NWSG! Help

[Buster]

All,
After doing alot of reading and learning, I'm more confused now then ever. I have land that i help to manage, we have 18 acres of Switchgrass, but about half the switch has died out over the years from lack of care. We burned last year and it helped. Going to burn again this year and then want to plant a CP25 mix on about 8 acres that has died out.
My dilemma, How to plant, if we burn early enough I could frost seed, after burning I can wait for regrowth and spray killer then drill in. Or just drill in around June. Confused, what are your expriences with this mix and broadcasting or drilling. Have heard that CP25 can be hard to plant doing both techniques. Thanks for the input.

Tracy

 

[dbltree]

[ QUOTE ]
All,
After doing alot of reading and learning, I'm more confused now then ever. I have land that i help to manage, we have 18 acres of Switchgrass, but about half the switch has died out over the years from lack of care. We burned last year and it helped. Going to burn again this year and then want to plant a CP25 mix on about 8 acres that has died out.
My dilemma, How to plant, if we burn early enough I could frost seed, after burning I can wait for regrowth and spray killer then drill in. Or just drill in around June. Confused, what are your expriences with this mix and broadcasting or drilling. Have heard that CP25 can be hard to plant doing both techniques. Thanks for the input.

Tracy

[/ QUOTE ]
The CP-25 mix you can drill in the spring with pretty fair results. Just burn as early as you can and no-till drill the mix and if you can spray Journey do it right after planting.
Don't wait until June though, plant soon after you burn and you can burn in March if weather permits. Some types of wildflowers are like switchgrass and may not germinate until the next spring. The Bigbluestem and Indian grass should come up yet this spring. If you have some switch in the field it will most likely come back a little thicker also.
I know it all is a bit confusing at times...both frost seeding and no-till drilling the NWSG in early spring will work great!

BTW you really don't even need no-till coluters on a drill...but you DO need a prairie grass drill equipped to handle fluffy seeds. The stuff is a nightmare otherwise!

 

[Buster]

Thanks for the response.
The Cp25 mix has to be Journey ready for it not to kill the mix correct. If I spray right after planting it will not harm the planting, am I getting that right. I don't want to wait for things to green up with Journey.
Your right on the fluffy seed, at least that is what I've read and was concerned about. I see some companies put wheat in their mix for flowability. Is that really needed. Thanks for the help.

 

[dbltree]

[ QUOTE ]
The Cp25 mix has to be Journey ready for it not to kill the mix correct. If I spray right after planting it will not harm the planting, am I getting that right. I don't want to wait for things to green up with Journey.
Your right on the fluffy seed, at least that is what I've read and was concerned about. I see some companies put wheat in their mix for flowability. Is that really needed. Thanks for the help.

[/ QUOTE ]
Journey won't kill most NWSG mixes although it is hard on new switchgrass seedlings (it won't harm dormant adult switchgrass stands)The important thing to remember about Journey...is that it contains Roundup. So you MUST spray Journey on pre-emergence...if the plants are growing it will kill them. I'm sure you would be safe to spray, up to a week after planting. Journey Ready Mix...just means the mix is tolerant to the other active ingredients in the herbicide mix. Plateau was the original version before they added Roundup to it, and all the WSG mixes I ever planted we're very tolerant to Plateau. The "Journey Ready" tag is a little bit misleading because some think they can just spray Journey on at anytime...which would be a disaster!!

The fluffy seed mixes are a little easier to seed if you have a "carrier" mixed with it. In my case I have used Clay Silica (Oil Dry/Flor Dry) it's cheap at places like TSC for $3 a bag.
Wheat would work in the same manner and the Journey will kill it before it would compete with the NWSG seedlings.
Otherwise some times a person needs to ride the back of the drill and poke the seed down with a broom handle, which is not all that safe!