Egyptian Wheat
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dbltree
Super Moderator
SWBUCKHNTR
Member
I was wondering if there is a safe post emergent to spray on ew?
I have a pretty weedy plot and by weeds I am talking broadleafs. Would it be ok to spray 2-4D?
I have a pretty weedy plot and by weeds I am talking broadleafs. Would it be ok to spray 2-4D?
dbltree
Super Moderator
2-4D in theory is safe but it can injure sorghum and corn so I would use the least amount possible according to the label. Banvel should also work as will atrazine and crop oil.
Usually the EW will outgrow the weeds but if you want to give it a shot you might do a test spray first and make sure the EW handles it ok
Could maybe mix in some atrazine & crop oil as well? One thing, I had velvet leaf and other broadleaves in my EW last year, I thought they were "bad".... About 3-4 weeks went by and the EW blew past the weeds and completely dominated them. If you're on the fence, I'll betcha the EW will go nuts in the next 3-4 weeks.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
dbltree
Super Moderator
August 3rd, 2012
Much of the Midwest is under the grip of a severe drought yet in most cases our Egyptian Wheat is thriving!
With an easy 4-6 weeks of growing yet it has already completely screened fields already
Every feeding area can be screened to make deer feel more comfortable feeding in daylight hours
Note on the hot 100+ degree days the EW curls up and looks a little like it's on it's last legs, but at night I swear it grows another 6"
On all of these strips I used 200#'s of urea per acre which is not very much on an 8' wide strip, but the nitrogen really makes it grow!
This was planted on sod that hadn't been tilled in 20 years with no lime or P&K (not that adding the other nutrients should not be done...just sayin')
I shoot for 6#'s per acre, hard to do when broadcasting but easy with my drill and keeping the seeding rate down helps insure strong robust stalks that will stand up well this winter
Yet still a thick screen that we cannot see thru
Even 6-8' wide EW screens are impossible to see thru
EW will certainly grow at higher rates but stalks will be much smaller in diameter and much weaker
Given room they will tiller out and thicken with 4-5 stalks rather then one so don't be afraid to keep seeding rates low.
I have seen some folks try switchgrass screens but they simply do not grow tall enough to screen against poachers in a truck ...unless you plan on belly crawling to your blind, no where's tall enough to hide a hunter. EW is unbeatable at solving these problems when it comes to annuals and can be used as an interim screen while permanent screens like conifers, shrubs or miscanthus are a work in progress...
Much of the Midwest is under the grip of a severe drought yet in most cases our Egyptian Wheat is thriving!
With an easy 4-6 weeks of growing yet it has already completely screened fields already
Every feeding area can be screened to make deer feel more comfortable feeding in daylight hours
Note on the hot 100+ degree days the EW curls up and looks a little like it's on it's last legs, but at night I swear it grows another 6"
On all of these strips I used 200#'s of urea per acre which is not very much on an 8' wide strip, but the nitrogen really makes it grow!
This was planted on sod that hadn't been tilled in 20 years with no lime or P&K (not that adding the other nutrients should not be done...just sayin')
I shoot for 6#'s per acre, hard to do when broadcasting but easy with my drill and keeping the seeding rate down helps insure strong robust stalks that will stand up well this winter
Yet still a thick screen that we cannot see thru
Even 6-8' wide EW screens are impossible to see thru
EW will certainly grow at higher rates but stalks will be much smaller in diameter and much weaker
Given room they will tiller out and thicken with 4-5 stalks rather then one so don't be afraid to keep seeding rates low.
I have seen some folks try switchgrass screens but they simply do not grow tall enough to screen against poachers in a truck ...unless you plan on belly crawling to your blind, no where's tall enough to hide a hunter. EW is unbeatable at solving these problems when it comes to annuals and can be used as an interim screen while permanent screens like conifers, shrubs or miscanthus are a work in progress...
dbltree
Super Moderator
It will grow well into September and should get 10' high or more...none of ours has started showing seed heads yet...still growing despite lack of rain! :way:
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Honestly, I cannot believe I didn't use this until recently. EW is absolutely an awesome screen, and I believe it would work as a bedding area...planted in blocks and (mixed with sorghum).
TheMadCatter
Well-Known Member
Guys when do you usually plant it? The bag says April-June but when do you guys plant?
Daver
PMA Member
Mid-to-late May, even early June. In my area we have been very dry and I planted some EW in early June that is probably 3'-4' tall. All in all, I am impressed with the growth given the almost total lack of rain during June and July. I can only guess how it would look if we did have rain on it.
