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Switchgrass

Is it worth spraying gly in very late October on a field that I frost seeded this past March? Or is it better to wait until the cool season stuff greens up in the spring? I wasn't able to confirm whether any came up this summer.

With the chemical prices I'm waiting till spring green up. Not sure you would gain anything by spraying this fall
 
Is it worth spraying gly in very late October on a field that I frost seeded this past March? Or is it better to wait until the cool season stuff greens up in the spring? I wasn't able to confirm whether any came up this summer.
Fall spray is great! Easier to kill cool seasons. Just be sure warm seasons are dormant. Which late October - clearly u are fine. Get cool seasons on a warm day before they go dormant.
Ya- Chem prices may come down. Good call. gly + ams rate on cool seasons is always pretty high so I’d plan on some decent costs.
 
Is it worth spraying gly in very late October on a field that I frost seeded this past March? Or is it better to wait until the cool season stuff greens up in the spring? I wasn't able to confirm whether any came up this summer.
Yes. If it’s any bit thick with cool seasons. If it’s foxtail…. Then I wouldn’t waste time of course. If u ever wanna snap some close & far pics & post …. I’d know immediately.
 
Quick question. Decided to frost seed into mowed area that I planted but didn't come in as well I would have liked. It was first year. We've been up and down in Temps the last week. Do you think it will take ? Was I too early frost seed process? I also drilled as well.

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Here is what we did after a lot of research and reading hundreds of pages here.

Be Patient and do not panic until year four.

1. We disced and then frost seeded into corn stubble in the late winter.

2. Sprayed 2-4D, Simazine (Pre-emergent) and Glyphosate in the spring. (Mid-April in Michigan)

3. Let it go from here. The field was brown through July.

4. Could hardly see a bit of switchgrass first year. Field was full of Foxtail.

5. This year half of it is over my head and is thick.

6. Of course, now we have one field with a lot of Marestail. Still a lot of switchgrass in it and I suspect the switch will out compete it next year.

Below is a good reference

Page 62 Iowa Whitetail forums

“To put things in perspective... All my original stands I mowed and sprayed the fall before, winter seeded and did absolutely nothing after that. The first year it was a mass of weeds including foxtail, the second year switch was evident (first year there was none to be found), foxtail did not return but weeds did. Third year it finally developed into a mature stand.

The object of herbicides is get a mature stand sooner and Oust is a useful tool to accomplish that.

I would spray 1 ounce SFM75 /Oust per acre late November, add seed if you wish and atrazine if you wish but leave a strip as is to compare.”

Picture of second year on July 3rd.
 

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Quick question. Decided to frost seed into mowed area that I planted but didn't come in as well I would have liked. It was first year. We've been up and down in Temps the last week. Do you think it will take ? Was I too early frost seed process? I also drilled as well.

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You will be just fine. And I posted an example a page or so ago that showed my switch field this year. Last year I have ZERO switch showing in my field but this year its all there and I am assuming next year most of it will be 5'+. As many others have mentioned numerous times be patient, its most likely there.
 
Not all the seed needs to stratify, only the "hard" seed needs to go through the stratification process. There are tons of research showing where june planted switchgrass is just as if not more successful than frost seeded switch.
Either way I think planting in December will not lend itself well for germination. It most likely will not germinate until next spring.

Also, thanks for the correction as about 25% of the seed will not germinate. I think it will be higher with weed competition though.

Typically, individuals planting in June use a drill to get good seed to soil contact. Frost seeding relies on the ground freezing and thawing to accomplish this. Also there is a lot of conversation around stratifying the seed in the freezer first.
 
I have a 10 year old stand that is in great shape with a food plot in the middle , I want to carve out a bigger plot, what would be the best way to kill the switch ? Gly , Till , Both ? Going to plant it to beans .. Thanks
 
I have a 10 year old stand that is in great shape with a food plot in the middle , I want to carve out a bigger plot, what would be the best way to kill the switch ? Gly , Till , Both ? Going to plant it to beans .. Thanks
I would mow the switch to the dirt or close to it some time in April. This will allow you to carve out the area of switch exactly the way you desire for your bean planting. Then when the switch starts to germinate, hit it with gly. This should burn down and allow you to disc/till and plant beans by early June.
 
