Stupid Question re: spreading plants

11 years ago

So we live in the country surrounded by a 600 acre cornfield. There isn't a planted garden for at least a mile around our property in any direction. Actually, I don't think there is a planted garden anywhere within five miles except possibly some evergreen hedges and perhaps a few daffodils. Where we are is corn, corn, corn and some grass, although not much.

People suggest that some plants could have just "showed up," meaning not purposefully planted. Under these circumstances, is it likely that a plant just made its way here? Especially a non-native species? Trying to understand how self-seeding happens from afar, I guess.

Thoughts?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

mistascott
11 years ago
Spores from tropical plants blow into the Jocassee Gorges in NC from the Caribbean and some actually can survive there because it is a protected sub-tropical rainforest. Seeds also travel thousands of miles with the help of ocean currents. You'd be amazed how far wind and water can take seeds and spores!

It really isn't a stupid question -- it is an awesome one.
morz8 - Washington Coast
11 years ago
Let's not forget another source that's important - birds. They eat the seed, and with a little imagination you can picture the rest :)

The digestive tract of a bird can be a very efficient way to remove the hard shell thus the dormancy of seed.
Related Discussions
Truly stupid question re. mulch
Q
Comments (19)
Straw and hay both have seeds in them, depending on the machinery and time and conditions when they were baled. Use either one you can get. Laying newspaper down on the surface with the straw/hay on top is good, but just straight straw/hay, deep enough, will do just as well. The trick is to keep the soil covered enough so sunlight doesn't penetrate to the soil to wake up the unwanted seeds. But even if you do have a few that sprout, the soil under the mulch is so soft and moist that they are very east to pull out. Lay the pulled weed on top of the mulch and it becomes mulch, too. If you happen to have chickens, open a bale of straw/hay in their pen and break it into several chunks. They will pull the rest of it apart and pick through it find the seeds. Rake it out in a month or so, and put it on the garden, and you will have very few seeds sprout because the chickies have eaten most of them. Wood mulch wouldn't be so bad if you follow a few basics: The main problem is mixing the chips with the soil: the chips use the nitrogen in the soil to assist in their breakdown, and their isn't enough remaining for the plants. But if you only lay the chips on the surface, the only nitrogen use is where the chips meet the soil. You could even help that by scattering some alfalfa meal (from the feed store -- much cheaper than the garden store) on top of the soil, then putting the chips on top. BUT you have to remember to not to mix the chips into the soil at the end of the season, but rake them off into a pile. You could just let them sit there and reuse what is left next year (still, just on the surface), or you could mix them with alfalfa meal as you make the pile, and sort of make a compost pile with them. But wood chips do very well under perennials. You can still add the alfalfa meal if you want, and put the chips on top. Sue
...See More
Stupid Strawberry Question: They're perennial, right?
Q
Comments (3)
It is a good idea to cover them with straw in the winter, unless you have planted them on plastic. If your ground undergoes freeze thaw cycles, particularly on clay soils, they are subject to "frost heave" which in effects tends to pull the plants out of the ground.
...See More
Probably a stupid question but.....
Q
Comments (5)
Out of curiosity, where in upstate NY? I visited somebody at Cornell and it's beautiful there. How much shade? I think Kentucky bluegrass (KBG) is probably the best choice for upstate New York in sunny areas. For shady areas, a fine fescue mix would be better. If you have a mixture of sun and shade, you'll probably want to plant KBG in the sunny areas and transition to a mixture of KBG and fine fescue and then all fine fescue in the shade. If you google "Kentucky Bluegrass Seed Selections" you'll find a variety of resources to pick good cultivars. I don't think there are as many choices for fine fescues. Some people have reported good results with the Bonny Dunes mixture.
...See More
How Severe Is The Drought & We're Seeing It Spread Northward
Q
Comments (6)
Dorothy, I have been watching your county on the drought maps and had noticed your usual waterfall of rain had stopped falling. At least you probably have good, residual soil moisture a few inches down which is great for the trees, although it doesn't do much for the more shallow-rooted plants, does it? Recession and drought together. Perhaps we are about to relive the 1930s. Doesn't that sound depressing? My dad told me that they lived on what they could grow during those horrible years, and about all they had to eat was red beans and corn....corn bread, corn meal mush, etc. At least they had food though. And, for the rest of his life, one of his favorite meals was red beans and corn bread and he ate it at least once a week. Jessaka, Y'all are not supposed to have drought up there is lush and lovely Tahlequah! It isn't fun, is it. I am sure you are watering enough. Your plants ought to be fine on 1 to 2" of irrigation a week. If you want to measure how much moisture you're giving them, and if you are using sprinklers, just set empty, clean cat food or tuna cans around the yard (you only need a couple) and turn on the sprinkler. Once the cans have an inch of water in them, you can turn off the sprinkler, or empty the cans and refill them again. Most winters, I only water my landscape if we're getting less than 1" of rain per month. However, because our drier than average conditions are in their 18th month here, I am trying to give the landscape area around the house 1" a week to make up for all the moisture that didn't fall in 2008. Y'all, this drought is starting to worry me. Last time it was this dry, even my native pasture grasses and forbs died and it took a long time for them to make a comback. Some of the pasture land around us where cows actually graze was so overgrazed in 2006 that it really hasn't even recovered well yet--the pastures are thin and patchy and now they're overgrazed again. I'm glad we don't have cows because, if we did, we wouldn't have anything growing for them to eat. The deepening of the drought really concerns me. Our ponds have never stayed dried through the whole winter before...even in 05-06, there was rain in Sept.-Oct. 2005 that kept water in the ponds for part of the fall and winter. This is the first time they've gone through the whole fall/winter empty. One still has a foot or so of water but it is very stagnant and yucky looking. The wild ducks are swimming on it every day though. Dawn
...See More
BlueBirdPeony
Original Author
11 years ago
That was such a beautiful reply, thank you!
Nature is amazing isn't it? I find it a little less likely given that Ohio doesn't have the currents or the mild winters, but maybe I'm wrong. It's certainly fascinating to say the least!
BlueBirdPeony
Original Author
11 years ago
Oh birds too! Hadn't thought about that either. How often does a bird clear its digestive tract I wonder? So interesting to think they could fly across the world and bring us seeds.

