Last fall I had a field overseeded with alfalfa, timothy, and orchard grass with no till drill. We had already went over this before, it was overseeded very heavily.
It was overseeded during a drought in September though we did get some rain soon after it was seeded. Then alfalfa started popping up. Then there was a 90 degree scorcher in October.
This spring, only alfalfa came up on the edge of the field where it was shaded from the tree line (surrounded by trees on 3 of the 4 sides). I figured it was a total loss. It looked like the orchard grass did take though.
First cut happened during the last week of June (grass was well seeded out). About two weeks after that I fertilized (it's been dry here and I had to wait until there would be certain rain). Soil test at the beginning of the season showed the soil was very depleted. The day I fertilized there was a light sprinkle afterwards and the following day about 1/4" rain.
Now I see alfalfa popping up everywhere, it's very thick on the edges of the field, almost straight alfalfa. It's not thick in the middle of the field, but it's there now and wasn't there before.
Did the seeds go dormant and germinate once they got the nutrients? Will the alfalfa stand continue to thicken a bit (I expect the OG will) or is what I see what I get? The alfalfa plants coming up aren't going gangbusters by any means, they're about 4 inches tall. I suspect they're still deprived of micronutrients.
I hope to get a heavy application of dairy manure on it next spring and hopefully that helps it take off.
Alfalfa coming back from the dead?
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