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Post by richardw on Apr 19, 2013 0:57:25 GMT -5
I was after a variety of grain that would grow much taller than any of the shorter commercial varieties available,a variety that would be good at suppressing weeds as winter green crop while supplying the maximum of carbon to be dug in before spring planting,Joseph kindly sent me some of his feral winter rye ,so fresh from been retrieved out of the mail box i sowed half of the seed with the idea of sowing the other half in spring,never thought i'd see the day when i would be sowing grain one seed at a time.Ive allowed about 20cm 9in between each seed which i hope is about right spacing knowing how big these plants.
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Post by raymondo on Apr 19, 2013 3:32:53 GMT -5
How tall does this rye grow Richard? I don't usually do winter green manure crops preferring instead to sow frost tender things mid summer and have Jack knock them out for me. I just leave them on top as mulch.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Apr 19, 2013 9:45:47 GMT -5
In my garden, the feral rye grows 6 feet tall with fall planting, irrigation, good spacing, sufficient weeding, and fertile soil, or 4.5 feet tall with spring planting, without irrigation or weeding, and overcrowded in poor soil. 20 cm spacing is perfect for producing a lot of seed. In my garden it'll keep sending up tillers until it fills that space. This is the offspring of a single seed: Here's what it looks like during the growing season: Rye on the left, feral hexaploid wheat on the right. This grows great in cold weather, and under the snow. This was planted just before the arrival of our fall snow-cover. Here's what it looked like a week after the winter snow cover melted: A month later, the weeds are still not growing much, but the rye is taking over the farm: It really takes off by mid June:
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Post by bunkie on Apr 19, 2013 10:18:56 GMT -5
Wow joseph! The height and the seed it produces is amazing! It must be a trait for rye to start up before the weeds. Same thing happens here with the perennial rye.
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Post by richardw on Apr 19, 2013 14:37:27 GMT -5
My problem is weeds grow pretty much through winter though only very slowly,but looking at your photos Joseph, oh and love the mountain views by the way,looks so much like what ive got around here,the photos that shows the young plants makes me think i might have to mulch them so the winter weeds don't cover them and once i can get my first lot of seed i would need to experiment with different planting dates to see which ones are better at establishing the best ground cover for winter.
Ray- would you like me to keep you in mind when i get my first lot of seed,can send some over for ya.
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Post by raymondo on Apr 19, 2013 16:48:29 GMT -5
That's pretty impressive growth Joseph.
Thanks for the offer Richard but like I said, I prefer the summer grasses that die off with the frost. Sorghum and buckwheat work well for me. If I get a good stand, the mulch they create when they die off smothers most of the winter weeds. Besides, I'm far too lazy to dig in green manure. The best I could do is chop and drop.
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Post by steev on Apr 19, 2013 22:11:11 GMT -5
richardw: Unless I'm confused (not unlikely), the whole point of that Winter rye is that it grows at least as well as the weeds do, during Winter, but greatly outstrips them in Spring, thereby vanquishing the Hordes of Darkness.
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Post by richardw on Apr 20, 2013 15:27:04 GMT -5
Where a tall grain variety well be of most benefit for me steev is when its grown as part of the rotation planting within my designated potato area and is only used for potatoes,its spilt in to four where first year its potatoes, Year 2 is what was missed plus any of the green and cut from the year before which were buried back in during harvest,this bed gives us our early spuds through summer and autunm.The third year i concentrate on eradicating all remaining left overs by consistently keeping the area hoed,this is because i want two years where the ground is potato free.The fourth year i grown wheat,but these modern short arse varieties dont grow tall enough to suppress out weeds, the likes of white clover,this is where ive thought maybe a tall grain variety could suppress out not only the weeds but the left over potatoes as well, doing away with the extra time spent hoeing.Also where a tall grain will be handy is because i dont mound up potatoes in rows but plant them in a grid pattern and use a thick layer of straw instead,i find this gets lifted up as the potatoes close to the surface grows thus stopping most from greening,so a taller plant will give me the max amount of straw needed. Potato area is to the right of the path,eradication section in the front,next one along is the wheat which is about half the hight as it gets, hopeless.
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Post by richardw on May 1, 2013 22:25:36 GMT -5
I have rye plants now showing ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by steev on May 2, 2013 0:16:09 GMT -5
The rye I planted early Spring, has finally gotten some height, but still only 1' to 2'. The barley planted at the same time is a bit taller and well into seed-head production. My Bolero wheat is also heading up.
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Post by richardw on May 2, 2013 0:28:42 GMT -5
How tall does the Bolero wheat get to steev
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Post by steev on May 2, 2013 0:56:02 GMT -5
Looks NMT 2'.
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Post by richardw on May 2, 2013 3:24:38 GMT -5
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Post by steev on May 2, 2013 10:28:29 GMT -5
Bolero wheat looks to be growing to Not More Than two feet tall.
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Post by richardw on Nov 5, 2013 12:46:20 GMT -5
Looking back at your photo Joseph it looks to have grown about the same height as it has it has here,at the moment its a bit taller than Tims Lagodehkis Grdzeltavtava wheat and with out the rust,seed heads are now well formed so i'll need to net it soon as the resident birds are not into sharing
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