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;;0 I; 0) '00 C\I <.,;;> o SOME rflllSf'/ ~ RELIA&>i~; ()Wi Mi."! ;"~'. j;ll....I'.."....,/l...... ...., : I,./~ {~i~3 M ~~>:;~ .;g. , FALL SEEDING, SEED BED PREPARATION, FERTILIZATION , , , i. Certain crops do better when seeded in the fall than in the spring. This seems strange when you consider the corn plant that most people are familiar with must be planted in the spring. Alfalfa and other forage plants such as grasses do better with a fall planting than under spring planting conditions. Several reasons are available for this but the most apparent is the lack of weed competition under most fall planting conditions. In addition the days are getting cooler as the plant develops and this tends to develop a better rooting system before the plant is harvested. This root system allows for better water plant food pickup from the soil to provide a better yield. and , ! ! A local crop that is being grown as a spring planted crop is lettuce. Some people have had good sucess growing lettuce by planting it in late fall in their gardens. I don't know if it would be a good idea to try to fall seed lettuce in any large fields but I would hope that several commercial farmers would try a small patch. If you think back 4 or 5 weeks, you will remember that the farm price of lettuce was quite a bit higher a week or so before local harvest. This price difference should be an incentive to try for an early crop from some late fall seeded lettuce. Several things need to be considered before plunging ahead. Seed bed preparation may be different for fall seeding compared to spring seeding, depending on the soil type involved and on such erosion factors as wind or water. Another concern is that if you irrigate at the time the last water is available, will there be enough water to germimate and grow the seed next spring? Some soils may not support a seedbed and furrow from this fall through next June. Fertilization may be a problem if nitrogen is fall applied. Some of the nitrogen may not be available in the spring and fall applied phosphorous will be tied up more than spring applied phosphorous. If additional fertilizer is fall applied to compensate for this loss it may raise the salt level high enough to cause germination problems. To summarize it would be educational to have someone seed a small area of lettuce this fall using at least two levels of fertilizer. If anyone wants to try it please keep me informed. It could be that the profit potential is worth the added risk. Richard Bartholomay Extension Agent, Irrigation Tri River Area Extension Service