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By broadcasting or drilling the barley in high population, you could grow multiple times more in a very small plot. This also controls weeds by shading and discourages pest damage, but I admir your efforts. The seedlings look excellent.

Thanks warden! I appreciate the kind words. I don't know anybody who's grown small grains before, so it's really important for me to get this feedback on HBT.

Don't drills plant seeds in rows? I was really just trying to copy the style of planting a drill would do. BTW, I have already given up on digging the hills and furrows next year -- that was a total waste of time. But I am confused as to why broadcasting might help with shading. I don't want to be a stubborn dick :eek:, but here me out:

Here's why I'm confused: for a given planting density (the same number of seeds per acre whether you're broadcasting or drilling in rows), crowding the seeds up into rows increases the local barley density when compared to broadcasting, and increases shading of weeds that grow right next to the barley plants. The weeds that grow between rows of barley are definitely less shaded when you plant in rows as compared to broadcasting, but it doesn't matter, because these weeds are easily destroyed by manual cultivation.

On the other hand, if I kept the seeding rate per acre constant but switched to broadcasting, then the same number of barley plants per acre would be spread out into a more uniform distribution, and the shading near each barley plant would decrease. I also wouldn't be able to remove any weeds by cultivation.

If this is wrong -- what part of the reasoning is incorrect? Thanks for any help y'all can provide, and thanks again for the kind words!
 
Ok I skimmed the earlier posts, but I think you planted around 40 - 50 lbs per acre? Figuring on about 10,000 seeds per acre for the 2 row planted would be around ~ 130 lbs per acre. You have approximately .065 of an acre. So your seeding rate should be around 8.5 lbs per your 3,000 sq ft plot.

If you plant that in rows, your plants will compete for available nutrients with each other planted at that density. If you plant less dense, you aren't maximizing your yeild. Broadcasting or drilling will spread out the seeds and allow for more room per plant per acre and shade and outcompete weeds. By cutting the rate in half all you do is create half the potentional and 3 times the work. If you want to weed everything in rows, more power to you, but you'll get more production and less work by broadcasting or drilling.
 
It's basically this:














Vs this:

row.jpg


wheat.jpg
 
So, when you say drilling, does that imply narrower rows? Like maybe 6 or 7.5 inches? If so, I think I get what you're saying now. I want to try your recommendations (130 lb/acre seed, no weeding) next year.

When I was planning back in November, I saw the rate of 130 lb / acre that you recomend, but I also saw that the seed distributor recommended 85 lb / acre. I wasn't sure which one was correct, and I went with lower rates for a few reasons:

The field manager warned me about the weed seeds in the field, so I wanted to be able to walk through and cultivate by hand. I also wanted to be able to walk through to apply pesticide and fungicide if required. I chose 14" rows based on research done in wheat at Ohio State, indicating that yield only drops 5-15% when you plant 15" rows at 25 seeds / foot, compared to 7.5" rows at the same linear seeding rate (twice the lb / acre). I thought that I might easily loose more than 5-15% to hardy weeds, and that the wider rows would be worth it. I also assumed that barley would behave similarly to wheat. I didn't want to exceed the linear seeding rate in the study, to avoid the competition you mentioned. 14" rows at 25 seeds / foot equals 94 lb / acre, assuming 10,000 seeds / lb, a typical value for Conlon.

So, I planted 1/3 of my field (the middle plot) at 24 seeds / foot, or 90 lb / acre. (This was the seeding rate that two passes down each row with my Earthway seeder gave.) I chose to plant the other 2/3 at 45 lb / acre (12 seeds / foot, or one pass with the Earthway) because light is limited by nearby trees. I was concerned that if I asked my shady field to perform at the high seeding rates recommended for open plains, I might actually reduce yield. I don't know if that assumption is true for barley or not -- what do you think? The same NDSU article as above states that planting Conlon at 50 lb / acre only decreases yield by 15% (not 50% or more), because of increased tillering at the lower density. To me, this justified the lower planting rate --I would be sure not to exceed the intrinsic yield of the shady field, but if I undershoot the optimal rate, tillering will still get me within 15% of the maximum yield. Anyway, If the crop works, I will separate the harvest from the two seeding rates and compare yields.

If I guessed wrong on all my assumptions, I'll only lose 15% yield due to underseeding and another 15% due to the worst-case losses with 14" rows, or 28% all together. At the time I planted, I figured that weeds and overseeding might easily decrease yield by more than 28%.