Plant anytime late April to mid june. I planted some in early July once & did great BUT we did have about perfect rain that year. Give er lots of N & Atrazine, don't seed too heavy - with good rains, watch out, awesome stuff!
My stuff last year was about right at that 12' mark.
My stuff last year was about right at that 12' mark.
Update
Here are some pics to show my progress with EW this summer. The pic with my wife and some of my kids is over 11' high (she is 5'9 for reference). The pic with me is about the high side of the average stalks around 8-9' (I'm a hair under 6' for reference). The last pic is of the other side of the EW that the first 2 pics are from. I planted the first week of June (will try to get it in a little earlier next Spring though). I have sandy loam soil.
This is my first year owning land and my first year food plotting/habitat work and I can't thank anyone enough for sharing all of this information.
Here are some pics to show my progress with EW this summer. The pic with my wife and some of my kids is over 11' high (she is 5'9 for reference). The pic with me is about the high side of the average stalks around 8-9' (I'm a hair under 6' for reference). The last pic is of the other side of the EW that the first 2 pics are from. I planted the first week of June (will try to get it in a little earlier next Spring though). I have sandy loam soil.
This is my first year owning land and my first year food plotting/habitat work and I can't thank anyone enough for sharing all of this information.
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Daver
PMA Member
Hey...haven't I seen yuo before on one of those storage locker auction shows?
Looks great, congrats!! Did you have good rains on it this summer? How did you fertilize it?
I have some that essentially got no rain all summer that is about 4'-5' tall as of last week. Pretty impressive given the incredibly dry spell we have had in SE Iowa. I suspect with normal rainfall it would have made 10'-12' which would be even better.
Hey...haven't I seen yuo before on one of those storage locker auction shows?
Looks great, congrats!! Did you have good rains on it this summer? How did you fertilize it?
I have some that essentially got no rain all summer that is about 4'-5' tall as of last week. Pretty impressive given the incredibly dry spell we have had in SE Iowa. I suspect with normal rainfall it would have made 10'-12' which would be even better.
Haha! I hear that quite a bit lately
Thank you! But no, it's been terribly dry here all summer. I planted early June and we had 1 small rain for the next month, so I planted some more at the end of June to try and fill in some spots. I had only planted at 6lbs/acre so it wasn't a big deal to go a little heavier. Through July we got 1/2" rain and then finally in early August we got a couple inches over a week and it literally exploded after that. I was pretty bummed up until that point. It is still growing though. Our area missed most rains that came through our state, even to the point of dissipating over our town, then reforming after our home... Oh, I also did the add Urea trick when the majority of it grew to about knee high, right before one of the few light rains we got in July.
I disced up the areas a couple weeks early to start with, then disced in 150lbs/acre Urea and disced it in, broadcast 200lbs/acre 6-28-28, planted seed, cultipacked twice, and finally sprayed with Simazine at 2 quarts/acre. Basically followed Paul's instructions as close as possible
Only change next year will be to plant 2 weeks earlier if possible...
DWilk
Active Member
Just thought I'd share this year's Egyptian wheat experience.
Without access to a drill on this farm, we pulled out the John Deere 7000 4 row planter and tried our luck. We bought the sorghum seed meters for it and set it on 6 lbs. It turns out 6 pounds planted heavy. Next year I'm going to try and set it on 4 lbs and double back through the middle of the rows. So for anyone with a JD 7000 and no drill, you can definitely get a good EW screen planted. Where we got the correct coverage the E.W. grew like gangbusters even with the terrible drought! (SE-ish Iowa)
Without access to a drill on this farm, we pulled out the John Deere 7000 4 row planter and tried our luck. We bought the sorghum seed meters for it and set it on 6 lbs. It turns out 6 pounds planted heavy. Next year I'm going to try and set it on 4 lbs and double back through the middle of the rows. So for anyone with a JD 7000 and no drill, you can definitely get a good EW screen planted. Where we got the correct coverage the E.W. grew like gangbusters even with the terrible drought! (SE-ish Iowa)
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Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
EW
This question is to anyone, maybe even be speculative...
Do you think EW mixed with sorghum would provide good bedding cover if planted in blocks (one acre or more)?
This question is to anyone, maybe even be speculative...
Do you think EW mixed with sorghum would provide good bedding cover if planted in blocks (one acre or more)?