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Post by fliver on Aug 16, 2017 22:03:09 GMT -5
I have been increasing my hulless barley the last few years. I have been planting it in early spring. It would be very convenient if I could plant it sometime around November or December and have it sprout in the spring. Does anyone have experience with this? (I live in zone 6) I thought I would try planting some this December to determine if this is possible.
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Post by walt on Aug 17, 2017 14:35:54 GMT -5
There are winter barleys, spring barleys, and facultative barleys. Winter barleys require vernalization to go to seed. Spring barleys don't require vernhalization to go to seed. Facultative barleys don't need vernalizaton, but are cold tolerant enough to survive the winter.
You might think your barleys aren't winter type, as it has produced for you from early spring planting. But in my grad work with winter barley, 30 days in a refridgerater set just above freezing as barely sprouted seeds was all the vernalization winter barley required. March planting in cold soil might be all the vernalization your winter barley needs. If it is a winter barley. And if so, any time after October would be fine.
If you bought your start of barley as spring barley, maybe it is actually a facultative barley. Barleys are bred and released as either spring or winter types. A winter barley breeder in Kansas or Nebraska isn't going to test a breeding line for spring habit. He/she doesn't care if it is facultative. The job is to develope improved winter types. If it is also a good spring type, who cares? Except you maybe, and others like you. Likewise a spring barley breeder won't be testing spring barley varieties for winter hardiness, same reason.
In short, you'll have to try planting your barley when you want to, but don't risk it all. Risk only what you could afford to loose. If it does well, then ask yourself if it was a fair test, was it a normal winter or a mild one? Then if it did fine in a normal winter, that doesn't mean it will do OK in a worse than normal winter. It will still be a risk until a really bad winter hits.
Good luck. I'd bet it will do OK from midwinter planting. But I wouldn't bet the whole crop for a few years. There are proven hulless winter barleys available. You might want to try one.
One concern I might have with midwinter planting is that the seeds might mold before spring. More likely they willl start to sprout but wont get roots down deep enough to get moisture. Planting a winter barley in the fall would suit me better.
I'm in zone 6 also. central KS.
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Post by woodsygardener on Mar 15, 2018 20:59:25 GMT -5
I planted 8 hulless blue/black/purple barleys 10/7/17 - 11/9/17. 7 were listed as spring barley, 1, Arabian Blue barley, was listed as winter/spring barley. A rough winter in my 6b-7a NW Arkansas garden with 3 cold snaps with lows in the single digits. The 7 spring barleys had 90-100% mortality. The Arabian Blue barley planted 10/7/17 had 90% survival though it seems stunted compared to the 3 winter wheats I planted at the same time. I'm new to growing wheat and barley so I don't know if that's normal. I'm looking forward to a summer harvest to decide what gets planted in fall 2018.
I made another planting of Arabian Blue barley 2/26/18 to ensure plenty of seed.
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Post by walt on Mar 16, 2018 13:05:41 GMT -5
Winter barley is not as winter-hardy as winter wheat. But it survives well into Nebraska. A good winter barely should do well for you. It should give about 100% survival. You say you had 3 cold snaps in the single digits. A well adapted variety should have survived sub-zero single digits. I can think of 3 possible reasons for winter-kill for your location as you described. 1. Did your barley get its roots down good? If not, winter heaving might have pulled the plants out of the soil, or at least out enough that they weren't down to moist soil. Judging from your location, I think you get more rain-snow than I do, so I doubt this is the reason. But grab a plant and give it a good pull. If it comes loose, this is the reason. Plant sooner next year so the roots are deeper and stronger. 2. It seems too early for the fruiting stalk to have started growing. But if it has, the barley will have lost much of its cold tolerance. But that is usually only a problem with late freezes. It seems to me to early to talk about late freezes. But I am zone 6, nearly zone 5. 3. Your variety just isn't adapted to your location. There are hulless winter barleys that will do well for you. You just have to find them. Or you could go to spring planting of spring barleys. Winter barley will yield better than spring barley generally. Depends on your location though. 4. It is possible that a disease got your barleys. That will look different from regular winter kill. Usually there is flecking on the leaves if it is virus, or general yellowing if it isn't virus. I am really over simplifying here. Again, choosing the right variety is the solution.
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Post by woodsygardener on Mar 17, 2018 10:02:07 GMT -5
Thanks Walt! I grow on untilled, heavy soil and Dec and Jan were dry. Likely, as you said, the roots just didn't get down far enough. The growth right now is grassy, no fruiting stalks.
I was looking for hulless varieties that grow in winter or spring though most of my planting will be in winter to make use of empty garden space. I was also looking for blue/black/purple varieties as I have a fondness for anthocyanin.
My first planting was tough love, deliberately lazy/careless and it worked very well. Arabian Blue barley was the clear winner. I'll be planting ABB this fall, a little earlier and with a bit more care.
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