Your recommendation might still be the way to go. I'll try it next year and compare results -- I wish I had talked to you back in November!
 
Yes it will be interesting to see how it works. How do you plan on harvesting, thershing, winnowing, etc.
 
Harvesting may have to be done by hand. I wish I had access to a scythe, or at least a sickle. Knives may work in a pinch.

The field manager generously volunteered the use of a thresher, and I think it does winnowing as well. If not, I can winnow the old-fashioned way with a stiff breeze.
 
If we were a bit closer I could get your field harvested in a few second. :)
I raise mostly winter wheat, but barley prices are good enough I may get back into it next year. Skimming the thread I think most of your questions have been answered, but ill help however I can.

I do think your weeds will be a problem, if you are worried about a yield hit. Once your crop canopies then the shade will prevent further weeds, but from what I see you have plenty now. If you aren't against herbicide then try a little 24D in an test area. I think the plants need to be tillering before application. It will only take a day to see results. I bet it will get your weeds.



Jim_s_pictures_021.jpg
 
Farm porn!!!!!1 I love it. Fife, I'm not even sure if your combine would fit on my field...

So 24D sounds really great -- it will kill dicots but leave my grasses alone. I had never heard of that until now. Some of the barley are tillering now, but I bet more will be soon. I'll go ahead and purchase some 24D.

How about safety when you apply it? Do you wear gloves and long sleeves? How about goggles and a face mask -- are those necessary? I have access to a pressurized spray machine -- basically a backpack with a battery-powered pump and an applicator wand. Do you think that will be a safe way to apply?
 
Farm porn!!!!!1 I love it. Fife, I'm not even sure if your combine would fit on my field...

So 24D sounds really great -- it will kill dicots but leave my grasses alone. I had never heard of that until now. Some of the barley are tillering now, but I bet more will be soon. I'll go ahead and purchase some 24D.

How about safety when you apply it? Do you wear gloves and long sleeves? How about goggles and a face mask -- are those necessary? I have access to a pressurized spray machine -- basically a backpack with a battery-powered pump and an applicator wand. Do you think that will be a safe way to apply?

Hummm. I believe 2-4D is the main ingredient in Weed-B-Gon so threat it as you would spray your yard. I am bad and will likely soon die of cancer as i don't wear as much protection as I should. When I spray ditches and other areas with my ATV I just try to always turn into the wind. I use just gloves when mixing. Doing it on foot will suck and you will likely get a lot on you, so as much protection that makes you feel comfortable is what you should do. Those Tyvek suits only cost a few dollars. That said I generally think the fears of herbicide are over blown. Everyone I know likely see 10,000% more chemical then the average Joe and my kids only have one extra arm.:)

I'm 99% sure you are fine, but I would hate for some obscure issue to cause harm to your crop on my recommendation. So read the label and maybe even do a test area at double rate. If it will work you will see whatever will die start to curl up in a day or so (likely a few hours).
 
Any more 24D is kind of a generic term for a family of herbicides like 2,4D-LV6 and E-99. The best deal may be called something else. We use E-99 as it does a bit better job and doesn't smell as bad.
AgriSolutions - Herbicides
 
I may need some alone time with those photos, Fife...

Well, thanks for the great advice -- I picked up some Lawn Weed Killer from Orchard Supply -- it's a mixture of 2,4-D, mecoprop, and dicamba, all herbicides that target dicots and spare the grasses. I sprayed a test strip yesterday after the irrigation system did its job.

2011-12-22_15-02-03_429.jpg


It definitely didn't harm the barley, but I can't say it affected the weeds either. I think here's why: all those herbicides rely on plant growth to work, and it only got up to 59F today. Highs in the upper 50's through the weekend too. Hmm, I hope it remains in the soil long enough for the weeds to do some growth and die.

Like Fife pointed out, most manufacturers advise waiting until plants are tillering before applying herbicides, so I just put it on the sunniest plot, where the plants started tillering in earnest last week.

Tomorrow, I'm going home to Colorado for a week to see the folks. (They have an acre out back that's lying fallow. What a shame!)

Happy holidays everybody!
 
2-4D takes a little time to work. It isn't like roundup in hot sun. They wilt slowly and eventually die. I'm not sure what the other two ingredients are. I used some 2-4D ester for broadleaf control once, but after it started shading, I had very little weeds.
 
Wow. I've had the opposite experience. Roundup takes days to see results. With 24d we see leaf curling in hours. We also spray in 50 deg weather alot. Was it a hand squeeze sprayer? I have had much luck with those as they have a really coarse mist. The finer mist The better as long as it isn't so fine the wind takes it away.
 
