Creek chub
Active Member
^TAP
That’s a beautiful sunflower plot!
That’s a beautiful sunflower plot!
Cover crop
- Thread starter jlane35
- Start date
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Very nice Tap! I have pics similar to that somewhere... and a wife who also loves to see a field of yellow (certainly helps with approval). She thinks chicory is pretty too just in case you needed another plant to seed heavy.
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Tap
Well-Known Member
Thanks, but Native is the big leagues. I'm a wanna be.
It is nice to look at some nice nature stuff though...a little distraction from the craziness.
Its a beautiful time of the year. All kinds of trees in bloom. My crabs and pears sure are pretty right now. Redbuds are ready to pop here.
Not long until time to plant sunflowers...maybe another 4 or 5 weeks here in zone 6.
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Tap
Well-Known Member
I think I remember seeing your pics...I guess it was your photos that I referred to a few posts earlier.
Your sunflowers were planted via throw and mow, correct?
I was really impressed that TnM could produce such a great sunflower plot.
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Tap
Well-Known Member
This pic doesn't show it well but there is a lot of common ragweed in there.One of my so-so sunflower plots.
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My deer love ragweed. They hit it almost as hard as they hit the sunflowers. And they definitely prefer ragweed over beans on my place.
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catscratch
Well-Known Member
Yes, they were throw-n-mow... and thanks. TnM is the only way I plot now, been doing it off and on for a couple of decades. I found some pics from last year's sunflowers but can't seem to be able to post them. Ragweed is a huge draw here also. I had a bean plot last year that grew up with a lot of ragweed (I chose not to spray it)... best quail plot ever!
jlane35
Well-Known Member
How do you ensure you have enough existing growth to mow over the seed, especially in a spring planting like sunflowers?
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Wheat, rye, weeds, fallow grasses, ect. I currently have wheat that is almost knee high and rye that is over knee high. I also have clover that is mid shin high that could be used as thatch if I wanted.
Most importantly for me when TnMing big seeds is I look for multiple rain events over a week's time. I seldom broadcast seed when the forecast only calls for 1 rain then clearing up. In KS that might only be a couple of weeks total in the whole spring, so I'm on the ready at all times.
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Tap
Well-Known Member
I think a light cultipacking or lightweight vehicle travel AFTER mowing can help.
My thought process is that the thatch will help cushion and protect the sunflower seeds from being damaged.
TnM seems to work best when done IN BETWEEN rain events because the soil is softer for better contact.
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catscratch
Well-Known Member
Everybody has different results and routines. I almost quit calling it TnMow because I've found just as good results broadcasting into standing thatch without mowing.
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How tall is the thatch you are broadcasting into?
catscratch
Well-Known Member
It depends. Sometimes it's knee high and thin, knee high and thick, or short. I don't particularly like shorter. Last yr I broadcasted on top of thatch that was already laying down. Most of the seed caught on top and was 4 inches from the ground. I mowed over it to shake the seed down. The mower didn't hit any vegetation but it blew the seed around enough for it to find it's way.
If you look at seed you'll find that most crop seed is shaped to wiggle through thatch or duff to find bottom. Some seeds catch on fur to be moved and preened out in a bed, some seeds get eaten in fruit and pooped out, some seeds catch the wind and lay down in an eddy, our seed slides to soil. I've also found that with good thatch it can send a tap root quite a ways to find soil. I believe DarkMarvin has some pics somewhere that demonstrates this...
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MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
I do indeed have those pics!
But before that. I've seen those pics of your seed laying on top of cereal duff. I know it's worked for you. I'm still struggling with the faith. I know I should believe and try it. I can't get over my yearing to flail.
I pushed the envelope broadcasting barley into my clover this year. There was still snow around the edges of the plot, ground frozen, and low teen temps in the overnights for days to come. I've also got six mature bur oaks in my plot that put down lots of coarse soil covering leaves. I choose not to till, drill, drag, spray or pack. I choose it because I don't have most of those tools, and the ones I do, I still don't have a means to pull them.
Anyway, I risked an entire $13 bag of barley and spread I did. I was sure I'd lose some to birds and just being marooned on those leaves. The weekend I spread, I had 50+ robins having a party in the puddles near the plot.
Well, they germinated, and the roots came right out the side of the seed and looked around until they found a gap and started drilling liquid carbon injection shafts. I'd like to see a half million (spread 1.6 million) of these sticking up out of my clover in 6 weeks.
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