TOPIC: Scotts vs Hankins methods

Hey Guys,

I got out and planted another 5 oz of seed this evening.

I got a pound in last Friday evening and planted 5-6 oz on Saturday, but did not get to plant anymore until this evening and I planted about another 5 oz or so.

I just weighed what I have left and I have 5.2 oz left from the pound. Plan to get that in the ground tomorrow morning.

We got a good slow rain this week and man the leaves and woods soil is nice a moist and worked up real good this evening.

Thought I would try forcing myself to do Scotts method (including specifically how he only used a leaf rake).

This evening I just raked back the leaves good, cleared a 5x50' strip, then started at the top of that strip and worked my way back down the bed running my leaf rake from side to side pressing down hard to rake up the dirt best I could.

It basically made little furrows back and fourth across the bed and since it was good a soft with the rain this week it actually worked up nicely and was not too much work either.

I then started at the bottom and dropped seeds. I just start at one side and go across doing my best to space them out 4-5\" and then I go up about 6\" and go back across.

Of course they bounce a little and go where they want, but I do my best to end up with that 4-5 seeds per sq ft that Scott recommends.

Then I applied a bit of gypsum, little bone meal, and then raked the soft leaf mulch back on, then the leaves, then walked up and down the bed stepping on every spot.

PS - When I rake the leaves back I try to just get the leaves on the first rake or two, and I push that pile back a bit, then I rake down hard and get that composted leaf litter and some of the very loose soil and rake it over to the edge of the bed.

After I drop the seed and fertilize, I go back up and rake that leaf mulch and soil on first, then the leaves, then walk it good to press all that down.

I think that is a good method, small tweak that should produce good results.

Anyway - I forced myself to do it without cultivating with anything extra this evening, nothing but my leaf rake. Was happy with the results. No aching back either and got quite a bit of seed planted in just a little time.

If you read Scotts instructions he used nothing but a leaf rake and said that droping 4-5 seeds per sq foot, should give you 1-2 mature plants per sq ft in the end.

The Hankins method - the major difference is the cultivation, digging a furrow, putting the seed under dirt, much more back aching labor involved (yep I know - did that in my first planting).

If you look at what they both say Scott vs Hankins on seed planted and dry root harvested.

Scott says 12.5 lbs seed yields about 80 lbs of dry root.

Hankins says for every 1 lb seed he gets about 7 lbs dry root.
At that rate 12.5 lbs seed would produce 87.5 lbs dry root.

Not a lot of difference in root yield for the same amount of seed, but a lot of difference in how you plant the seed, how much hard work (cultivation) is involved.

So now I have some planted Hankins method, Then others more like Classic fur does where I cultivated with the garden weasel, or garden rake, stirrup hoe, and now I have some where I used nothing to cultivate with but the garden rake (as Scott suggest).

I guess time will tell if any of these are superior to the others, but labor wise on the planting this evenings planting was by far the best so far.

Hope you guys all have a Great Weekend !

TNhunter

TNHunter

Glad your planting is going well.

In Scotts book, the Hankins method is used only because the planting site is not ideal. He makes the furrows and covers the seed to keep them moist and also spaces the rows farther apart.

For the last three years I have planted using two different methods. One is like Scott uses ( just rake leaves back,scratch soil,drop seeds,step on them and rake leaves back on.)

Then I also use something similiar to the hankins method. I make my beds 6 feet wide. I use a tiller but only till about 2 inches deep. I make my rows using a hoe going across the bed, about 8 inches apart. I plant my seeds 3 or 4 inches apart in the rows and then cover them up using a leaf rake. Rake the leaves on for mulch and move on to the next bed. I get very good germination using this method. I guess this method is more like Oscar in Scotts book.(I dont remove all the tree roots and I dont till as deep.)

Looking forward to hearing the results of the different methods you have used.

Lenno

Lenno,

Yep - I do understand that Hankins recommends his method for sites that are not ideal for seng.

But with both Scotts and Hankins methods you rake the leaves off and back on.

With both methods you can add fertilizer (gypsum, rock phosphate or bone meal) which to me seems to be the part you would need most if the site is not ideal for seng.

Hankins method does space the seed out more which would reduce the chance of disease but then again if you can add fertilizer the same with either method and gypsum (calcium) levels are maintained with either method, not so sure either method is going to more or less likely to have disease problems.

Also with Scotts method you could reduce the seeding rate if you were concerned about disease so you could easily tweak that if you wanted.

The big difference is the cultivation.

If you do it by hand as they suggest, it is a lot of work.

I planted a 5' x 100' bed and did 4 furrows about 3/4\" to 1\" deep.
It took me 5 hours to plant around 1500 seed that way.
And man I was whipped good at the end.

Yesterday evening using Scotts method (minimum cultivation with leaf rake only) and 4-5 seeds per sq ft, I planted 1/3 pound of seeds 2300-2500 seeds, in about a hour and a half.

If I could keep that planting speed rate up for 5-6 hours would have a pound planted (7000-8000 seeds) in about the same amount of time it took me to plant 1500 with Hankins method (using hand tool only to make those furrows).

I am glad I did the Hankins method planting so I will have that to compare with the others next spring and over the next few years.

But just looking at the amount of time and hard work it takes for Hankins method compared to Scotts, and considering Scott says his method should produce 1-2 mature plants per sq foot at harvest time (he calls that ideal) I am sure leaning towards Scotts method now.

The Hankins method if you could use a power tool to get that cultivatin done (like you are) then you could easily make those furrows with a garden hoe. That would sure make a difference, but still would be quite a bit more work than Scotts.

TNhunter

TNHunter

I agree Scotts method is a lot faster and easier. I planted 2 pounds like that this fall. We still havent had a good rain here and Im a little worried they may dry out. I guess wait and see now. I am not as worried about the seeds I planted the other way, since I know they are all covered good with soil.

Lenno

Hey Guys,

I finished up planting that pound of seed this morning, planting that last 5 oz or so.

Here are a few pics I took today while out there working.

First - here is one of the beds I finished up yesterday, but only marked with the marker flags. This morning I drug up some old limbs/logs and marked the edges of the bed and then removed the marker flags.

Here is the top end of the bed - this one is right at 5' x 50'.



Yep that is some of my old friend maiednhair fern growing just up above this bed. I dug a couple of good 3 prongs up there this fall. I made this bed just below that spot.

TNhunter

Here is the lower end of that bed...

Now on to show a couple of the beds I worked up and planted this morning.

First here are the only tools used.

That is my old seng digger. I sharpened up the 3\" wide blade on it and used it to remove some small saplings from the bed areas. Worked nicely for that.

Other stuff used, a common leaf rake, marker flags, bone meal (N/P/K 00/10/00), and Gypsum, and of course stratified seed.

In this first location I picked a spot along a hickory tree log that had fallen. I first raked back just the leaves and pushed them back, then raked the bed again this time bearing down hard and getting all of that composed leaf litter and some of the top soil raked over to the edge of the leaf pile.

This be ended up being right at 60' long.

Here is one half.

Here is the other half...

Ok - here are the tools and supplies used.

If you look at the bed pics above, you can see the leaf pile, then just at the edge of it the pile of leaf compost and top soil.

After raking the leaves over, and then raking down hard to get that leaf compost and top soil raked over to the edge I did not cultivate any more.

Here is what the soil surface looked like at that point, after dropping seeds. See those future 3 and 4 prongs ?