Alfafa

[delbert]

Well i finally bit the bullet and im going to plant 1 acre of alfalfa soon bought enough seed for 2 acres i will plant the 2nd acre this fall
I got a lot off lime and lots of trace elements i hope to have it all worked in by the end of this weekend
And plant as soon as the seed makes it here
If it all goes well i will plant the second plot this fall

[ronn]

are you going to fence off a little area to see how much its being used? will you be mowing it a couple times? can't waiut to see pics.

[Hunting Man]

You're way ahead of us in weather then, still pockets of snow and ground is frozen here in NW Ohio. Good luck on the new planting.

[delbert]

Are winter finally ended 2 weeks ago
worst winter since i have been down here
I'm working high ground that drains well that helps
i want to get it started early The real farmers don't have any thing in the ground yet but next week rice and corn should start to go in
I will put a cage around a spot to see whats happening

[delbert]

I got the lime in the dirt and turned it twice today
i will keep turning it every other day until my seed gets here
then put in the trace minerals and seed

[ronn]

when you say trace minerals, do you mean the bagged red stuff that is like the red blocks?

[delbert]

No the alfalfa called for sulphur, potassium , boron , and phosphorus
They blended it all together and put it in a bulk bag for me
I got 830lb of it to put on 3 acres

[Hunting Man]

delbert the store blended the fertlizer for you and was based on the plant requirement? I'm sure you know the soil make-up over the years so it wasn't a soil test that you used to determine needs. Anyway you could send out the blend #'s you used for the alfafa. I need a good soil test done and figure out my errors for the PA plots. Early plots did ok and now nothing will grow but wiregrass. In turning the soil over I've learned that weed seeds can live 90 years in the ground then sprout when brought to the top. I didn't get to PA last spring to kill the plots and start over so I know some of my problems. I used a 6' king cutter rototiller behind a 4wd Kuboto and thought I'd have an awsome planting....not!

[delbert]

I did a soil test to see what i had
I needed 900 ponds of pelletized lime which is = to 2 1/2 tons of ag lime to get my ph up to 7 my ph was 4.8 at the start

and i read that the alfalfa liked extra stuff in the dirt to thrive
so the guy at the fertilizer plant took my test results and what i had read that alfalfa liked . and worked up the mix
I got enough to do 3 ac
100 lb - Am sulf - per ac
100 lb - potash - per ac
60 lb - phosphate -per ac
16.67 lb - boron - per ac

[Hunting Man]

Thanks for the info, good luck on the plots.