- Why should plowing be done well in advance?
- What should be the distance between seed plowing and sowing itself?
At least 10 days before sowing
In principle, ploughing for winter cereals, generally seed ploughing, is best done no later than about 10-14 days before sowing, with the most common period being about 10 days. Remember that ploughing is quite an invasive procedure, it is a serious interference in the soil structure. So the earth, as an organism, needs some time to restore normal life processes. Here, water seepage plays a special role, which should be restored within 10-14 days.
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When it's dry – there are no good solutions
It is difficult to find good solutions in the case of plough cultivation when it is dry. The quality of ploughing in such conditions is already debatable, but in the context of soil moisture resources the situation becomes even more difficult. Theoretically, sowing should be started as soon as possible after ploughing to use the remaining moisture. On the other hand, such actions are not desirable because the soil will not have time to settle.
Despite the fact that it is best to plough for winter cereals at least 10-14 days before sowing, if the soil conditions are not at least optimal, i.e. there is a strong drought, the plough will put up a lot of resistance, let's postpone this procedure. If the forecast predicts rainfall, let's wait and plough later. It is better to maintain a shorter period between ploughing and sowing than to deepen the drought by ploughing dry soil. Alternatively, you can wait a minimum of the sowing date to allow the depth to stabilize after ploughing. However, if we plan ploughing at the last minute, it becomes necessary to use rollers (e.g. Campbell roller), which will accelerate soil settlement.
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It is best to wait 3-4 weeks
The previously mentioned 10-14 day interval between ploughing and sowing is the minimum in the case of standard weather and field conditions. It is best if ploughing is done 3-4 weeks before the planned sowing. That is – we plan sowing at the end of September, we even do ploughing at the beginning of that month. Of course, if the conditions are favorable. However, we must reckon with the fact that weeds will "pop out" before sowing, but we should get rid of them without any problems during pre-sowing cultivation or after the passage of the cultivation and sowing unit.
Each farm approaches the subject slightly differently, but the field situation is always different. The optimal time in which the soil restores subsoil, biological life begins "again" in it, is about 2-4 weeks. However, the interval maintained must be correlated with the appropriate soil moisture. Otherwise, in the case of severe drying, ploughing only intensifies the drought – in such a situation you have to wait.
