Nothing but rain since planting. A few nice warm days in between, and overall good weather. Almost 4 inches of rain since planting. It would be nice to warm up some.
A nice article was included on page 9 of the May 28, 2011 Iowa Farmer Today. I couldn't find the article online though.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
We're in the ground!
On Wednesday May 18th we were able to get the rhizomes in the ground. A good rain fell Friday morning and Friday night that should set the scene for great growth. We hope to see some leaves breaking the soil soon.
An article in the local paper about the receiving of the grant was published in the Denison Bulletin.
During planting John Klein formally of the M&M divide RC&D visited and wrote a new article about our endeavors and distributed that around. I hope to see more on that soon.
Planting got started early around 8:30 am on a great spring day. Rob sat with me on the back to plant rhizomes while Denny drove. We found the rate of rhizomes went fairly well. Rob and I fed about as fast as we could and Denny adjusted the speed of the tractor to adjust the rate per acre. Rob and I could see down the tube really well to make sure our approximate spacings were correct. The high rate plot was placed on 40" rows and 6" apart. This was altered from out original plan so that we would not plant double rows. The benefit of double rows did not seem worth it when we got into the field. if we find issues with the growth of 6" spacing we will make note and adjust next time.The mid population density was aimed to be 9" apart, but we also ran up to 12" a time or two while getting the speed right. The low population runs were 18" apart. The low population is more in the lines of large plantation style plant populations and seemed very straight forward if we were to do a much larger area.
Of the rhizomes, we received roughly 1,000 to a box. We were able to measure our work to how fast we went through boxes of rhizomes. For the high density plot, each of the 4 500' runs took roughly 20 minutes and 2 full boxes to complete. The low population density plot took only 10 minutes and one box to complete. The middle range plot ran around 1.25 to 1.5 boxes each run.
The planter worked out really well. It dug a 4 inch furrow where the rhizomes were dropped into. then about 2" of dirt filled in on top of the rhizome followed by a packer wheel to increase the soil contact. When it was all done there were some good deep furrows in the field. It was visible that some rhizomes needed better cover. We expected to harrow the field. This was done and smoothed out the field. The rhizomes after the harrow work were about 4" deep in loose packed soil.
There was a 20' stretch in one pass during the middle population where the plows came up too high and were not covering the rhizomes. It turned out to be a great example to view how the rhizomes were planted. After these pictures, we brought the planter back right beside the line and buried the rhizomes again.
Below is an older video I wanted to post of the planter in operation. This video was early on. One of the first field tests. After this video what was changed is mentioned in some posts below to optimize it for rhizomes, otherwise, very good operation.
An article in the local paper about the receiving of the grant was published in the Denison Bulletin.
During planting John Klein formally of the M&M divide RC&D visited and wrote a new article about our endeavors and distributed that around. I hope to see more on that soon.
Planting got started early around 8:30 am on a great spring day. Rob sat with me on the back to plant rhizomes while Denny drove. We found the rate of rhizomes went fairly well. Rob and I fed about as fast as we could and Denny adjusted the speed of the tractor to adjust the rate per acre. Rob and I could see down the tube really well to make sure our approximate spacings were correct. The high rate plot was placed on 40" rows and 6" apart. This was altered from out original plan so that we would not plant double rows. The benefit of double rows did not seem worth it when we got into the field. if we find issues with the growth of 6" spacing we will make note and adjust next time.The mid population density was aimed to be 9" apart, but we also ran up to 12" a time or two while getting the speed right. The low population runs were 18" apart. The low population is more in the lines of large plantation style plant populations and seemed very straight forward if we were to do a much larger area.
 |
| Fist run of the season |
 |
| final design planter in operation |
The planter worked out really well. It dug a 4 inch furrow where the rhizomes were dropped into. then about 2" of dirt filled in on top of the rhizome followed by a packer wheel to increase the soil contact. When it was all done there were some good deep furrows in the field. It was visible that some rhizomes needed better cover. We expected to harrow the field. This was done and smoothed out the field. The rhizomes after the harrow work were about 4" deep in loose packed soil.
 |
| finished planting |
 |
| This was about half done planting |
 |
| Pulling the harrow through the furrows |
 |
| After harrowing, the rhizome is just below my fingers. The soil level is at my thumb |
Below is an older video I wanted to post of the planter in operation. This video was early on. One of the first field tests. After this video what was changed is mentioned in some posts below to optimize it for rhizomes, otherwise, very good operation.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Ready to Roll
We received the miscanthus rhizomes last week, and found out what we were dealing with.
 | ||
| Boxes of rhizomes |
 |
| Rhizomes is a box |
The rhizomes varied is size. Most were a generid size of a finger with some roots attached. Every now and then there was a root that was close to the size of an entire hand.
 |
| Three standard rhizomes by my hand |
This past weekend we were able to get the planter ready to go. After seeing the rhizomes we did a little re-design to get the planter ready to go.
We configured the drop tube to be a 6" PVC pipe that dropped center on the row. this let us add a nice seat behind the basket, and raise the basket to a workable height. We had to remove the old wheel packers, and rather changed them out for some old International planter packer wheels we had available.
 |
| Planter from behind |
 |
| Added wings to the original plow shanks to prevent dirt from filling it the furrow |
 |
| Side of the planter, taken when a little dark, but you can see the parts. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)