Row Spacing

[highway]

Please excuse my ignorance, I am new at all of this.

I would like to plant some sweet corn and potatoes in a newly plowed pasture this year. I have my cub set up with the 44" rear wheel spacing as that is the reccomended set up for the plow chief single point fasthitch.

May I use the same 44" wheel spacing for planting rows of corn and then cultivating it as needed? I will be making my own tool bar fro the fasthitch and will be able to adjust the tines for proper spacing.

I was thinking I could use my tire tracks as a guide for planting and would use a walk behind planter to actually do the planting of the seed.

Am I thinking about this the right way? I have never plowed or cultivated with the cub before. This is all new to me.

Thanks


ED

[DirtDoc]

Highway- Welcome to the gardening forum. Many on here use the tire track to mark off their rows. I have cultivated as narrow as 30" rows. Was a bit tight tho. A few other pointers- Get a soil test- your local county extension office will be a tremendous help for you there. Best to know what your fertility level is to be successful. Plant your sweet corn in blocks of rows. example- instead of 2 long rows, make 4 short rows, it helps with pollination. Potato's- remember that after you plant your spuds, the potato's you harvest will form above the "seed" you planted. Most will cover them with about 2'' of soil and then hill up soil up around the plant as it grows. You end up with about 6 to 8 inches around the plant. That way most of your new tators will be easier to dig up. Ask any questions that you have, we enjoy helping others...Greg PS we like pics.. when you make your tool bar-show it off

[dirtyred]

we planted ours using 30 insh rows. laid them off then used a push planter, but next year hopefully my super a is running

[KETCHAM]

Yep I use tire tracks in my garden.Works great!!! I hope to have a great garden this year.Going from grass field to garden you are going to fight a lot of grass and weeds,unless you killed the grass first.3rd year garden from a grass field and still fighting a few weeds!!! Gets better every year though.Kevin

[Trent M]

Ed- Your method reads nearly exactly like what I do each year. You should be fine.

[challenger]

I am also new to the Cub world and gardening. I have a cultivator for the Cub I just bought and plan to use the 40" spacing for sweet corn. I have not put the cultivators on and do not even know for sure but assume the Cub only does one row at a time. Thus, if I set my two row IH 56 planter for 40" spacing I assume I straddle a single row while cultivating with the wheels running down on each side of the row. This would mean that on the return I would need to track back over one wheel track when cultivating the adjoining row. Is this the way its works? Additionally, someone suggested that when I plant the corn I should run a return row right next to the rows I just planted and this double row planting technique would just make the row a little wider but increase my production. Anyone heard or tried this technique. Thanks.

[Billy Fussell]

I am lucky to have a planter and cultivators. When my garden is ready to plant, I plant my first row, turn around at the end and come back up, using my tire track from the first row as a marker. That way, alll your rows will be the same width, whatever your tires are set at. Mine are at 40 or 42 in., can't remember which. Then when you cultivate, you straddle the row, again using your tracks as guides. But instead of coming right back up beside what you just cultivated, this time go down 4 or 5 rows, turn in and come up that row using your tracks as guides. That way, you can cultivate in a "circle" without having to do some much stopping, turning, and starting. This works for me.

Billy

[DanR]

It's not good to hill up with a Super A then try to cultivate with a Cub.

[Boss Hog]

It's not good to hill up with a Super A then try to cultivate with a Cub.

If you have the wheels set right it is no problem. I use the cubs and 140s together all the time.

[Bill Hudson]

Ed,

DirtDoc is right on the money. Contact Seth Wilner at your local NH Cooperative Extension office. Here is the contact information:

24 Main Street
Newport, NH 03773
Phone: 603-863-9200
Fax: 603-863-4730
Hours: Monday-Friday: 8:00 - 4:30

Good luck.

Bill

[DirtDoc]

Bill.. I learned from the Master Gardener Program from the good folks at the cooperative extension agency.. a tremendous program for anyone wanting to learn about gardening and other fun facts...Greg

[highway]

Thanks for the info. I got the corn in yesterday and used the method described above. Worked great.

planted 4 100 foot long rows on pasture that has been plowed under and disced.

Ed