Creek chub
Active Member
Anybody know if it’s better to mix pearl millet with another crop or plant it alone for soil improvement?
Pearl Millet
- Thread starter Creek chub
- Start date
catscratch
Well-Known Member
I like to mix it with sorghum and sunflowers. No particular reason other than I like that mix.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
I've planted it and it's a crop that I was very impressed with, soil builder, increases OM, and is a potential screen. Commonly mixed with sunflowers, cow peas, sorghum and tillage radishes.
Creek chub
Active Member
Do you think lab lab would be ok to mix in?
Creek chub
Active Member
I have sun flower seeds like from the hardware store for bird feed. Will they work?
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
As long as they are not toasted.
Us northerners know nothing about lab labs. Is that two water retrieving dogs cloned together? Seriously, that's the truth, nobody that I know ever planted it.
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Yes. I've used "black oil sunflower" birdseed many times. Be aware though, it's not certified seed and could contain weed seed.
Here are pics of last yrs sunflower/sorghum/millet mix.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
I have pearl millet in my summer mix this year. I'm putting 3 lbs/acre along with sunn hemp, cow peas, soy beans, buckwheat, sunflower and sorghum.
As an aside I'm not particularly a fan of lab lab. I think it over priced and does nothing that cow peas cant do.Finicky about soil and does not like wet feet. Does have good drought tolerance. I've spent some time with Gary Schwartz and David Morris { the original promoters of lab lab thru tecomate } at the farm where they developed lab lab. World class promoters along the lines of Ray Scott.
As an aside I'm not particularly a fan of lab lab. I think it over priced and does nothing that cow peas cant do.Finicky about soil and does not like wet feet. Does have good drought tolerance. I've spent some time with Gary Schwartz and David Morris { the original promoters of lab lab thru tecomate } at the farm where they developed lab lab. World class promoters along the lines of Ray Scott.
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Lol. Isn't "World class promoters" a nice way of saying something?
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
g squared 23
Well-Known Member
Yes. I've used "black oil sunflower" birdseed many times. Be aware though, it's not certified seed and could contain weed seed.
Here are pics of last yrs sunflower/sorghum/millet mix.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
That mix attract any doves?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Maybe..... grin. We also plant wheat for doves though.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
shawn cox
Well-Known Member
yes I have planted them before and they came up fine last year.
shawn cox
Well-Known Member
yes LabLab will work in that mix but so will Iron and clay peas. The sunflowers give it the climbing ability and so does the sorghum. It is very similar to the power plant mix by WI.Lablab is great in dry weather but I found my deer preferred Iron and Clay peas over lablab. It is a lot cheaper too and they will climb.
Creek chub
Active Member
I tried cow peas last year with buckwheat. It grew ok but the deer didn’t seem to like it much. They hammered the buckwheat. I bought a bag of lab lab from Pennington and will give it a go in a plot somewhere
Thats a first! My experience is there is nothing more highly preferred than cow peas with the possible exception of radishes planted in the fall.
Curious where you are in Va.? I spend a bit of time in Madison county. Beautiful lush country. Lots of soybeans.
Creek chub
Active Member
I did have some browsing but for some reason the deer preferred the buckwheat.
I’m located in Roanoke county near the Appalachian trail
beautiful country. I'll be interested to see how the lab lab handles grazing pressure now that the deer know to look for something good in your fields. If pressure is heavy I wouldn't necessarily attribute it to lab lab rather familiarization. I cant plant cow peas in anything under a 7 acre field even with modest deer population without the deer wiping it out.
Hoosierhunting
Well-Known Member
I use a no till drill. Seeding rates are as follows:
sunn hemp 5 lbs/acre
cowpeas 15 lbs/acre
soybeans 10 lbs/acere
sunflower 3 lbs/acre
sorghum 3 lbs acre
pearl millet 3 lbs acre
buckwheat 10 lbs acre
I am putting together a youtube video showing process as well as how different fields are treated differently. I will post as soon as finished planting probably some time next week
shawn cox
Well-Known Member
I watched your video about 30 minutes ago and saw where you adjusted your sunn hemp rate. I plant it every year and some places once it gets a little high it takes off. I planted iron and clay peas and the lablab last year with it and it grew into a jungle. it was cool seeing the tunnels the deer made into it and knock it down in places to get to the peas that had climbed it. They eat the sunn hemp well too but it can get out of hand quick if planted too thick. Hancock seed has a great deal on sunn hemp right now with free shipping for anyone looking for some.
