- Location
- Essex Coast
Some of you may not believe it, but we are now in desert like conditions in the East. I have linseed to drill where the chopped straw has laid all winter without breaking down at all, it looks the same as when it came out of the combine in August. I knew a few weeks ago that there was no way linseed would grow with two inches of straw over the top of it, especially if it did come wet; so to try and get it to start decomposing, I sprayed with nitrogen, molasses and some bugs, (Bio-Mulch) and then did a very shallow cultivation with my old Sampo out of the stinging nettles, and rolled. Well of course it still hasn't rained so I now have a totally dry layer of moved soil with straw mixed with it. There is no chance of seed germinating in this without at least half an inch of rain but there is a little moisture below. From past experience, it is no good drilling linseed too deep but I have just been out with my new (to me) Tandem Moore Un-Drill for a dry run. Although it is 17 years old, it is identical to a new Sky thing, anyway, anyone who has seen these drills going will know that they leave the surface quite ridged with the seed row in the bottom. I usually harrow and/or roll to get rid of the ridges and cover the seed properly, but if I was to go deep enough to reach the moisture and leave it unrolled, the seed would only have about half to three quarters of an inch to grow to the surface.
Trouble is this is C1 seed on a contract which adds to the risk, if I was using seed out of my own bin, it wouldn't matter so much, and I am not 100% sure if there is enough moisture bellow to get it all up and away anyway, although it is often surprising how little is needed sometimes.
Help, need a bit of moral support!
Anyone else got experience with max depth for linseed drilling?
Trouble is this is C1 seed on a contract which adds to the risk, if I was using seed out of my own bin, it wouldn't matter so much, and I am not 100% sure if there is enough moisture bellow to get it all up and away anyway, although it is often surprising how little is needed sometimes.
Help, need a bit of moral support!
Anyone else got experience with max depth for linseed drilling?