I have a 10 year old stand that is in great shape with a food plot in the middle , I want to carve out a bigger plot, what would be the best way to kill the switch ? Gly , Till , Both ? Going to plant it to beans .. Thanks
I'd say if you burn it, that would be best to get rid of the residue. Then can gly the area you want to plant after it greens up. If mowing gave you the right amount of residue though, that could help keep moisture and help with browse pressure. Just wouldn't want too much thatch on the ground. If you're not no till drilling the beans, I'd lean towards burning and disking
 
To burn or not to burn?

I’m going on year 3 on a SG screen. I tilled and put down the seed with a 3pt grass seeder in April. Year 1 had poor moisture and I mowed it once in August. I had extremely poor germination. The start of year 2 I burned it and broadcasted in late April. This year I had some SG come up. Mostly the grass that had been put in with the seeder. You could see the straight lines. But still didn’t get a whole lot of cover. I did mow it twice last summer.

Here’s my question. Should I burn it this year and then broadcast more seed? Or should I mow what’s there and broadcast again? Or should I leave it stand and broadcast? Is there a risk to burning the seed that didn’t germinate last year?
 
. Personally I would burn Mid March and spray 2oz per acre Oust / XM75 and clean your stand up to see what you have then work on a plan to address this would call for not putting any new seed down this year . This will release the switch that has established and set back unwanted grasses .

Not sure your seeding rate but I go about 10LBS acre for screening ..I also add some Kanlow Last I seen Osebaughs was $15.00 a LBS CIR
 
To burn or not to burn?

I’m going on year 3 on a SG screen. I tilled and put down the seed with a 3pt grass seeder in April. Year 1 had poor moisture and I mowed it once in August. I had extremely poor germination. The start of year 2 I burned it and broadcasted in late April. This year I had some SG come up. Mostly the grass that had been put in with the seeder. You could see the straight lines. But still didn’t get a whole lot of cover. I did mow it twice last summer.

Here’s my question. Should I burn it this year and then broadcast more seed? Or should I mow what’s there and broadcast again? Or should I leave it stand and broadcast? Is there a risk to burning the seed that didn’t germinate last year?
you can look back into some of the previous posts and see where year 1 of switch planting I had next to nothing, but year 2 it came on pretty good. I would say that if your not satisfied with your stand on year 2 then year 3 will most likely disappoint. What I would do because its a screen is burn, and then add some new seed. I would get either RC Big Rock switch or RC Chippewa. They seem to be a taller and more weather resistant variety that is coming on the scene.

I would then spray to clean it up and then see what happens.

@IowaBowHunter1983 can help you out with the RC seed varieties
 
you can look back into some of the previous posts and see where year 1 of switch planting I had next to nothing, but year 2 it came on pretty good. I would say that if your not satisfied with your stand on year 2 then year 3 will most likely disappoint. What I would do because its a screen is burn, and then add some new seed. I would get either RC Big Rock switch or RC Chippewa. They seem to be a taller and more weather resistant variety that is coming on the scene.

I would then spray to clean it up and then see what happens.

@IowaBowHunter1983 can help you out with the RC seed varieties
Is there a chance the seed i put down last year didn’t stratify and I could burn them up while burning this year? I would prefer to do this with no chemicals and just fire and mowing. Maybe that’s the hardest way to do it. But I would prefer it.
 
Is there a chance the seed i put down last year didn’t stratify and I could burn them up while burning this year? I would prefer to do this with no chemicals and just fire and mowing. Maybe that’s the hardest way to do it. But I would prefer it.
Sure its possible but I would say highly unlikely. My guess would be it either didnt grow because of the drought or its there and so tiny you never saw it.
 
The most important time for chemical use is before the planting. A clean seed bed is critical. My guess is based on what you've stated, the stuff you planted in the first year after discing likely all got shaded out and died. It sounds like you did a better job of keeping it short last year with a couple mowings.

If you are against chemical use you're going to have a problem with broadleaf control most likely. Normally a mid to late mowing in May can give the switchgrass a head start against broadleaf, from there you'll just have to see how it looks for future mowing. Switchgrass should out compete foxtail and other annuals by year 2 and 3, but my guess is you're basically on year 2 this year (due to your initial planting being a failure).

Continually dumping seed into a stand that you don't want to use chemicals on is a waste of money, IMO.
 
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