I HAVE to do some dormant seeding this winter. I've got 225lbs TTTF I gotta get down. Supposed to get some snow tonight. Depending on the source, anywhere from less than 1" to up to 3". Then the high temps for a few days following are going to be above freezing, then we're supposed to get more snow again next week (looks like maybe 3"?) So I feel like I'm playing Frogger trying to cross the road; do I go now? or now? how about now? I'm contemplating doing it this afternoon before it starts snowing, or just waiting it out to see if next week works out better. (According to the Farmer's Almanac, today is a "barren" time - but I can't think that applies to dormant seeding). What I fear is getting 3" tonight, then it ends up not melting before we get more snow, then I'm SOL in trying to push a spreader around my yard!

I was thinking this morning that I needed to send you an email to see if you were still on target for your dormant seeding! Guess this sort of answers my question. I felt the same about putting down my winter fertilizer - do I do it now - do I wait? I finally put it down on December 2nd. We've had above normal temps and I got a little bit of growth, but nothing major. I mowed last weekend to mulch up stray leaves that had fallen and neaten up the longer blades. I've now called it quits for the season. On to drooling over plants in my garden catalogs!

flo

I'm planning on dormant seeding my horse pasture after work today. There is no snow on the ground and it's 50 degrees today but will go below freezing tonight probably until March. The 6 to 7 inches of snow in the forecast for tomorrow factored into my decision as well .

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Seed germination is dependent on soil temperatures rather than air temperatures. I would think that in Iowa (I grew up in Sioux City) that your soil temps are well below the range where germination would be happening. I know here in St. Louis, MO our soil temps are in the mid 40s. I would expect you to be lower and certainly no where near the ~60 degrees needed for germination. If you are concerned that you may not have another opportunity, I think you can seed safely.

I don't have much dormant seeding to do but I've been waiting for the weather to cool down as well. Not so much out of fear of germination but rather out of fear of a lot of birds that haven't flown south yet! They can put a hurting on those big, plump PR seeds quickly!

It's about time for most of us; our local fifty degree temps are about to break into the high thirties and forties for a while, at least. Growth has stopped or at least slowed severely, and most of the neighbors' lawns are dormant.

i'm still waiting for steady low temps, maybe i'll try february to do some dormant seeding on my neighbors yard and a small part of my lawn.

Well I took the plunge and put the seed down at noon yesterday. Ended up being 9.4lbs/ksqft. I felt stupid. It was sunny, calm, and 55F! (I had to take my coat off) Then last night we got the predicted 2" snow and today's high was 19F. Looks like more cold weather and precipitation is in store for us in the coming week.

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Best of luck. Sounds like perfect timing.

For the newbies here, when is the best time to dormant seed TTTF? I am in Raleigh NC. Not just the time of year but what weather conditions are you looking for?

In Raleigh you can dormant seed TTTF pretty much anytime when soil is dry and soil temps are consistently below 50 degrees, but before any significant snowfall or ground freeze.

Unfortunately, the weather has been so mild in the Triangle area, that this may not occur at all this year. My TTTF is still slowly growing as of 01/18! It may not go dormant at all. It may happen for a few days in February. At this point, it is a coin toss between dormant seeding and spring seeding.

The only risk I can see is that if your dormant seed were to germinate now, then it became cold again in Feb, your seedlings might die. Therefore you would have to re-seed in Spring, which would botch the timing of a pre-emergent. My suggestion (for this year) would be to watch the weather until the first week of February, and then drop. Spring seeding will begin sometime after March 1st anyway.

Crazy as it sounds, right now might be well-suited to a winterizer fertilizer and a post-emergent herbicide (but watch the residual). I am probably going to use Tenacity now to kill winter weeds and to hedge against any problem with dormant/spring seeding.

So if I understand correctly, the best time to seed would be when the ground has not yet frozen but soil temps are well below 50'?

With this crazy winter in New England, the ground has frozen and thawed (at least the top few inches anyway) several times. In fact, we are predicted to get 2" tonight and maybe 4"-5" on Saturday, but then temps might be in the low to mid 40's next week. Would it be a good time to seed the next time the ground thaws?

Pretty much, but frozen ground is also just fine. That top layer tends to freeze/thaw constantly during winter unless you have really cold weather or a good snow blanket, so it doesn't matter so much.

Actually, with a good four inches incoming, now would be a very good time. The snow will help the seed settle as it melts.

^ Defer to Morpheus

My comments were more about the specifics of the mild winter weather in North Carolina.

Depends on where you are and what the weather's like. We're due for four to eight inches into tomorrow, but going back into the fifties on Monday.

Any date seems as good--or bad--as any other this year!

When dormant seeding in a winter like this, a person doesn't have to worry about the fluctuating temps.? We seem to go a few days with weather below freezing and then a week of weather in the 40's. I worry about the seed just sitting on top of the soil, exposed to the sun and "warmer" temps. It's like I think of it like food in the freezer, as long as the food is frozen, I know it's not going to go bad.

Here is a chart of average Raleigh Temperatures derived from the State Climate Office of North Carolina site:


It illustrates how mild and variable the weather has been, and how close we have stayed to the 50 degree dormant seeding line. I believe 54 degrees is the generally accepted germination temp for fescue.

(my first pic post - hope it is clear)

gotcrabgrass wrote:(my first pic post - hope it is clear)

nice, I wish I could figure something like that out

Looks OK to spread the seed right now.Most "soil temp" graphs/readings are taken at a certain depth,not on the surface of the soil,where your dormant seeds will be scattered....and looking at your graph, it shows the air temperature low enough that the soil surface temps will be significantly lower than the temps needed for any germination to occur.

FYI - Site says the readings were taken at 1" depth.

At second glance the air temps are a moving average mean. That means that days like today, 65 and sunny, are smoothed out. I don't know how long it needs to be warm for germination to start, but three contiguous days over 55 have not been rare this "winter".