psandhu

i've had to sit/stand in the back of a fertilizer spreader with 2-3 tons of lime before. had to feed it to the end of the conveyer with a shovel because the lime is sort of sticky and it doesn't feed normally.

a quicker method for spreading 1 ton or less of lime is to have it dumped in the back of a pickup and blow it out the back with a leaf blower. it should take 30 minutes with 2 people.

Rick James

Actually I had a rig all ready to go similar to this that I thought was pure genious. I had an AC/DC converter in the lighter socket in my dads truck, the air compressor in the passenger seat, and the air hose snaked out through the back window. I was going to use the hose to spray the lime out the back and onto the plot.........unfortunately we had a downpour on Saturday morning that soaked the field to the point that the truck would have gotten buried, even the next day. The only option was to find a way to spread it w/ the 4wd kubota tractor because that does much better in those sloppy conditions, and I had to rent one of those biologic seeder spreaders from the local feed mill for the day. At $30 a day to rent that thing, I will be using that next year w/ pelletized lime just because of ease of use.

Might Mite

Looks great. What part of PA?

Rick James

Thanks!

This property is in Bradford County......

Rick James

This weekend I was finally able to make it back down to PA to finish up the foodplots. I york raked, seeded, and dragged the plot on Saturday evening. The top 1/4 of this plot is 3 strips including a rape/turnip/kale mix, a second of Biologic Maximum, and another of Biologic Premium Perennial. The entire last 3/4 of the plot is Biologic Full Draw. Last year by bud Dan grew 3 plots of Full Draw and we had some great success on those plots. The field was disced up and had a full ton of lime applied 3 weeks ago. At that time, the PH was tested in 4 spots in the field, and tested between 5.5 to 6.5. This time I tested 4 places in the field and everything read 6.5 to 6.75. I heard that lime isn't supposed to work this quickly, however according to my ph meter it has already worked. Hopefully I will see some good slow soaking rain in the next week so these seeds germinate.

Click below for pics and video..........



http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v283/ringostar40/?action=view&current=MOV01164.flv

fshafly2

Rick
- looks like you are on the right track. It may take a while for the lime to affect your pH, as you likely know. The best time to add lime is always yesterday, so good you're getting it in. Keep us posted with the results.

-fsh

Rick James

Thanks!!

Anyone know what will happen if we don't get rain in the next week or two? If there is no rain, I am assuming these won't germinate. Will the seed last for a couple weeks if it doesn't get wet before then? The soil is really dry right now.......it was awfully dusty when raking and dragging.

fshafly2

Rick
- the humidity in the soil is usually enough to get the seeds to germinate, they may not need a rain to do so. The problem is usually thata depletedmoisture bank isnot enough for the seedlings to survive. It's not called farming for nothing, so pay your money and take your chances. My bet is go ahead and plant. I sprayed a field w/ru yesterday, and will give it a few more daysfor the herbicide to juice the weedsbefore planting a awp/ww/winter greens (brassica) mix.
-fsh

farm hunter

agree - especially late summer -

The plot can germinate w/o rain - but once its up - even a small rain ensures its survial -

Funny - but too much rain favors weeds and/or native grasses/forbs.

FH

Rick James

Good news is that out of nowhere and without being forecasted, it rained last night on the plot......