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Developing Seeding Rates for Conservation Plantings
Ramona GarnerPM Specialist
East National Technology Support Center
Choosing a Seed Mix
Each disturbed site is unique and seed mixes should reflect the sites:
climate
soils
environmental setting
proposed land use
the desired plant community
Establish
Persist
Seeding Rate
the number of seeds placed in a unit area of soil
Seeding Rate
typically expressed as pounds per acre
derived from seed per square foot
21 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11INCHES
21 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11INCHES
What you need to know Pure Live Seed (PLS)
number of seed per pound
planting area
desired seeding rate
Pure Live SeedPLS = % germination X % purity
100
Americus IndiangrassLot # GAPMC2010-F23
83.29% PURE SEED GERMINATION: 73%
00.00% OTHER CROP SEED ORIGIN: GEORGIA
16.71% INERT MATTER TEST DATE: 11/10
00.00% WEED SEED NET WEIGHT: 10 LBS
NOXIOUS WEED SEED: NONE FOUND
PLS = 73 germination X 83.29 purity = 60.8
100
Pure Live Seed:
Hedge your bets:
Small seeded grasses and forbs have emergence of ~52% if germination is greater than 80%
~33% if germination is between 60 and 80%
Munshower, Frank F. 1994. Practical Handbook of Disturbed Land Revegetation. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL
All seed has the potential to germinate
Seed Per Pound
PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov)
Seed Per Pound Seed Catalogs
Internet Search
What we need to know?
Plant Seed Per Pound PLS
Indiangrass 174,720 61%
little bluestem 240,670 68%
lanceleaf tickseed 221,000 48%
purple coneflower 115,664 52%
joe pye weed 1,500,000 26%
Planting Area: 1 acre = 43,560 ft2
Desired Seeding Rate = 30 seed/ft2
Calculating Pounds Per Acre
Plant Seed Per Pound
PLS Seed Per Acre
Pounds Per Acre
Without PLS
Indiangrass 174,720 61% 1,816,452 10.39 - 2.91
little bluestem 240,670 68% 1,724,976 7.17 - 1.75
lanceleaf tickseed 221,000 48% 1,986,336 8.99 - 3.08
purple coneflower 115,664 52% 1,934,064 16.72 - 5.42
joe pye weed 1,500,000 26% 2,640,000 1.76 - 0.89
seed needed = seed/ft2 X total area (in ft2)
seed needed = 30 X 43,560 = 1,306,800
PLS seed needed = 1,306,800 + 39% = 1,816,452
Pounds per Acre = Seed Per Acre / Seed Per Pound
1,816,452 / 174,720 = 10.39
EXCEL SPREADSHEETS
Florida Seed Mix Calculator
Contact: Mimi [email protected]
New York Seed Mix Calculator
Contact: Paul [email protected]
