Fertilize before or after planting pasture grass?

[Coyote]

Got in to a debate about when to fertilize new ground for pasture grasses. I always disk it up good, spread the fertilizer, disk that in, wait a week or two, and hopefully rain, then broadcast the seed. Other guy says he fertilizes after it comes up. What do you guys say?

 

[Still8nn]

Coyote, I would broadcast about 350lb/acre, disk it in and pray for rain. Then plant. I belive this would produce good results.

 

[deereguy]

I would fertilize it with a starter fertilizer (18-24-12 or similiar) when you initially seed it. Got access to a cuiltipacker or Brillion seeder? Treat it like your yard. The animal units you put on it will take care of the rest of the fertilizing.
Have you done a soil test already? Any prep work?

 

[Mickey_Fx]

I think a lot depends upon where you live and soil condition. For around here, I'd go with after giving the grass a chance to get established.

Around here it's hard to keep grass from growing in bare spots. Here is a pic of the pasture I replanted last Oct. No fertlizer used since last spring.

 

[Onthesauk]

I've always heard to do exactly what you do. Think the risk if you do it just after it sprouts is that you may burn some of it.

 

[EddieWalker]

The guy at who sells the fertalizer here told me to wait until the grass was established. If I did it early, it probably wouldn't hurt anything , but until the grass matures, it's not doing anything either and is a waste of money.

What is important is to prepair the soil for the type of grass you are growing. Here, lime is the most common amendment added to the soil, but it all depends on your soil and your goals.

Eddie

 

[RalphVa]

Don't fertilize and seed at the same time. The fert will burn the new roots formed by the seed and kill the grass.

Wait until fall and fertilize.

Ralph

 

[meadowlarkponds]

I understand you are asking about pasture grasses not yard grass, right?

Depending on what you plant, pasture grasses are usually very small seeds and if seeding by broadcast seeder, then it is a good idea to add fertilizer to the mix with the seed.

For example, I just seeded 12 acres in Tifton 9 and mixed 100 pounds of fertilizer with 50 pounds of seed. That mixture promotes uniform seeding and gives the young plants a boost to get off to a good start. After they get established, then I'll come back in with a "real" fertilization.

This approach does not burn the grass, promotes effective, uniform seeding when using a broadcast seeder, and provides a small boost to the young plants when they need it....works for me.

 

[dixie306]

Got in to a debate about when to fertilize new ground for pasture grasses. I always disk it up good, spread the fertilizer, disk that in, wait a week or two, and hopefully rain, then broadcast the seed. Other guy says he fertilizes after it comes up. What do you guys say?

I do about the same as you do, I just don't wait quite as long as you do to seed

 

[rtimgray]

Everytime that we've ever seeded a disked-up field, it's always been mixed in with the fertilizer. Lime is usually applied separately (and here, usually in the fall). We've usually had good results, if Mother Nature cooperates.