2,4-D, mecoprop, and dicamba This combination is a very common '3-way' type of broadleaf herbicide and has a very broad spectrum of weeds that it'll knock out. Soil temp and air temp are two different things. (50F in the Summer/ 50F in the Spring etc.) Most of the weeds you are seeing at this time are probably Winter annuals and have already germinated, but are not growing too vigorously. That's what they do. If they're not growing too vigorously the herbicide will take longer to be absorbed into the plant and you won't see the immediate 'curling' response like if you had treated earlier in the season. If you know that you applied the product at the proper rate, put the sprayer away until next Spring. Whatever didn't get controlled can be retreated at that time. Merry Christmas!!
 
2012-01-08_16-20-00_171.jpg


Vegetative growth is coming along! But, the lawn weed killer didn't really work

2012-01-06_14-17-33_631.jpg


probably because the weather has been too cold.

Caterpillar/squirrels are still at work:

2012-01-08_16-08-45_620.jpg


although the fraction of plants affected is tiny, and I'm not putting up any more netting.

Most Conlon and Bere plants have multiple tillers, which is very nice to see.

20110109-2.jpg


Here's how the numbering system works: Single digits are the leaves of the main shoot. So "4" = leaf 4 of the primary plant. T indicates tillers, the first number after T indicates which tiller, and the number after the dash is the leaf number within the tiller. So T0-2 is the second leaf of the coleoptillar tiller, and T1-1 is the first leaf of the tiller that emerged from the axil (the armpit) of the first primary leaf. P indicates prophyll, and the number indicates the tiller the prophyll belongs to.

The previous image is of the slower Conlon plants (seeded at 24 seeds/ft), while this image is of the less-densely-seeded Conlon (12 seeds/ft)

20110109.jpg


The less-dense Conlon is still one leaf ahead (5 vs 4 fully-developed leaves), and the T1 and T2 tillers are each one leaf ahead as well! It's pretty interesting how the development is happening like clockwork.

The slower Conlon is at the same stage Merit was at 360 GDD. There have been 306 Growing Degree Days since December 1st, so I'm on track, if not slightly ahead.

The less-dense Conlon is one leaf ahead -- it's at the same stage that Merit was after 434 GDD! It's hard to know if seeding density is causing the difference in developmental rate, because the less-densely-seeded plot also gets more sunlight. Suffice to say that the same seeds planted at the same time can be hundreds of GDD apart from each other in development due to differences in environment.

Tillers can be aborted, and I don't want to count my heads before they hatch. But each tiller that forms is one more potential head of grain, so keep 'em coming!

Anybody else have 2,4-D, mecoprop, or dicamba fail to work in cold weather? (below 50F)
 
Lots of damage from predation now! About every other plant has at least one leaf clipped, and some have every leaf clipped!

2012-01-18_14-32-07_660.jpg


I was wondering again what could be causing it, when yesterday I saw the farm's flock of guinea fowl walking through the field and pecking at the leaves. Sure enough, they were ripping off the leaf tops!

Not sure what to do. I could net the whole field, but the barley will soon begin to elongate, growing up above the net height.

Thinking of putting a fence around the perimeter -- the guineas can easily fly over anything up to 20-30 feet, but it may deter them, especially if I attach some sort of metal (pie pans?) at intervals that will blow in the breeze and make noise. There is plenty more field with a cover crop for them to peck at -- all I need to do is make my field the least attractive of their options.

The only upside to this is that with the guineas around, I can relax a bit about aphids carrying yellow dwarf virus. Those birds should devour insects.

*

403 GDD so far, and the plants are at 5-6 leaves with 2-3 tillers typical. Still right on / slightly ahead of Merit's schedule. U Idaho blog states that now is the time maximum kernel number will be determined for the main shoot in the 5-leaf plants, and in the tillers for the 6-leaf plants. I hope the predation doesn't affect the plants' decision negatively.
 
I read this whole thread and I'm very impressed by the time and labor you've put into this. I thought staring at my primary for a month and not touching it was patience!
 
I read this whole thread and I'm very impressed by the time and labor you've put into this. I thought staring at my primary for a month and not touching it was patience!

Thanks for the kind words you guys! As for the labor, yes, this first time around is taking a dent out of my schedule -- it was a 3-4 hours a week for the first few weeks, and now it's down to probably just 1 hour/week.

