Sowing grass

3 posts
Sun, 06/09/2013 - 16:55 #1

Member for

11 years 10 months
Shannon
Last seen: 05/13/2018 - 20:47
Joined: 12/27/2012 - 12:34

Sowing grass

Just wondering if anyone is able to advise of the best way to sow pasture. We have a Shearer combine with a seed and fertiliser box. We're looking at a pasture of Rhodes grass, some Medic and Panic at this stage. We've heard of people sowing seed using the fertiliser box along with the fertiliser. We have had our soil tested and only need to replace some nitrogen. Are we able to use the fertiliser box with just seed in it. Any suggestions will be helpfull.

Thanks

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Wed, 06/19/2013 - 18:27 #2
charlie
Last seen: 12/26/2018 - 09:21
Joined: 05/31/2011 - 09:44

Hi Shannon,

Great question, I'm sure there are others out there who would be interested in the answer.

If your combine does not have a small seeds box it will be very difficult to sow pasture seed without it going in too deep. A safer option rather than using your combine will be to prepare a fine and firm seed bed and broadcast the seed out using a fertiliser spreader. You can mix the seed with fertiliser to assist with its spreading and to ensure an even coverage. Avoid using Nitrogen based fertilisers (Urea) as they tend to absorb moisture and can dehydrate the seed, also mix and spread on the same day.

Once the seed has been spread you can run over the paddock with a piece of mesh or a set or finger harrows turned upside down to ensure that the pasture seed is only buried 10-20mm deep.

Regardless of what your soil test says I would still be using a starter fertiliser (even a light rate will do) containing sulphur, phosphorus and nitrogen. This will ensure that your seedlings will get off to the best start possible and ensure that they wont have to scavenge too hard for nutrients while their root system is establishing.

The pasture species (panic, rhodes) you are going to sow are all summer active and should be sown in late spring early summer as the soil temperature warms up. Medics are the opposite and should be sown in the autumn, however they do have a high hard seed content (not all of the seeds will come up at once) and for ease of management I would suggest to sow it at the same time as the grasses. The alternative would be to broadcast the medic seed the following autumn. 

I hope this has been helpful and look forward to hearing how the pasture establishment goes.

Charlie

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Mon, 09/23/2013 - 21:07 #3
Lucas Sawman
Last seen: 09/23/2013 - 21:20
Joined: 09/23/2013 - 20:42

Hi Shanon,

I recommend you that use Coco Peat which is organic matter use for growing the plants with minimum water and better yield. It has all the nutrients and biology. Also you do not need to use separate fertiliser. You can get more information -http://landscapeandgardenblog.wordpress.com/.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Lucas

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