redlevel
Gold Member
This is a follow up to the Planting Corn post I made back in the Spring.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/97902-planting-corn.html?highlight=Planting+Corn
In addition to the corn, I planted iron-clay peas, egyptian wheat, browntop millet, dove proso millet, and sunflowers.
I planted RR corn and wasn't real thrilled at the result. You need some residual weed control in corn, because after the corn has made, weeds like sickle pod just keep on coming. I think TNhobbyfarmer made that point in the other thread. Next year I will put down atrazine and then use Roundup if needed. Old as I am, I should have known better. The corn made as well as I expected, but it has a lot of coffee weed (sicklepod) in it. I planted for 30-50 bushels/acre, and I imagine that is about what it would yield if it was combined. I planted with an old set of Covington planters, in 30" rows. Each stalk has a couple of ears that look about like this:
I sort of experimented with the ic peas. I used them mostly as a carrier for egyptian wheat and the millets and sunflowers. I needed the stuff planted in rows so I could cultivate, because as I said, there is a real bad coffeeweed problem in the field. This was the first year it had been cultivated in eight or ten years. In some places I got the stand too thick, but I think I learned what to do next year. I got pretty good weed control by getting the land ready, waiting for a rain, letting the weed seed germinate, then planting directly into a flush of weeds. I would not disturb the ground-just planted directly into the weeds. Then, I would wait about two days and spray right over the top with roundup. Then I cultivated when the plants were big enough.
In the picture below, you can see how I rigged my cultivator to plow. The plants where the tractor is are iron clay peas and egyptian wheat. I put too much e. wheat and planted too many peas in that particular planting. I changed planter plates for later plantings. You can see the corn on the left side of that picture. I cleaned it up real good with glyphosphate when it was about 30 inches tall, but you can see the weeds coming on in the picture. The coffeeweeds are chest high, now.
Every time you disturb the soil where there is a sicklepod problem, you stimulate more seed. I plowed most of the stuff twice. By then, there was a pretty good canopy, and that helps keep the weeds from germinating.
In the next picture, there are two different ages of plants. The egyptian wheat in the background is about where the tractor was sitting when I made the previous picture. In the foreground is a later planting, with ic peas, e. wheat, and just a few sunflowers. This picture was made this week. As you can see, the stand isn't quite as thick.
A close-up shot of dove proso millet mixed with ic peas. You can see where the deer are cropping the peas.
This shot gives some perspective of the size of the field, about six to eight acres. The corn isn't visible. It is on the right side, hidden by the tall e. wheat. From where the picture was made, it is about 1000 feet to the pines at the far end.
What am I going to do with it? Probably let most of it stand until after Christmas. I would love to have a good New Years Day dove shoot. I'll mow some of it down over the next month or two, especially where there are bad coffee weeds, and probably plant winter wheat. I'll hunt deer in the pines surrounding the field, and use the field and the pines to run bird dawgs on planted quail in January and February.
I think I enjoy planting stuff and watching it grow as well as the actual hunting over it. I guess I hunt so I can plant food plots, which is backward from most folks.
My wife says I am sort of backward, anyway.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/97902-planting-corn.html?highlight=Planting+Corn
In addition to the corn, I planted iron-clay peas, egyptian wheat, browntop millet, dove proso millet, and sunflowers.
I planted RR corn and wasn't real thrilled at the result. You need some residual weed control in corn, because after the corn has made, weeds like sickle pod just keep on coming. I think TNhobbyfarmer made that point in the other thread. Next year I will put down atrazine and then use Roundup if needed. Old as I am, I should have known better. The corn made as well as I expected, but it has a lot of coffee weed (sicklepod) in it. I planted for 30-50 bushels/acre, and I imagine that is about what it would yield if it was combined. I planted with an old set of Covington planters, in 30" rows. Each stalk has a couple of ears that look about like this:
I sort of experimented with the ic peas. I used them mostly as a carrier for egyptian wheat and the millets and sunflowers. I needed the stuff planted in rows so I could cultivate, because as I said, there is a real bad coffeeweed problem in the field. This was the first year it had been cultivated in eight or ten years. In some places I got the stand too thick, but I think I learned what to do next year. I got pretty good weed control by getting the land ready, waiting for a rain, letting the weed seed germinate, then planting directly into a flush of weeds. I would not disturb the ground-just planted directly into the weeds. Then, I would wait about two days and spray right over the top with roundup. Then I cultivated when the plants were big enough.
In the picture below, you can see how I rigged my cultivator to plow. The plants where the tractor is are iron clay peas and egyptian wheat. I put too much e. wheat and planted too many peas in that particular planting. I changed planter plates for later plantings. You can see the corn on the left side of that picture. I cleaned it up real good with glyphosphate when it was about 30 inches tall, but you can see the weeds coming on in the picture. The coffeeweeds are chest high, now.
Every time you disturb the soil where there is a sicklepod problem, you stimulate more seed. I plowed most of the stuff twice. By then, there was a pretty good canopy, and that helps keep the weeds from germinating.
In the next picture, there are two different ages of plants. The egyptian wheat in the background is about where the tractor was sitting when I made the previous picture. In the foreground is a later planting, with ic peas, e. wheat, and just a few sunflowers. This picture was made this week. As you can see, the stand isn't quite as thick.
A close-up shot of dove proso millet mixed with ic peas. You can see where the deer are cropping the peas.
This shot gives some perspective of the size of the field, about six to eight acres. The corn isn't visible. It is on the right side, hidden by the tall e. wheat. From where the picture was made, it is about 1000 feet to the pines at the far end.
What am I going to do with it? Probably let most of it stand until after Christmas. I would love to have a good New Years Day dove shoot. I'll mow some of it down over the next month or two, especially where there are bad coffee weeds, and probably plant winter wheat. I'll hunt deer in the pines surrounding the field, and use the field and the pines to run bird dawgs on planted quail in January and February.
I think I enjoy planting stuff and watching it grow as well as the actual hunting over it. I guess I hunt so I can plant food plots, which is backward from most folks.
My wife says I am sort of backward, anyway.
