up in really bad conditions like low ph, it just won't survive long.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

swmnhay said:


> Herbicide carryover could be another reason it didn't grow!


 That's often the case. Some residuals stick around a long time. Did any come up the stuff that didn't come up is there a pattern a pattern to the planter a pattern to the sprayer and if it's solid weeds already maybe you can't see the pattern


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## notmydaytoday (Sep 16, 2016)

swmnhay said:


> Dragging in with a harrow might have some deep but some shallow also,so if none grew I wouldn't say it was all to deep.Typically if harrowing seed in just bump the rate 25% or so to compensate.
> 
> I'd guess poor soil to seed contact and if may have germinated and died as ground dried out,hard to say without more info.
> 
> Did you get a killing frost shortly after germination?


It hand about 3 months before we had a freeze.


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## notmydaytoday (Sep 16, 2016)

I didn't spray the field.

I don't have a roller or pack so the seed bed was not real hard.

My neighbor harrowed the field as a favor so I am not sure how it was adjusted.

I put the fertilizer on based on soil samples and the advise of the county extension office.

The fecue and clover had some good patch but it had but they are just patches.

The orchard grass may have some sprouts but all i see is weeds when I look round.

Thanks everyone for the help just wanting to know what when wrong so as to not make the same mistake.

That is why I am thinking roundup and no till this time.

John


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## Leeroy (Aug 19, 2013)

Not owning a cultipacker or roller, we have had good luck dragging a tree top around before and after seeding .


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## Farmerbrown2 (Sep 25, 2018)

My seed guy always says a basketball should bounce a little then the field is firm enough to plant . That is where seed comes up the best for me anyways.


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

Soil type will affect this very much. We have sandy loam soil for the most part here. I have plant oats here and have good stands with disking the field, broadcasting as we said little heavy on seeding rate and then using disk where just cutting or field cultivator also running shallow but soil flows easy to cover the seed. No roller or packing of the dirt, only the disk and or field cultivator. Planted four acres last October this way and have total success. No chemicals were sprayed on the field for at least last two years.

On our lawn we often spread ryegrass on it to have a green lawn and then only mow the lawn and using broadcast spreader for the ryegrass with no coverage of any kind and get good coverage.

In typing this my thoughts are all covered by someone above: either the soil is course enough you are not getting good contract, too dry, was planted way too deep or residue chemical.

As to wild onion I have been told 2-4D will kill wild onion. Have a little wild onion this spring and think it killed it rather well for me.

If you have any of the seed left over try seeing if it will sprout. May be off a little on this but take a tray and layer with paper towels, spread some seed on it and cover with another of paper towels and spray to ge the towels damp, not real wet and keep misting for a few days to see if the seeds sprout. No idea the time it takes those seeds to sprout. I would suspect a week or little longer.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Here is a piece U of Nebraska on firm seed beds for planting grasses and alfalfa, I have to admit I had to laugh at the "field seedbed testing kit". I just told my grandson, he should consider the possibly of renting his out, to make a few extra bucks.

I think maybe Farmerbrown's seed guy, could be a cornhusker.

Larry


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## Swv.farmer (Jan 2, 2016)

I'd say bad seed.
I bought some orchard grass and drilled it and nothing came up.
So I planted wheat and plane on planting teff.
Then winter rye and reseed with grass next spring.


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## notmydaytoday (Sep 16, 2016)

Ok thank again for the help and information on how to test the firmness of the seed bed.

The only info on planting orchard grass here is to fall plant from what I can fined. and I am not sure what to do with my field for the summer other than to keep it mowed to keep down on weeds. I am a bit worried about trying orchard grass again but I want to grow a good quality hay for small squares to sell for horse and small animal operations that can't moves big rounds.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

notmydaytoday said:


> Ok thank again for the help and information on how to test the firmness of the seed bed.
> 
> The only info on planting orchard grass here is to fall plant from what I can fined. and I am not sure what to do with my field for the summer other than to keep it mowed to keep down on weeds. I am a bit worried about trying orchard grass again but I want to grow a good quality hay for small squares to sell for horse and small animal operations that can't moves big rounds.


You could plant a annual grass for the summer and then fall seed your O grass


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