I've never dealt with Millet before and I'm not really a very experienced gardener.
I've drained a couple old ponds with the intention of planting millet for ducks to eat during the winter. I'm in North Louisiana. We had a very wet spring & summer so I was late getting ponds drained down where I wanted them. I planted one patch before I got my soil test results. I (estimated) spread 40 lbs of 8-8-8 and 15-20 lbs of millet seed per acre (Japanese in the wetter areas & Brown top in the higher dryer spots). rained that night. Millet up & doing well 3 days later.
I planted another pond 3 days after the first and spread 40 lbs of Lime, 40 lbs of Amonia Nitrate, & 40 lbs of 8-8-8 per acre along with my millet seed. We've had a lot of rain and it all seemed to be doing good accept for the small amount of seedlings that got completely covered by the rain water. At 10 days after planting the first patch it was raining (3rd day in a row) and the millet looked GREAT! At 13 days (3 days of sunshine & 90-95 degree days it was yellowing. wilted, dying! in some places I couldn't even tell there had been millet there....
The patch that was planted 3 days behind the first (and spread lime & nitrogen on) still looks good....So I thought maybe the first patch was dying from lack of nitrogen.....?
I spread Nitrogen & Lime on what was left & watered it in good.
Is lack of Nitrogen likely to be my problem? My first thought was too much water but the best looking left is standing in shallow water and is taller than the rest.
My test results recommend 120-160 lbs of Nitrogen per acre, 80 Phosphate, 60 Potash,& 1 Ton of Lime per acre...
pH - 4.77
Phosphorus = 13.36
Potassium - 96.72
Calcium - 414.74
Magnesium - 112.77
Sodium - 25.55 Sulfer - 13.48
Copper - .93
Zinc - 2.75
Our County Agent Office Horticulturalist is on Vacation so thought I would try you guys for some advice. Thanks in Advance!
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Briarpatch38
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Briarpatch38
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rainbowgardener
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This is complicated to sort out and a million numbers in there. And there are many different millets, with different cultivation requirements.
When you said "My test results recommend 120-160 lbs of Nitrogen per acre, 80 Phosphate, 60 Potash,& 1 Ton of Lime per acre..." was that just a general recommendation, not specific to growing millet? Millet likes acidic soil, down to pH 5, so your soil was very little more acidic than it likes. You put lime on the second patch, but not on the first?
A lot of millets are drought tolerant, but don't like wet, soggy conditions. The Japanese millet though specifically says it tolerates muddy ground. It likes hot weather so that shouldn't have been the problem.
I have grown small amounts of millet, I don't know anything about planting acres.
Yellowing and wilted sounds like too much water. A drained pond getting lots of rain, standing water, it is hard for me not to think that it was too wet for it, even though the Japanese millet should have been able to tolerate it.
So really my answer is I don't know, but if I had to guess, it was just too wet.
When you said "My test results recommend 120-160 lbs of Nitrogen per acre, 80 Phosphate, 60 Potash,& 1 Ton of Lime per acre..." was that just a general recommendation, not specific to growing millet? Millet likes acidic soil, down to pH 5, so your soil was very little more acidic than it likes. You put lime on the second patch, but not on the first?
A lot of millets are drought tolerant, but don't like wet, soggy conditions. The Japanese millet though specifically says it tolerates muddy ground. It likes hot weather so that shouldn't have been the problem.
I have grown small amounts of millet, I don't know anything about planting acres.
Yellowing and wilted sounds like too much water. A drained pond getting lots of rain, standing water, it is hard for me not to think that it was too wet for it, even though the Japanese millet should have been able to tolerate it.
So really my answer is I don't know, but if I had to guess, it was just too wet.
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applestar
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Do millet seeds grow well in the heat? I've had millet grow in my tiny rice paddy and they usually came up in spring and early summer.
But out of the things that were done, I would wonder about the lime most. What kind of lime did you use? Most of the time, lime is worked into the soil long before crops are seeded or planted. I think at least a month before, maybe longer. If used while crops are in the ground, they might be dug in in a band where the roots haven't reached yet. "Spreading" doesn't sound like a good idea.
I'm moving this thread to the vegetable gardening for now, but maybe it will fit better in the Livestock forum. We'll work that out later.
But out of the things that were done, I would wonder about the lime most. What kind of lime did you use? Most of the time, lime is worked into the soil long before crops are seeded or planted. I think at least a month before, maybe longer. If used while crops are in the ground, they might be dug in in a band where the roots haven't reached yet. "Spreading" doesn't sound like a good idea.
I'm moving this thread to the vegetable gardening for now, but maybe it will fit better in the Livestock forum. We'll work that out later.