POC 1803

I am going to plant wheat on my 1.5 acre plot soon. We've had quite a bit of rain recently. Is there anyway to get the ground "tore up" again with it being still wet? Does wheat do ok just spread on the surface?

Dan O.

You should get a small amount to grow if you spread it over sprayed vegetation. But; I believe that the best growth is after the soil is worked and the seed is planted or broadcast and lightly worked under. Once the soil is very wet you will destroy the tilth is you work it. This is especially true the more clay the soil contains.

Dan O.

timbercruiser

Another thing about not covering the seeds is that birds, mice etc will have a field day eating your seeds up.

farm hunter

Am I correct that you've already disked, or plowed and disked, and the rain prevented you from planting? If so, and you do not have a grain drill, I'd broadcast the seed, lightly disk (even if its wet soil) then cultipack. If enough bare soil is still exposed, cultipacking alone can press cereal grain seeds in sufficiently in wet soil, for excellent germination.


Edited by - farm hunter on 11/07/2002 23:47:26

POC 1803

Farmhunter, you are correct.
I have plowed and disked this plot. But with all the rain we got,
it is somewhat compacted, not "light and fluffy" like it was right after disking...
I went ahead lastnight and broadcast my seed.
I checked another plot where I'd broadcast a few weeks ago
and the wheat is about 2 inches tall. I did that area the same
as the plot I'm currently working on, disk, broadcast, no covering.
I may be able to disk this weekend. I don't have a cultipacker. What is a cultipacker anyways???

I tried using a cedar log behind the 4 wheeler to lightly cover, but it just kept rolling up in the chain and didn't work nearly as well as I'd planned. I think I'm going to work on this a little more, see if I can get better results....

Thanks for all your input.

Patrick

farm hunter

Patrick -

Sounds like you are on the right track. I do think it would be best if you disked the soil a bit if its crusted over, but wheat is a forgiving seed and will probably do OK anyhow.

A real cultipcacker is a peice of equipment that is heavy, and pulled behind a tractor. Mine is 10 ft wide, and made if 3" cast Iron rings that spin independantly on a shaft when pulled. Each ring is pointed in the middle, its similar looking to a metal culvert that goes under a road. I salvaged it from a farmer's hedgerow, its probably 100yrs old.

The center of each ring rides on the point, creating considerable force when rolled, and results in little furrows being left behind, in these furrows the seed is compressed into the ground. The little furrows also tend to collect even the slightest moisture after a light rain, putting moisture in contact with the pressed in seed.

Before I had a cultipacker - I used weighted, steel doors and pulled them behind. Seed will do better if consistant soil/seed contact is made. A log can work, but you need two chains, one at either end, connected to a yoke in the middle, then to your vehicle. It won't roll up that way.

I use the cultipacker for almost every planting I do now. Even when we planted corn this year, with a corn planter, I used it to press seed in that was not correctly covered by the planter (it was wet soil). It worked well.

keyshunter

poc,
Just dragging a chain will help a lot. Rig some sort of spreader to keep the chain extended and drive away. A chain will help break the clods and cover the seed without pushing too much soil as a non-rolling log will.
However, if you intend to do much planting, I would invest in a cultipacker. Firming seed beds are what they are designed for. They are often quite cheap at farm sales.

Cleeby

Hey POC,

I borrowed a friends drag, which consisted of a 6' x 8' piece of old chain link fence and we added some weight in the form of cinder blocks (4-5) tied to the top side of the fence. We only used the framework of the fence and bent it not to rub on the tires. Worked super - maybe go to a scrap yard and see if they might have some or also a fence installer will surely have some old fence he removed for whatever reason. I easily pulled this with my Polaris 500 HO four wheeler. It really was the final touch to my plots. Looked like a ball diamond when we were finished.

Kevin C.

POC 1803

Thanks to everyone for their answers.
I now understand what a cultipacker is.

I had previously read of the chainlink fence idea, but since it was so wet, I didn't know if it would work right or not....
By the time it dries out, the seed will probably be coming up....

The back field is going to be ok....I didn't get real even coverage with the spreader, so it is spotty, but I think it will work. That was my first try. This other plot is right next to the road, so I wanted it to "look" better. I think it will be fine now.

Again, thanks for you help.

Patrick

ostdc

You could probably find an old cultipacker just like Farm hunter did. Ask an old farmer if there is one laying around. My neighbor here has a 4' that pulls easily with an ATV. I have an old double cultipacker that I cannot move by myself(I'm 6'1", 220#, And can benchpress 325#). I got it out of the long grass on my Dad's property. He did not remember that it was there. It worked great when I planted my wheat.
Most that I have seen are singles, like Farm Hunter described. They make a LOT of noise with those plates clanking together, and even more if you roll it down the road!