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Slit seeding advice

8 years ago

hi,

It rain yesterday here in northeast and my soil is still wet, its not going to rain today or tomorrow until tomorrow evening. I'm going to slit sleed my lawn tomorrow morning, my question is , for slit seeding does soil need to be wet or it has to be dry.

Another question is how deep the cut should be for slit seeding?

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Comments (3)

User
8 years ago
Slit seeding can be done damp or dry (damp will actually raise less dust, which might annoy you a bit less!)

Cut no more than 1/4" deep into the soil. Seed planted deeper than that won't grow.
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dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
As a point of reference, grass seed planted on the surface and rolled down will germinate just fine. The slit seeder is just a different way to make good seed-to-soil contact. So keep it near the surface.
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First to worst Mattaway. The discs and separate tubes will do the best job of getting the seed in to the soil at the proper depth Then rear hopper areator type slit seeder. Then broadcasting. The thing is that any of the above can give fine results depending on conditions and care/skill of the person doing it. I've planted grass probably twenty different times. I've never planted lawn grass with one but have "drilled" in a few thousand acres of wheat/oats, etc with the equivalent of a Mattaway. The main thing is how much vegetation you have on the surface and what kind of condition the soil is in. Its not really rocket science. If there is too much grass or veg, you need a something mechanical to help get the seed in contact with the soil. I've used a plug aerator with good results. A rake (and sweat) to goo results. I've used the tine type dethatcher/aerator with a rear hopper. To help with that unity I cut and bagged the grass. Two or three directions. Then ran the dethatcher/slit seeder without seeds at deepest setting three or four directions then put in seed, raised it some and put out the seed (2 or three passes). Where the soil is bare or nearly so and the soil is soft (not compacted and crusted) I've just used a broadcast spreader. I did that a few days ago on a couple of areas that needed strengthening. Where the soil was hard I added a little compost. In another area I put out dirt to fill in a low spot and so just tamped the seed into contact with the soil and disturbed it a little shuffling my shoes over it. Then, if you keep it watered, you will get good results unless mother nature really treats you bad. I've never not gotten adequate results, usually better. As mentioned above, the most consistent results came from the rear hopper Bluebird used as stated.
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The attached drop spreaders seldom work properly so I don't use them. I broadcast the seed, then use the slit seeder. The depth of the slicing blades should be adjusted so that they will cut into the soil even in low spots. Ideal depth is 1/4" but 1/4" to almost 1/2" will work. If you have soil that is so uneven that you are cutting 1/2" or more into high spots and making no cut into low spots, you need to level the lawn or not use a slit seeder. Setting the depth too deep can impair seed germination and make operating the machine harder. At the proper depth, the blades will help pull the machine forward but not so much that you need to hold the machine back. Almost all are not self propelled and are a bear to push up hill, so operation at a diagonal or parallel on slopes is a must. They make for very good results with KG, not so much with larger seed grasses. This post was edited by yardtractor1 on Thu, Aug 21, 14 at 13:53
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User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Slit seeding improves seed to soil contact and it improves the likelihood of soil moisture content around the seed resulting in better germination rates.

Ideally, you'd want to bury seed deep to take advantage of soil moisture retention, but not so deep that the seed's stored energy capacity would be exhausted before the seedling's initial blade broke the surface. If the blade can't break the surface, the seedling can't produce it's own food through photosynthesis. Generally, bigger seeds have more reserves and coarser/sandy soil has less resistance to the emerging sprig, so seed can be planted deeper. You will find recommended depths vary anywhere from 1/8" to 3/4". Based on that, the depth of planting should be clear as mud. In addition to that crystal clarity, add the fact that no lawn is truly flat and the depth of cut that the slit seeder makes is going to vary.

Here are some suggestions based on my experience:

If the soil is dry or dry enough to collapse into the cut made by the slit seeder (creating a "U" shaped furrow), spread the seed first, then, go over the yard with the slit seeder. some seed will be deposited at the bottom of the cut and some will end up on or very near the surface, but most will be distributed in between where it gets the seed/soil/moisture benefit of slit seeding. Set the depth of the slit seeder blades so that it cuts no less than 1/4" deep in low spots and no more than 1/2" deep in high spots. Set the seeder depth before you do anything. Start high and make a test run (in a representative area of the yard) and lower the blade in increments to refine the depth.

If the soil is just moist enough, that the slit seeder will make trenches (the type of cut that resembles the scoring that a circular saw set at 1/4" would make if run on a 2x4 piece of wood) and the trenches do not collapse when you walk on them, then run the the slit seeder first and then spread the seed and allow the seed to fall into the trenches. Roll the lawn if the roller will collapse the trenches and cover the seed. If not, top dress with 1/4" of peat moss.

Set the cut so that the blades cut at no less than 1/8" in the low spots and about 1/4 to 3/8" in the high spots.

FYI, I have had great success with KBG, but less than satisfying success with rye and fescue when I have spread the seed before using the slit seeder. Recently, however, a person on this site reported good success even with fescue.

Hope all of that was understandable and useful.
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