[IL-Gutpile]

We planted 10 days ago....The farmer we lease from disked up the ground nice. We came in and broadcast fertilizer, pulled a small harrow over the ground, planted seed, pulled harrow, then broadcast clover on top.
The ground was bone dry when we planted....Just powdery, dusty....dry. We have not had one drop of rain since then. Other than some seed getting picked up by birds, will the seed be hurt by sitting there dry for 10 days? I know if there is enough moisture and the seed germinates and then gets dry, the small plants will die....but if the seeds don't have enough moisture to germinate, will they be fine until we do get rain?
Thanks

 

[410gage]

Most of it should be just fine, but unless you have some magic way to make it rain, it is out of your hands now. Good Luck and report back!

 

[DXT2511]

Clover is a very tough plant. I would think what the birds overlook will germinate once it gets moisture. Since you have obviously put time, thought, hard work and money into your plot I would seriously consider buying more seed and watch the weather. Once you see rain coming in, put down more seed, even if you just broadcast it by hand. It is veryhard to overseed clover, and at least you have better odds of getting a decent amount of clover up after the rain soaks the ground.

 

[FarmerDan]

Some weed seeds persist in the soil for 50 - 75 years. Your clover will last long enough to germinate. In fact, the seed coat on some clover seeds is so hard, you don't stand a chance of it germinating for up to year. Think freeze - thaw. Harvested clover seed has to go thru a process called scarification to break the seed coat to IMPROVE germination of seed. Otherwise, you could throw it down....and wait for years.

 

[IL-Gutpile]

Thanks for the information. We drug a harrow around after broadcasting the oats, rye, wheat, peas, and turnips, so we should burried a good portion of that seed. I would hope that the clover seed being so small would find little nooks and crannies in to hide from the birds....Hope so anyway.
I may try to get down and overseed as farmer Dan says if we get a relliable prediction of rain. Last weekend we had a 40% chance on Saturday and 60% chance on Sunday. Never got a drop.