Few questions
@Popcorn :
How are your Green Cover Seed plots looking?
Do you use crimper at all?
Obviously when there's no rain, there is little hope. As poor as yours look, know they look much better than mine
. We've been tossing the idea back and forth on getting a Goliath crimper. I've been in contact with a dealer in Dickson. I think it is time to just take the plunge. If I look at herbicide costs for next spring, I'm looking at about $800. I'd rather that money go towards an investment (crimper) rather than a one time fix.
Only question I have, is how well does a crimper do on pigweed, spring growth on brassicas, other weeds? I can't find anything that shows results on that….just on cereal rye, nothing else.
Green cover seed plots were a loss. The buckwheat that was there got hammered right up front. A little of the sun hemp looked to have a chance but once they tasted it it was gone overnight. The short stature milo survived in a couple plots but is less than 24 inches tall. I am waiting to see if it is gonna make seed heads. Overall the soil and the drought was more than it could survive.
I crimped over 350 acres for a few years and I loved the results but there are some prerequisites that became very important .
1. plant population matters! For a crimper to work well there must be good matter density so the weight of the crimper can pin and crimp against the ground.
2. Weight or pressure matters. You must fill it with water or a solution or the process is not sufficient. Down draft on your tractor can help or add weight on top.
3. speed, our crimper gave the absolute best results at 3.5 mph. Slower was better but very slow progress makes great things hard to do right.
4. Cereal rye is the most successful plant to crimp if done at the right time. (Milk stage).
Add vetch to the mix and it will mat everything together for a clean and thorough crimp down. The process will not kill the vetch but it's a great legume that barley competes so I never minded it.
5. Crimping will not kill most brassicas but if there is enough matter covering it the lack of sunlight will.
6. Crimping is a component and is only as successful as the entire process. IF you have a solid mat of matter on the ground you can and will greatly reduce the germination of many weeds including pigweed but have a thin area where sun meets the soil and they will be there.
I love what crimping does.
Suppress weed germination
Insulate soil temps
Insulate soil moisture
Holds topsoil
Reduces erosion
Protects seedlings during a critical period
Reduces tillage needs
Improves soil biology
Can save money if done right
Keeps that matter there for a slow decay feeding future crops.
7. Be prepared to manually remove any areas of undesirable plants where the matter was not thick enough to prevent germination. Be prepared to throw down some fast germination seed in these thin spots to fill in and reduce manual labor. I like wheat and or millet or turnips.
Crimping was created as a part of an intense soil building process and can be a valuable part of your crops but what you save in chemicals will be consumed in the first couple of years in increased seed costs, cost of the crimper. After that the savings will begin to be evident but the soil improvements will be the most valuable gain you get from crimping.
A note on pigweed and it's family of devil plants. It has many strengths but camouflage is one of its strongest. Many people never realize they have a problem until it shoots up a seed head! It remains unseen at a glance till then. You must walk in your fields to know your weaknesses.