And animals via fur as well!
rbrady
11 years ago
Definitely animals and birds transporting seeds but also if you are out in the open the wind can carry seeds pretty darn far.
My mom has 5 acres out in the middle of corn and bean fields and she gets all kinds of stuff popping up in her yard-Eastern red Cedar, Virginia Creeper, Dogwood, Pokeweed, Canada Thistle, Wild Raspberries, Cottonwoods, Bidens, Cockleburs, the list goes on. Nature is amazing!

Rhonda
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
ok.. mistascott cracked me up.. great observation.. but i would suggest.. IA isnt near an ocean.. to say the least ... i know what you were saying about how they move.. but still.. it cracked me up ...

besides the birds ... and the oceans of IA.. lol ... think about the seed form itself ...

something like what the kids call a santa claus seeds ... those light as air hairy things.. could probably drift for thousands of miles.. [milkweed is a good example .. see link]

so when they go to seed.. simply observe the plants own ability to disperse itself ...

and also.. if you bring in soil or compost.. if it was not properly cooked ... 'finished' ... it can also bring in a lot of things ....

did you move from the city ??? i did about 12 years ago.. to the country ... but my area is about 50% soybean .. and 50% corn ... mile.. after mile.. after mile ... its wonderful ...and its so stinking quiet at night..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
User
11 years ago
A cheap way of getting a hedge - string a wire between 2 posts and wait......for a decade or so - birds will perch on the wire and.....well, you can imagine the rest.
Vehicle wheels can carry seeds a long way too.
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
11 years ago
Bags of bird seed are a great spreader of "weed" seeds!
flora_uk
11 years ago
Plus, before there were cornfields and your garden there was something there. Prairie? Forest? whatever. There may well be seeds in the ground from before the area was settled just waiting to be turned up. My house was built in 1820 on fields. I get plants in the garden which must have been here before the town spread. e.g. wild garlic and celandines.

Another source is bought in plants which bring seeds in their potting medium.
BlueBirdPeony
Original Author
11 years ago
This might be my favorite thread ever. It's so eye-opening. In NE Ohio we were probably prarie originally. My house is from 1878 and the surrounding fields would be at least that old, I imagine. I love to think about seeds traveling through time and space.

Stupid Question re: spreading plants

Comments (10)

mistascott

morz8 - Washington Coast

Related Discussions

BlueBirdPeony
Original Author

BlueBirdPeony
Original Author

rbrady

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

User

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

flora_uk

BlueBirdPeony
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Stupid Question re: spreading plants

Comments (10)

mistascott

morz8 - Washington Coast

Related Discussions

BlueBirdPeonyOriginal Author

BlueBirdPeonyOriginal Author

rbrady

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

User

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

flora_uk

BlueBirdPeonyOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

BlueBirdPeony
Original Author

BlueBirdPeony
Original Author

BlueBirdPeony
Original Author