What are the signs of rototilling when it's too wet?

[5030]

What is the roundup ready corn you are planting?

It's a roundup resistant hybrid. Got some already grown from a friend last year and it was as good as Ambrosia so I ordered some from him.

 

[5030]

Wood mulch, chips, sawdust will all rob N from the soil as well.

So does woodstove ashes.

 

[workinonit]

Yea, I was just wondering what the name was. There are several varieties now, the bet one being Obsession II. At least the ones I've heard about..

 

[5030]

I'll have to find out, I don't know and like I said, getting it from another farmer.

 

[USMC43]

How do grass clippings rob nitrogen? This is what I've read.

Fresh grass clippings include about 4 percent nitrogen. This means that in any given year, grass clippings leftover from mowing the lawn can account for almost 2 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn.

Can You Mix Grass Clippings Into Soil?​

Adding grass clippings to your garden can be a great way to improve the health of your plants and soil. Grass clippings are high in nitrogen, which is essential for plant growth. By adding them to your garden, you will also reduce the need for fertilizer or pesticides.

Remember to water the lawn first before adding the grass clippings – this will ensure they don’t become wet and muddy when mixed with soil. Mixing grass clippings into your soil is a great way to add nutrients and help improve the soil’s texture and moisture retention. If you’re looking to get creative with your garden, adding grass clippings is a great way to do it!

Clipping and wood chips don’t “rob” nitrogen. They tie it up while they are decomposing so it’s not available immediately. So it’s something you don’t want to add around actively growing plants, compost it during that time. But putting it on in the fall and letting it decompose over the winter is good.

Wood ash doesn’t work the same way. While having potash (a fertilizer) in it it is a very fast and effective liming agent due to its power fine calcium carbonate in it.

If your soils are acidic (6.0 or lower) wood ash will help tremendously. If they are between 6-7 it won’t hurt to put some on. If they are already 7 or higher you need to be looking for ways get the soil lower in PH and not use the wood ash. Most of the US east of the Mississippi will benefit greatly from the the wood ash as the soils trend to be on the acidic side. Desert south west they will hurt.

 

[Yander]

Yea, I was just wondering what the name was. There are several varieties now, the bet one being Obsession II. At least the ones I've heard about..

Obsession and Ambrosia, aren't those perfumes?

 

[jaxs]

How things tie up N has been told,peated and repeated so many times I figure everyone already knows "how it is". For some strange reason wood and green plants where I live didn't get the memo. I've used and showed others how to use practices called huglekultur and keyhole garden where logs,limbs,twigs and leaves are piled similar to what you would to burn it then covered with soil and planted. Shallow rooted annuals do about the same first year as if planted in plowed ground. Second year all plants perform better and require less irrigation than those in plowed ground. Third year and following years it's off to the races,leaving plants conventionally planted in ground in a cloud of dust while using 75% to 60% less irrigation and fertilize. Sawdust is a different kettle of fish.
N robbing green plants? For as long as I can remember farmers around here have turned green cover crops under and made a living growing crops with less fertilize and irrigation than land minus cover crop. The only grass I bag while mowing my yard is from area near air conditioning condensers. I put the clippings in a bin with brown leaves from previous Fall and the mix gets too hot to hold a hand in.
BTW the resultant soil doesn't stick to tools near as bad when wet as native black clay.

 

[USMC43]

How things tie up N has been told,peated and repeated so many times I figure everyone already knows "how it is". For some strange reason wood and green plants where I live didn't get the memo. I've used and showed others how to use practices called huglekultur and keyhole garden where logs,limbs,twigs and leaves are piled similar to what you would to burn it then covered with soil and planted. Shallow rooted annuals do about the same first year as if planted in plowed ground. Second year all plants perform better and require less irrigation than those in plowed ground. Third year and following years it's off to the races,leaving plants conventionally planted in ground in a cloud of dust while using 75% to 60% less irrigation and fertilize. Sawdust is a different kettle of fish.
N robbing green plants? For as long as I can remember farmers around here have turned green cover crops under and made a living growing crops with less fertilize and irrigation than land minus cover crop. The only grass I bag while mowing my yard is from area near air conditioning condensers. I put the clippings in a bin with brown leaves from previous Fall and the mix gets too hot to hold a hand in.
BTW the resultant soil doesn't stick to tools near as bad when wet as native black clay.

You provided the proof??

First, your not tilling it in. Roots pick up nutrients from below the surface. You might be tieing up a little in the boundry layer but not below. Your lasagna garden is having most everything happen above ground and mitigates ground temp extremes early/late in growing season and keeps moisture up.

The third year the shear amount organic matter provides so much nitrogen that new additional material cant tie much it all up.

This doesn't equate in any form or fashion to regular tillage practices.

As far as cover crops go timing of cover crop kill or plowing under, the type of cover crop, and crop being grown can cause problems if not done with planning.

Legume cover crops have lots of nitrogen to carbon ratio and can give nitrogen to fast growing spinach, lettuce, cabbage, radish and such but rye grass would and its low nitrogen to carbon ratio would hinder it.

And switch that around for oats or wheat that doesn't have high nitrogen uptake until much later in the boot stage.

 

[Yander]

How things tie up N has been told,peated and repeated so many times I figure everyone already knows "how it is". For some strange reason wood and green plants where I live didn't get the memo. I've used and showed others how to use practices called huglekultur and keyhole garden where logs,limbs,twigs and leaves are piled similar to what you would to burn it then covered with soil and planted. Shallow rooted annuals do about the same first year as if planted in plowed ground. Second year all plants perform better and require less irrigation than those in plowed ground. Third year and following years it's off to the races,leaving plants conventionally planted in ground in a cloud of dust while using 75% to 60% less irrigation and fertilize. Sawdust is a different kettle of fish.
N robbing green plants? For as long as I can remember farmers around here have turned green cover crops under and made a living growing crops with less fertilize and irrigation than land minus cover crop. The only grass I bag while mowing my yard is from area near air conditioning condensers. I put the clippings in a bin with brown leaves from previous Fall and the mix gets too hot to hold a hand in.
BTW the resultant soil doesn't stick to tools near as bad when wet as native black clay.

Yes, have been practicing hügelkultur for about 4 years now and it is pretty much unmatched for growing things and I grow things in raised beds and directly in the ground also. I let my chickens free range last year and they absolutely destroyed both of my hugel mounds. Took them right down to the wood. So they don't free range any longer.

 

[LHF2019]

I have soil that is about 60% sand, 20% clay, 20% silt. The soil is mostly dry on top, but 3-5" down damp...

If I start tilling it, how will I know if is too damp? If you say something like 'it clods up', can you give an idea of the size of the clods when I should call off the tilling?

Thanks!

Sticks to your tires or shoes. If you can make a baseball out of it it is to wet. It should crumble in your hand if you tried to make a ball.