But I expect it to go much much faster next year. As in, fertilize, plant, and put up a fence one week, forget about it for a month or two, weed, then forget about it again until harvest. Plus the fun of learning about it will have worn off by then, and I'll just want it to be efficient. This is pretty much how I feel about brewdays now -- I enjoy them, but I don't waste any time!

I hope that anybody else who decides to grow their own can use this thread and others to save themselves some time and effort. I know I've already saved myself countless hours from the advice freely given here. And I've been reading the hop growing threads, which I know will save me time and effort this spring!
 
Scarecrows

I asked around about this, and the advice I got is that unless a threat is moving, the guineas are not phased. I haven't tried it, so please stop me if I'm wrong. But I'm thinking a static scarecrow won't do the trick.

I was thinking of tying metal pie pans to fishing line so they bang against each other in the breeze. The guineas are mischievous and will explore bravely, but motion tends to set them off. For example, I was squatting quietly and watching the guineas picking at my crop, but as soon as I stood up a bit to stretch my legs, the entire flock stopped and looked over at me, even though I was 10 yards away. By the time I stood all the way up, they were in retreat.

Anyway, the field manager told me yesterday he was already planning to reduce the numbers in the flock. AND, my girlfriend and I just learned how to fry chicken last weekend. Cosmic coincidence or divine plan?
 
It doesn't look too bad in my opinion.

You're right, it's not terrible damage. And that picture was an example of the heaviest type of loss. It's just that it's all over the field now, not just isolated cases of damage.

A lot of people will raise guinea fowl for their insect murdering, even though they know their garden will take a peck now and then. I should be thankful I haven't had any aphids. But a drumstick sounds pretty good right about now...
 
I don't know about guineas but I do know about chickens. When the wheat I let grow that I didn't turn under in the garden was about at the stage to pick/harvest, the chickens found out it made for a good meal and figured how to strip the seed off the heads. I didn't mind since I had no plans for it but they did make short work of it. Keep that in mind should they still be around at harvest time.
 
I am a Plant Science major as well as a Crop Manager for a small dairy, I have experience in growing small grains, corn, and grasses. Personally we plant rye in 7.5 inch rows. We haven't planted any barley though, and I would be interested in trying it.
 
I don't know if this is realistic for you're situation, but they make these motion sensing spray heads that shoot water around and make a racket if something gets close. They are relatively inexpensive and work really well for deer.
 
They also provide good humor when you tell your friends to go pick one of your apples!!
 
I don't know if this is realistic for you're situation, but they make these motion sensing spray heads that shoot water around and make a racket if something gets close. They are relatively inexpensive and work really well for deer.

Yes, I want those! I saw one for $40 on amazon. Do you know of anything cheaper? (All my money goes to beer if you can't already tell.)

For a few days, I was intent on allowing the birds to roam, accepting that their insecticidal properties were worth the damage. But after observing one particularly hard-hit row in which practically every plant had a crew cut, I put up a small fence enclosing my plot. Nothing short of 20-30 feet will totally keep out guineas, but perhaps it will deter. Camera currently malfunctioning so photos to follow...
 
7.5 inch rows

I think there is no doubt I'm going to do this next year. It was good to have a walkable field this first year as I'm figuring things out. But to maximize my space, I'll go for the commercial row spacing in the future.
 
2012-01-30_15-22-26_411.jpg


There has been plenty of growth since the last update, and it's starting to look like a real crop! No insects or diseases yet...

It has been 570.5 growth degree days (GDD) now since emergence, which according to the U Idaho blog, should put us at the 7 leaf stage with advanced tillering. Actually, the tillering is so advanced, that it has become very difficult to count the leaves of the main shoot:

2012-01-30_15-18-52_783.jpg


So is the barley still on track? Up until now it has been, so I'm not worried. I know it is not ahead of schedule, because the next milestone will be jointing and elongation, which should happen around 830 GDD. This will happen sometime near the beginning of March, according to the Weather Channel's GDD predictor.

GDD are turning out to be a pretty good metric for developmental progress. My barley has been tracking the Merit barley in the U Idaho blog, even though it has taken me 65 days to achieve what only took 35 days in the Idaho springtime. The GDD are just building up more slowly for me since I'm growing in the middle of winter. See, it does get cold in California!

The fence seems to be working -- it has remained intact, with minor repairs, for a week now, and the field manager says he hasn't seen the Guinea hens in my plot.

