Troubleshooting Poor Germination + Do You Need a Walk-Behind Tractor?

Welcome to episode 83 of Growers Daily!
We cover:
Troubleshooting Poor Germination + Do You Need a Walk-Behind Tractor? + Dealing with snow and row cover.
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[@johndoh5182]

Jessie you're the best at giving a half answer when a half question is asked. And I mean this as a compliment. One thing you highlight is how critical the details are and if a person needs specific information they really need to understand the details of what they're doing. The details matter, and I have to imagine that over a decade of regen ag. you are FULL of details, but with regards to what YOU do, as it should be. Those half answers are very important and ARE pretty informative although sometimes not in the way a person asking the question may have originally thought. And BOY did I have to think about how to word this. I hope I got it right, which would be non-offensive but with the understanding that detailed answers need detailed questions, and context is everything.

[@danielawilliams4399]

I completely agree with this statement, and I personally was not offended at all because you're spot on.. It seemed obvious what information I should have included when watching the episode. However, with the information available, the answer was still helpful. I'm thankful for the comments section to be able to add more context and hopefully get more ideas from others.

[@SoGaFarmstead]

I have a Grillo 110, power harrow, rotary plow, the tool bar with a few different plow points for it, and a flail mower. Joel and the folks do a great job.

[@danielawilliams4399]

I'm curious why you went with Grillo. Was BCS something you had considered as well at the time?

[@SoGaFarmstead]

@danielawilliams4399 cost. I felt the Grillo was a better value for me. Same attachments and basically the same functions for way less money.

[@AnArchyzAch]

I had a problem with germination once. It ended up being a dang mouse coming in and nibbling all the sprouts.

[@danielawilliams4399]

Thanks Jesse for the input! It would have been good to add in some helpful context to my question... We live in Northwest Illinois in the driftless region. Our property is 20 acres with 17 wooded. There is not one large flat area of our property and our market gardens are basically on each side of our house. We have a John Deere 1025R Compact Utility Tractor (one step above a riding lawn mower) for the heavier duty lifting on our farm, but want something for the more intricate details like bed flipping, shallow tilling, and tunnel work. There was a BCS rep at a conference my partner was at last week and I attended a different conference where BCS was brought up. It seemed the 853 was the more popular model, along with the flail mower and power harrow attachments. I'd love to hear thoughts from others!

[@devinsullivan7233]

The BCS 739 with wheel extensions is unbeatable. any bigger and it’s very heavy. The 739 has all the power you could ever need while still being very maneuverable and easier on your body.

[@danielawilliams4399]

@@devinsullivan7233 I like the 739 being a bit lighter than the 853. Thanks for that call-out. We currently have a lot of clay soil to work through. I definitely want to work with a dealer to make sure we're getting the right power for our needs. I appreciated Jesse's comment of work backwards from what attachments you'd need. I saw your other comments on the rotary plow. Do you mostly use it for bed shaping or other uses as well?

[@devinsullivan7233]

@danielawilliams4399 I also have heavy clay soil where I’m at. The great thing about the rotary plow is that it breaks the soil up into larger chunks and makes a raised “ridge”. This is imperative to grow on raised ridges if you have clay soil. This allows for better drainage and more oxygen to your roots. As the water drains down through the soil it pulls oxygen in behind. Also the ridges allow for better airflow to make your soil dry out faster and avoid disease and root rot. You can also use the rotary plow like a turning plow. It throws the soil to the right. So you can make one pass, when you get to the end you disengage the plow and loop around back to where you start and make another pass just to the left of the first one. Continue doing this only working in one direction. That way you end up with a soil that is not too finely pulverized like can happen with the rototiller. I use the rotary plow and tiller in combination but I try not to over do it with the tiller. If you turn your soil into a fine powder it will seem nice and fluffy at first but over time it will settle more and more and the oxygen will get pushed out. I also use the rotary plow to cut trenches to drain water away during the winter, and I use it for planting potatoes. You can prep the soil and lay your potatoes on the ground and drive along side them and the rotary plow will bury your potatoes for you. Then a few weeks later use the rotary plow again to hill your potatoes higher. The bcs with tiller and rotary plow is all I use. I bought the setup brand new 9 years ago and i have to say it paid for itself in the first year or 2. It has been the best purchase I have ever made In my life and has allowed me to setup dozens of 1/4 to 1/2 acre gardens without hiring workers. It’s a real work horse. Curtis Stone also recommends the 739 and I believe that’s what JM Fortier is using now as well. It has the Powersafe clutch which is a great safety feature, it has saved me from getting seriously hurt more than a few times. Good luck with your farming endeavors!

[@danielawilliams4399]

@@devinsullivan7233 We bought a middle buster for our tractor last year for planting and harvesting potatoes. It worked pretty slick, but we had to hill by hand. I can see where the rotary plow would be helpful for where we can't get the tractor in. I think we'll likely get a BCS at some point and I'd rather get it this year to start getting the efficiencies. Thanks for the info on the Power Safe clutch. I hadn't noticed that difference in models.

[@devinsullivan7233]

No problem 👍

[@noahdodd-d4d]

Really depending on the ground your working for the bcs .. I live Hawaii in a soily area .. old sugar cane land and cattle grazing … the ground is compacted from the cows and sugar cane equipment that farmed the land that the bcs has a hard time … the agitated plow , and the tiller both have a super hard time breaking up the soil … nothing like the commercials for the bcs ! The tractor hits hard ground and takes off running you spend the day fighting so hard to control it … and the plow will just float instead of grabbing making tractor run … I ended up tilling first with my 40 hp tractor and then using bcs … it worked awesome makes great finished rows …if your farm is big enough I would consider a 20 to 25 hp compact tractor with a bucket …can find good ones used between 10 and 15 k …. it’s slightly bigger then a riding lawnmower … if I only had one tool and a small market farm that’s definitely what I would buy … Aloha

[@devinsullivan7233]

Forget the rototiller. The rotary plow attachment for the bcs is the biggest game changer in the history of ground preparation for market gardening.

