What To Do
When at
Weather's Whim

© 2002 Wendy Dager

March, 2002

When Albert Hammond wrote the song lyrics for
"It Never Rains in Southern California," he was thinking about love, not seeds.

Hammond wasn't too far off, however, when he said those who believe there's no precipitation here are wrong. Anyone who's lived in sunny SoCal knows it does, indeed, pour.

But not this year.

"The 2001-2002 rainy season to date has consisted of a few early rains that were spaced far apart," said S&S Seeds' Victor Schaff. "There was no rain from just after Christmas until the end of January."

The lack of rain, said Schaff, in addition to subsequent very cold—and often, freezing—weather has created inadequate stand establishment for some hydroseeded projects. And, in certain cases, only a small amount of seed mix germinated, yet weeds have grown.

"This is because the weed seeds are in the ground where moisture is maintained longer than in the quick-drying hydroseeded layer on the top of the ground," said Schaff. (See "Water Works Wonders," waterworks.htm.)

S&S Seeds has also suffered a loss due to frost of several seed production fields at our growing grounds. Many young seedlings froze or there was very little growth.

As reproductive units, seeds are generally expected to germinate and produce plants. The Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at Ohio State University defines germination of seeds as "...the emergence and development from the seed embryo of those essential structures which...are indicative of the ability to produce a normal plant under favorable conditions."

As our regular customers are aware, S&S Seeds offers balanced seed mixes for all California bioregions, supporting the plant and animal populations in each community. These seeds are available in irrigated and non-irrigated varieties.

Our non-irrigated mixes are low-cost, annual or perennial, temporary or permanent erosion control solutions that save valuable topsoil and costly repair and clean-up from runoff. A mix should be planted before the first rains, and emerges within 4 to 8 day—safter a series of rainstorms—taking 30 days to establish.

Under typical climate conditions, non-irrigated mixes will be germinated by naturally occurring water conditions, including dew, soil moisture, and normal rainfall. The resulting stand of plants can survive without artificial watering.

A problem arises, however, when there just isn't enough natural rainfall to establish a stand. In essence, the seeds stay "asleep."

A Wake-Up Call

When seeds won't get up out of bed, just what is a site manager to do?

There are two options.

First, you can wait for rain. However, even if rains occur after the normal rainy season, there may be a substantial die-off of small, late-germinating plants. If waiting doesn't seem viable, the second step is to artificially irrigate a temporary seed mix. Once a stand is established, the plants should be able to do their job as a temporary erosion control measure. Artificial irrigation is not recommended for permanent mixes, as it may damage the seeds or reduce the plants' ability to survive. For long-term, permanent cover, it's best to wait until next year's rainy season. Even if plants do not come up this year, dust controlling erosion cover is firmly in place on hydroseeded projects, particularly if tackifiers or Bonded Fiber Matrices (BFM) were used with the mulch. (See LEAF-let July/August 2001 "Erosion Control Products Put to the Test,"www.albrightseed.com/july01/erosioncontrolproducts.htm.)

And, Albert Hammond's song lyrics notwithstanding, the EPA predicts that, even though we're headed for longer dry spells, the amount of precipitation on wet days may increase as wellso, to quote yet another song, there are still some rainy days—and Mondays—in our future.

Editor's Note: When plants do not provide the soil coverage promised in the construction site's Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, stormwater runoff carrying soil and other pollutants from the site attracts attention from regulators under mandate from the Federal Clean Water Act. For more about water quality regulations, visit www.albrightseed.com/constructionsitepollution.htm.

Albright Seed is a Division of S&S Seeds.

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