Hey seeding gurus help me handle a situation!

[Craftybigdog]

I did a pasture this week, aerated real good and then fertilized and then seeded with pasture mix. I put down a 100lbs of seed on 2 acres, well I still have to collect from the guy and I talked to him tonight and he said his wife went out and looked and said that in the low areas of the pasture alot of seed washed there from the rain today. How would you handle this situation, I cant control the weather and I would think with that much seed that a little washing up nots gonna hurt anything. I dont want to go reseed that again and me eat the cost of the seed that was 200.00! What do you think?

 

[Let it Grow]

Have you looked at it?
That would be my first step. If she is right then I would reseed the areas that need it.
That being said, you probably shouldn't be in this position in the first place because if you are seeding on any kind of slope you should put down something to keep the see from washing out. Then just work that extra cost into your price, and your good to go.

 

[Craftybigdog]

Its not much of a, well its not a slope. If you were looking at a yard and you see the low areas thats what Im in refrence to. The pasture didnt have any slopes on it at all. Its all open and flat, here in Delaware everthing is flat!

 

[tiedeman]

Take a look at it, and if you think that its your fault or something that you could have avoided then maybe help out. But NO WAY would I cover a $200 cost of seed again

 

[Craftybigdog]

Yeah I cant control if it rains real hard and washes the seed around!

 

[tiedeman]

the only way that I could see that its your fault is if you put seed out too early in too cold of temperatures where it would not germinate.

 

[Craftybigdog]

Its not it was 62 yesterday!

 

[tiedeman]

would it be continuous 50+ degree weather for 7-10 days?

 

[work_it]

What he did was a procedure called "Dormant Seeding" which is practiced quite often in this area, and usually yeilds good results as long as you water 4 times a day after the soil temp. reaches 55 degrees. You can find more information on Purdue's and UK's agriculture websites as well as their results.

On the other hand I'm interested to find out what type of seed you were applying. I'm not really familiar with a pasture mix, but know that with a fescue blend on a new install you need 7 lbs/K which would come out to 610 lbs of seed on two acres.

My other question is why did you fertilize it at the same time you seeded? For best results you should have waited 6 weeks after germination, and then apply .75 lb N/K.

I hate to say it, but it sounds like you still owe this guy some work. I don't mean to come across as being crass, but that's just the way I see it.

 

[Runner]

Is this pasture already established? If not, and you put down 100# for the entire 2 acres, I hate to say it, but all you are going to grow there, is weeds. That is not enough seed to do anything. That's only about a pound to cover 1000 sq. ft.. Go out and check your holes on the the higher areas, and the outsides, and check for seed. If there is none (or very little), then yes, I would put more in. I'm not sure where you get your seed, but I would certainly be looking for a different source, than paying $2.00 a pound. That's ludicrous.