Maybe No-till? and "how does this work?"

[CMV]

SO before planting I sprayed roundup (generic concentrate from TSC), everything browned up about a week or so later, tilled, & planted. Same sequence as last year and that kept the weeds/grass down pretty well while my pumpkins grew. Eventually by the time pumpkins were mature there were some areas with tall weeds & some grass, but overall not terrible.

This year however, terrible results. I have THICK, LUSH grass growing like crazy (and so nice I'm wondering why I can't get grass this good to grow at the house). Keeping pace with my corn pretty much, making squash picking more of a drawn out game of hide & seek I do not wish to play..... No idea what happened other than maybe all the rain this spring, but I've never seeded these areas (other than vegetable plants in rows - never grass or any type ground cover). I keep the area bush hogged so I'm not letting weeds/grass grow tall & to seed & has been that way for 5+ years - mowed at least every 3rd week.

So when the corn & squash are done, plan was to drop a little more fertilizer, roundup, spray for bugs, till, & plant pumpkins. But the way this INSANE grass immediately grew after tilling, I'm thinking maybe bush hog close, roundup, then plant without tilling. Ground still pretty soft from spring tilling.

But what i don't know is how do I get the seeds in the ground if i don't till first? I typically make a trench in the powdery dirt, walk along dropping seeds in it, then lightly rake over. All areas together are maybe an acre, so not terrible amount of effort. But too much to do by hand wihtout the tilled up soft dirt I can easily trench & recover. How does something like this work? Does it dig in & bury the seeds or do I have to have tilled, powdery dirt, it can "plow" to get the seeds at depth?

https://www.amazon.com/Chapin-8701B-Garden-Varieties-Package/dp/B06ZXWTFPY



I'm definitely not planting enough that I could justify some 3PT tractor implement to put seeds in the ground. Kind of in-between (did 4k corn seeds, 600 squash seeds, will do appx 1k pumpkin seeds) where I need some type of tool/way to make it easier, but not enough volume I need some expensive attachment or tool suitable for 40AC field....

 

[CMV]

Oh....and I'll also be on a bit of a time crunch. Got the corn & squash planted late due to all the rain which means i won't have a lot of time between when I expect to harvest most of the corn and when the pumpkin seeds need to go into the ground. Was planning a good 2+ weeks in between, but is looking like barely a week now. Hard to estimate since I'm not a corn expert but most is just a little over knee-high or between knee-& waist high. I was estimating around first weekend in July for the corn (7/7 ish) but if it isn't mostly waist high by now, I doubt I'm 2.5 weeks away from picking....

From last year's results, I probably want pumpkins in the ground no later than last weekend in July, 3rd weekend preferable. Planted 3rd week of June last year & they were ready way too early....

 

[jaxs]

The seeder in that picture will not open furrow in soil unless it has been tilled first. Can you fertilize and till/plow a 12" strip while leaving ground between rows untilled? Many growers till the field,plant pumpkins in hills far enough apart to alow plowing in checkerboard pattern before vines spread if needed to control weeds.

 

[CMV]

All I have to till with is a 6' bush hog 3PT tiller. I just sold my walk-behind Cub Cadet - figured if I had spent so much on the 3pt tiller no sense in keeping the smaller gas one too. Figures....it was put up for a few years just taking up space and within weeks of deciding to let it go, there's a use for it my luck....

I don't know if it's a real bad idea but suppose i could run the 3pt tiller way out of level so it's only engaging a small strip? Or can I remove tines from it to make a narrow path? I've used it a bit this year & last with good results, but really know little about the tiller. i'm lucky to be able to deal with rock getting caught & slipping the clutch....

Last year I did some in hills/mounds and others directly in the ground. The ones directly in the ground did MUCH better. Probably because we get little rain in Jul-Aug.

 

[jaxs]

"Hill" is somewhat a misnomer since plants aren't neccessarly atop a mound. In many cases,plants are simply in groups a fixed distance apart. I can see where single plants 4' apart might be more productive than 2-3 plants grouped 8' apart where moisture and/or fertility is low. I like the idea of removing outer tines. It usually require's some amount of cultivation to control weeds after plants emerge. Under dry conditios,shallow culyivation when weeds emerge is far better than deeper cultivation after weeds develop roots. I can see something like this in your future Bing
They have been in come use by farmers for years so finding the planter at salvage yard and fabbing a tool bar would give you a versital planter that will open furrow for no til planting.

 

[randy41]

if you don't mind planting the seeds one at a time in a row a jab planter might work without having to till. you can google jab planter to see what it is.

 

[RalphVa]

I've used plows one time on plots here. Then did no till. I just kept everything mulched. Pulled away the mulch and planted seeds. Put more mulch when plantings got bigger. Been doing this for 19 years here.

Had to give up my big garden down below with the marvelous soil. Put in some raised beds up here. Just cannot get okra or corn (not really enough room for corn) to grow to any height and certainly don't produce any acceptable crops. Do not know what the problem is. Down below, I'd have okra so tall that I'd have to bend it down to nip the pods at the top.

Thinking I should have brought the soil from down below and put it in the raised beds. Would have had weeds, but it was great stuff.

Ralph

 

[LouNY]

SO before planting I sprayed roundup (generic concentrate from TSC), everything browned up about a week or so later, tilled, & planted. Same sequence as last year and that kept the weeds/grass down pretty well while my pumpkins grew. Eventually by the time pumpkins were mature there were some areas with tall weeds & some grass, but overall not terrible.

This year however, terrible results. I have THICK, LUSH grass growing like crazy (and so nice I'm wondering why I can't get grass this good to grow at the house). Keeping pace with my corn pretty much, making squash picking more of a drawn out game of hide & seek I do not wish to play..... No idea what happened other than maybe all the rain this spring, but I've never seeded these areas (other than vegetable plants in rows - never grass or any type ground cover). I keep the area bush hogged so I'm not letting weeds/grass grow tall & to seed & has been that way for 5+ years - mowed at least every 3rd week.

So when the corn & squash are done, plan was to drop a little more fertilizer, roundup, spray for bugs, till, & plant pumpkins. But the way this INSANE grass immediately grew after tilling, I'm thinking maybe bush hog close, roundup, then plant without tilling. Ground still pretty soft from spring tilling.

But what i don't know is how do I get the seeds in the ground if i don't till first? I typically make a trench in the powdery dirt, walk along dropping seeds in it, then lightly rake over. All areas together are maybe an acre, so not terrible amount of effort. But too much to do by hand wihtout the tilled up soft dirt I can easily trench & recover. How does something like this work? Does it dig in & bury the seeds or do I have to have tilled, powdery dirt, it can "plow" to get the seeds at depth?

https://www.amazon.com/Chapin-8701B-Garden-Varieties-Package/dp/B06ZXWTFPY

View attachment 609821

I'm definitely not planting enough that I could justify some 3PT tractor implement to put seeds in the ground. Kind of in-between (did 4k corn seeds, 600 squash seeds, will do appx 1k pumpkin seeds) where I need some type of tool/way to make it easier, but not enough volume I need some expensive attachment or tool suitable for 40AC field....

I'm only commenting on your proposed schedule and procedure;
the roundup needs to be applied to growing vegetation.
If applied after brush hogging/ mowing before the regrowth starts it will not be effective.

As far as tilling your soil after weed control, if your soil is not compacted a narrow set of cultivators or a couple danish tines on a tool bar would do good.
Or if you can remove most of the tines on your tiller and just spot till for each seeding.

Also can you plant your pumpkins between your corn rows?
You could use brush or rope wick applicator to spot apply your roundup while the corn is still growing.