[@devinsullivan7233]

Stop waiting until your ground is hard and dry to try and rototill. Also a rotary plow is what you need to make tall ridges with deep soil that will drain. Rototilling is destroying your soil structure and causing a compaction layer where the tiller bottoms out. This will happen worse with a tractor. The reason you’re BCS is trying to run away is because of that compaction layer. What you really need is to hire a large tractor or bull dozer with a chisel plow or a single tine ripper to rip your soil and break that hard layer underneath, then your bcs would work that soil easily. Also add gypsum powder and composted manure to your beds every year.

[@noahdodd-d4d]

@@devinsullivan7233 hmm not sure how I’m waiting too long … I guess I need a time machine … my comment was to help anyone on the fence about the purchase the bcs is cool just not always as easy to use as it looks and for anyone else getting older it’s something to think about … the adgittated plow is cool wish it was e say to find for a sub compact tractor ….. I till once in most situations and then run a no till program fairly common not ruining soil

[@MichaelDarst]

For poor germination, he can also check what his sand is made from. In my area it's made from limestone, which will make your mix alkaline, causing poor germination as well.

[@MikeV607]

I've had an 8hp Troybilt Horse tiller since the 80's. I don't deep till these days, but use the tiller like a tilther, tilling only 1-2" deep. I grow winter rye, then in the spring, I chop with my DR Trimmer (weedeater), then shallow till to terminate the rye.

[@devinsullivan7233]

Those old school Troy built tillers are well built machines. The new Troy built are junk. BCS is on another level though.

[@brokenmeats5928]

I love ALL No-Till Growers videos!

[@Travidavi]

Good job today

[@WesternMONo-TillGardening]

I start most of my seeds in mini blocks indoors. If the seeds are supposed to be covered, I use fine vermiculite, My basement (where my lights are) runs super cold and I don't have heat mats, so I put the trays in any random spot upstairs with a dome on until they germinate, then I take off the dome and move them into the basement under lights. I switch to bottom watering in a week or so. I hope to make my own mix one day, but for right now I use sifted Coco Loco (FoxFarm), which has worked very well for me. My germination rate is pretty good.

[@kushscentedbeard]

Didn't expect to hear you mention twitch lol my other life bleeding through to my new hobbies

[@keitho3133]

The issue on the poor germination may actually be the seed. They didn't say how long they had been stored. If you are keeping seeds more than a month and especially for the next year it's best to put them in the fridge.

[@VictoriousGardenosaurus]

I've never stored in the fridge, but ensure a dark place in the back of a cabinet for a constant temperature. It's worked well for me so far.

[@peteredwards876]

Thanks for the input on BCS ... I wonder if anyone has done a comparison on the best value for money i.e. investing in the lower horsepower versions that are more affordable vs the bigger ones closer to $5K upwards. Obviously context and farm size is important but for someone who might be thinking of importing it into a small developing island state to deal with some bed prep but mostly weed and bush control I'm wondering out loud. Also - it may come up in future episodes but given what is happening to US federal agencies I wonder about the potential impact of lost grants for example NRCS High Tunnels, since that may have a negative on market gardeners and regenerative ag practitioners ability to bootstrap and move their operations forward.

[@Jon-q9c]

Bootstrapping and government grants are kinda opposite.

[@devinsullivan7233]

The bcs 739 is the best one! It is big enough to do any of the work of the bigger units. But small enough to maneuver in small backyards or tight spaces. I even use it inside my greenhouses. Make sure to get the rotary plow attachment it’s a game changer.

[@williambrown9341]

I dream to equip my walk-behind tractor (brand Ferrari here) with a roto-spader tool (if you know what I refer to). Thus avoiding horizontal smoothing of my heavy clay soil. And achieving kind of the job that does a flail-mower (what I think possible but do not really know). Because, here in France, no brand wide distributed like BCS, and a handy-walky flail-mower is just so expensive (because also no exists as a separate tool to plug in). Also, one question about seedlings and Winstrip : My trays (with growing plants inside) are placed in a direct light ambiance (glass-house, not greenhouse equiped with a diffusive cover) And I check the temperature today of the substrate 30°C for the cells (first row towards south or west). Horrible I feel it. The plants, maybe not as much as me, but still. With a alu+polystyrene stripe, I manage to keep the stuff around 25°C. More decent. But that's bothering me. Imagine I want to plant them early in a 13-15°C field soil... What a change. Ok, for now, with indoor, substrate during the night temp is already going down. But in a general scheme, that rootzone temp is a limit to the averall quality of either seedlings growth if to high, or either with transplanting recovery when exists a need to adapt for a big difference in rootzone temperature. The thick plastic of the Winstrip is not useful here, as the empty mini-cells for aeration/spacing which accumulate heat. One solution would be to design a wet floor for all the seedlings to help keeping the subtrate at some more normal soil temperature. Actually, it was not a question... Maybe more to hear from someone on the topic

[@abydosianchulac2]

Yup, Twitch is almost entirely live streaming. Good stab in the dark.

[@howmygardengrows3080]

Woot woot! First place!! ❤❤

[@KorvidRavenscraft]

6:15- your *joke* has poor germination 😉🤣

[@Nellyontheland]

I found it odd that youtube has yet again removed my sumple comments on the ownership of a BCS machine. 😮

[@notillgrowers]

Did you post a link? YT hates that. Otherwise I truly have no idea the rhyme or reason 🤷

[@Nellyontheland]

@notillgrowers Believe it or not. I just had another taken down. This time I know why. I also know it wasn't you.