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Pastimes : Gardening and Especially Tomato Growing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Shoot1st who wrote (3052)	11/18/2019 2:43:05 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3495

I was reading about the subject a while back, and the modern consensus seems to be that tilling does more damage than good and that it is not necessary. The core idea being that tilling causes soil erosion, reduces the water absorption, and overall destroys the underground ecosystem that is necessary for plant life.

To: Shoot1st who wrote (3052)	11/18/2019 3:29:38 PM
From: Cogito Ergo Sum	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3495

Shootie.. Kubota has good tiller attachments.. but (I realise this is a one off start up big till job maybe..) but over tilling is not good either.. It can cause hard pan.. You will have a good sized area and I would till prior to year one planting.. but read up on this en.wikipedia.org so you may decide to just rent a tiller attachment as needed.. When I went back to school after retiring from being a software cowboy.. I took landscaping at a local college 2 year deal... No tilling was all the rage... academics especially professed it caused hard pan down lower... this has not been my experience... That (subsurface hardpan) is what leads to erosion on hilly terrain.. my 8500 sq ft are pretty flat as I have continued the previous guy's work of terracing it.. (That was the reason for the concrete garbage cans I repurposed mentioned earlier here) This spring I tilled my potato area as I had first planted mustard as a potato beetle and other pest destroyer.. It provides green manure essentially and is anti pest add on that cannot be any greener :) .. So I tilled it in and it worked great... I tilled the area where the garlic had been as the taters go there next year and the garlic will go where the taters were this year.. Rotation Rotation Rotation :) Now I till in a lot a LOT of leaves and other plant material as natural compost... So far so good.. so when tilling I would say make sure you have LOTS of plant material going in... Also on a first till to help prevent weeds you may want to blow a lot of the material off for year one.. subsequently though just plow it back in and if you can blow leaves all over it in fall to till in bonus... We may be looking different economies of scale though.. as mentioned my plot is large for an urban (OK HUGE LOL) garden plot at 8500 Sqft.. not I use a little tiller attachment on my Stihl Kombi as I use the main tool which is awesome for my gardenbiz.. For first off jobs I usually rent a large rear tyne tiller from a Home depot... which would be similar to an attachment on your Kubota.. The Stihl is great also for doing a very shallow preplant till.. as I am planting by hand of course.. I am fast.. but fluffy soil is just easier :)) Again depends on your area under cultivation... Blackie

To: Shoot1st who wrote (3052)	11/19/2019 2:59:03 AM
From: robert b furman	1 Recommendation Recommended By Cogito Ergo Sum Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3495

HI Shootie, I use a roto tiller for my deer food plots. It has a 3 point hitch and can be purchased at Fleet Farm. The brand is King kutter - gear driven. Till the land every year and it works great (eliminates heavy sod growth after year one. I've used plot seed from Whitetail International. Till in fertilizer and hand broadcast seed. Re fertilize with 19-19-19 after 30 - 45 days after broadcasting. I have 3-4 inch beets and radishes that are bigger than my wrist and extend up 6 inches from the ground. Excellent winter feed for the deer. Still learning as this is the second year I've done food plots. Hope that helps. Bob

To: Shoot1st who wrote (3052)	11/19/2019 3:11:31 PM
From: the longhorn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3495

Hi, I think you are right in avoiding a plow. I think Bob's suggestion on the roto tiller is a good one but it will require some power on the pto. You might want to make sure you have enough. 20 hp is a bit light for those tillers, I think. The disc attachment should be a good backup plan and should work. It's kind of fun doing that kind of stuff. Have you figured out what you want to plant? Root crops like Bob suggested do well. Triticale (a wheat, grass combination plant) is easy to start and grow..assuming you get decent moisture. You could do a combined seed mixture of trit with the root crops. lh