2012-02-03_14-06-28_311.jpg


As you can see it's just a mesh netting help up with wooden stakes. It's knee-high, and the birds could so easily fly over it. I'm just hoping it acts as a deterrent. So far, I don't have any new leaf damage to report -- so perhaps it is working? Fingers crossed.

Happy Friday everybody!

2012-02-03_15-06-08_578.jpg
 
Thanks, Fife and Colo.

Check out this difference in color:

2012-02-06_12-55-02_608.jpg


Unfortunately, there are a lot of differences that may account for the color (this is not a controlled experiment!)
  • The right side is planted at 90 lb/acre, 24 seeds/ft, while the left is half that.
  • The soil on the left and right have different histories -- the left grew corn last year and had a compost treatment, while the soil on the right grew soybeans that were plowed under.
  • I fertilized the left side at a rate of 79 lb N/acre, and the right side at 56 lb N/acre.

I hear that Nitrogen is what usually accounts for green/yellow color differences, and more yellow indicates less N. I fertilized at different rates because I didn't really know how much N was already in the field, and I wanted at least part of the crop to have the right amount. Too much, and you'll get poor malting and brewing qualities, but too little N will reduce yield.

I won't know until I actually brew with the crop on the left if it has too much N. But I'll know earlier if the right side has too little, because the plants should turn a brighter yellow!

Anybody with experience growing malting barley know if one side looks more correct than the other?
 
I love the way crop rows look when there neat and uniform like that. keep up the good work, subscribed.
 
Aphids.

2012-02-07_15-43-35_868.jpg


I've got 'em.

2012-02-06_13-02-57_201.jpg


What to do? Well, the real problem is Barley Dwarf virus. Do I have it?

2012-02-22_11-44-54_492.jpg


Maybe so.

And that may account for why a large patch of the field is growing slowly.

2012-02-22_11-47-02_820.jpg


2012-02-22_11-47-24_546.jpg


2012-02-22_11-52-43_480.jpg


Sigh...

There's no way to cure plants of a virus. And Dwarf viruses typically reduce yield and grain plumpness, which makes for bad malting qualities. At this point, I'd just like to stop its spread.

I want to use an insecticide -- any recommendations?

Any insecticides you guys have used and liked?
 
Don't go chemi... If you can help it. Neem oil is excellent as a plant antibiotic and will cure a lot of fungal type disease, and is also a great insecticide.
Also as far as aphids, you should see if you can order lady bugs. Seriously. I've used them in organic gardening lots of times, an the ladybugs are absolutely savage on the aphids. I unleashed them upon my artichoke plants that had aphids so badly there was an actual layer of them on the stems. The ladybugs absolutely obliterated them in about 3 days.
The trick is that you want to spray a little sugar water on the ladybugs before you take them out of their net sack. This will cause their wings to stick together and keep your bugs from flying away. Then let em rip.
 
Thanks for the advice, bottlebomber. I had considered ladybugs, and I might go for it. I also read to chill them to refrigerator temps before releasing them, and to release them at sunset -- all measures (like the sugar water) to keep them from flying away.

But we have a lot of insecticides already available at the field, including Neem oil. In order to get rid of aphids, you have to apply Neem oil to every surface of the plants (difficult at this point because plant growth is dense), and you have to reapply at least once a week, twice is better, to kill newly-laid eggs. It would be a lot of work to reduce aphid levels.

So, if anyone knows of a systemic insecticide they like, I would love to hear about it. The advantage here is that the insecticide becomes incorporated into plant tissue, so it can kill aphids withoput directly touching them during application.

As far as going "chemi" -- don't forget that neem oil, even though it was produced by a plant, contains azadirachtin, a nasty chemical. It causes infertility in rats, and you don't want that stuff in your water, especially if you're pregnant. I think it's more productive to consider molecules individually -- how toxic is a molecule to people, to animals, and will it screw up the environment?

On my small scale, I can control irrigation carefully, and because we get very little rain here, I haven't had any runoff at all. Pesticides and herbicides are degraded in the soil by bacteria, most with a half-life of weeks. So as long as you keep the stuff contained in your field, you minimize risk to the environment and other animals and plants.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. Where do you buy your ladybugs? Can you order them online?
 
The yellow barley could be anything but most likely lack of N or the virus. Hard to tell the difference. Viruses normally don't follow a straight line like I see in your pictures. You do need about 150lb of total N per acre, so your rates seem low unless there was a bunch of N in the soil. Because of our cold weather we don't have bugs very often. But when I buy chemical it is from the local farm coop. Ours has an agronomist on staff to help. If you have one near I bet they would be your best source of info.
 
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