Rolling grass seeds.

redsloe

Member
Location
Cornwall
Just finished drilling grass seeds in the rain, can't roll them in now but supposed to be drier next week so how long can I leave them until I roll, would a week be a bit dodgy?
 

redsloe

Member
Location
Cornwall
If they starting to come through don't roll , seed coming through in 5 days atm, leave it till the spring if you miss it , won't it any good rolling after emergence
That's what I thought. I generally roll seeds in the spring as well as in the autumn as stones always stand proud after winter. Just wondered how quickly they will come through.
The most important point is to roll before you sow on
Oh, no....

Couple of passes with the packer roller though?

Seems fairly firm.
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
That's what I thought. I generally roll seeds in the spring as well as in the autumn as stones always stand proud after winter. Just wondered how quickly they will come through.

Oh, no....

Couple of passes with the packer roller though?

Seems fairly firm.
Should be fine ,did you get that rain last night, we worked like mad yesterday, just managed to get 15 acres finished just as it started to rain, weatherman got it right for once , nice feeling this morning, seed was flying out of the yard as well so a lot doing the same
 
Roll with Cambridge rollers and loader tractor picking stones when it’s sown and again with the flat roller in spring roll any big banks crossways or your tyres marks can wash out if the weather turns
 

Dry Rot

Member
Livestock Farmer
Threads like this never mention soil type which is surely important!:confused: I am on sand, finding a stone is quite an occasion. An advisor said to use the tractor wheel to roll. Tedious but it does work best. A ballast roller just pushes a little ridge of sand in front of it and doesn't compress as well. The whole point is to maintain contact between the seed and moist earth without drying out which will kill the seedlings.
 
Threads like this never mention soil type which is surely important!:confused: I am on sand, finding a stone is quite an occasion. An advisor said to use the tractor wheel to roll. Tedious but it does work best. A ballast roller just pushes a little ridge of sand in front of it and doesn't compress as well. The whole point is to maintain contact between the seed and moist earth without drying out which will kill the seedlings.
If your roller is pushing a ridge of sand it's not firm enough beforehand 🤷‍♂️
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Threads like this never mention soil type which is surely important!:confused: I am on sand, finding a stone is quite an occasion. An advisor said to use the tractor wheel to roll. Tedious but it does work best. A ballast roller just pushes a little ridge of sand in front of it and doesn't compress as well. The whole point is to maintain contact between the seed and moist earth without drying out which will kill the seedlings.
Do it when it’s damp, I have some pure pure sand (finer than sand blasting sand) and you have to work it when damp or direct drill. Used a vaderstad this year to DD grass, a simba solo set of discs did nothing and couldn’t turn the sand over it just made slots like a disc drill when dry.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
we cannot flat roll behind grass seed, if it rains, soil will cap, and take is poor, so camebridge roll. But l am wondering if we get the seed bed, as firm as we should, pre drill, which is difficult here, as minimal working, is requires, otherwise, by the time you drill, it's like an onion bed, and, if it rains, it sets like concrete. We try and avoid ploughing, and find either min-til or dd works well, we have our own, old vaderstat drill, and that actually does a good job firming up, behind it, esp if we cross drill.
The use of a p/harrow is pretty universal now, but, in the good old days, we would have had to do several more passes, with discs etc, to get a decent seed bed, did those extra passes, make the seed bed much firmer ? The p/harrow, is a great tool, but does it leave the soil firm enough ? It looks great, but esp using contractors, who want to be in, and gone, in shortest, least diesel, time.
The cost of reseeding, is such, that we cannot afford not to do it correctly.
 

puppet

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
sw scotland
As soon as the top is dry get it rolled. If we don't get it flat at sowing then we are picking up surface stones for years afterwards - usually through a chopper
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
we cannot flat roll behind grass seed, if it rains, soil will cap, and take is poor, so camebridge roll. But l am wondering if we get the seed bed, as firm as we should, pre drill, which is difficult here, as minimal working, is requires, otherwise, by the time you drill, it's like an onion bed, and, if it rains, it sets like concrete. We try and avoid ploughing, and find either min-til or dd works well, we have our own, old vaderstat drill, and that actually does a good job firming up, behind it, esp if we cross drill.
The use of a p/harrow is pretty universal now, but, in the good old days, we would have had to do several more passes, with discs etc, to get a decent seed bed, did those extra passes, make the seed bed much firmer ? The p/harrow, is a great tool, but does it leave the soil firm enough ? It looks great, but esp using contractors, who want to be in, and gone, in shortest, least diesel, time.
The cost of reseeding, is such, that we cannot afford not to do it correctly.
Is it not the power harrow that's causing you surface capping ,dreadful tool imo
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
Is it not the power harrow that's causing you surface capping ,dreadful tool imo
no, just can't work the soil to many times, p/harrow, has made life easier, in some ways, it's only 1 pass, whereas 'conventional' was several, so to fine a tilth is avoided, but it is a compromise.
p/h and vaderstat, cross drilled, is a very good compromise, in ploughed fields, leaves a firm finish, and the ring roller after. Best idea, is to avoid ploughing, not always possible though.
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
no, just can't work the soil to many times, p/harrow, has made life easier, in some ways, it's only 1 pass, whereas 'conventional' was several, so to fine a tilth is avoided, but it is a compromise.
p/h and vaderstat, cross drilled, is a very good compromise, in ploughed fields, leaves a firm finish, and the ring roller after. Best idea, is to avoid ploughing, not always possible though.
But a power harrow will beat it finer with one pass than a conventional harrow with 6 , that's why I don't like ploughing, I can avoid using one then
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
it's easier not to plough. However, 1 pass with p/h, doesn't knock it about like several passes conventional, but the ley sown now, nicely up in line, so couldn't be to bad !
 
it's easier not to plough. However, 1 pass with p/h, doesn't knock it about like several passes conventional, but the ley sown now, nicely up in line, so couldn't be to bad !
the main difference between PH and cultivator is the power harrow will leave it reasonably fluffy to its depth
a cultivator should be worked shallower each pass so working the ground firmer as it goes
 

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