(No) frost seeding

[possum]

Had several areas areas cleared recently and wanted to get some green on them asap.
I frost seeded annual ryegrass and medium red clover a week ago.
Since then we have had a ton of rain and very warm temps. Forcast for the next week is more of the same.
I know it is early still and we are likely to get some frost and cold temps before spring but what can I expect if there isn’t another frost?
I assume there will be some germinating, just not as good as it would be with the freeze/thaw effect? If it’s too sparse, should I plow and plant the clover in spring? Or skip the clover and plant a warm season planting later this spring?
I’m in north GA.

 

[Jeff H]

I would think with tons of rain you should be fine as the rain should help cover most of your seed with soil, especially the clover. If not I would let mother nature have it till September then throw n mow a fall plot.

 

[Smallplot]

Agree if the ground vegetation was sparse and seeds found the surface of soil you will likely be in good shape. One thing to watch out for would be if the seeds began to germinate then you had a long very cold spell which brings the ground temp below the threshold of sustainability of the new root systems. This usually is not an issue because it takes a while to begin fluctuating ground temps due to solar heating during the day keeping soil warmer than ambient air temps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[farmhunter]

right - its more about soil temps for germination.

Similarly I was at our property today - and we've had freeze/thaw - freeze/thaw - to extremes this winter - and where mud is, there is 5" open crevices from day warming and night freezing. clover seed here will fall inches too deep and never have a prayer to germinate - so frost seeding is a late winter thing more than not. And lots of freezing and thawing isn't always a good thing. for small seeds.

 

[Oldman570]

I would believe that everything should be fine. If it looks like the stand is thin come fall, I would mow it as late in the year as possible, and frost reseed the next spring. I have had to do this on a stand of clover after the first year to get a good plot that I was happy with. It never hurts to add more lime in the fall and fertilizer in the spring when needed. It will take the first year for the plants to get a root system set up and spreading. The second and following years have shown better crop stands for me.