Like all legumes, lucerne needs to be inoculated prior to sowing to ensure adequate rhizobia for good nitrogen fixation.
Limitations
- Legumes need to be infected by soil borne rhizobia bacteria which is not always present in Australian soils.
- Traditional inoculation by slurry treatment is slow and messy and offers only a short life of applied rhizobia – 3-5 days.
- Traditional lime coating falls off during the sowing process restricting seeding rate over time and causing uneven sowing.
What is Superstrike?
As the name implies, Superstrike is new technology seed coating designed and tested to improve establishment rate of legumes. It includes:
- Superior strains of rhizobia.
- Higher levels of applied rhizobia than slurry.
- Molybdenum trace element for early development.
- Fungicide to combat unseen pythium and phytopthera disease.
- Lime and polymer coating to ensure safe encapsulation.
Benefits
- Longer life inoculation – increased from 3-5 days out to 26 weeks.
- You can get your seed early and sow on time – when it suits.
- Better plant establishment rates.
- Consistent flow through combines and air seeders.
Superstrike Plus
- Red-legged earthmite (RLEM) is the greatest cause of legume establishment losses in temperate pastures. Superstrike Plus includes Gaucho®, a systemic insecticide which protects against RLEM for 3-4 weeks.
Trials have shown significant improvements in clover establishment using Superstrike Plus over untreated seed or post-emergent insecticide application.
When ordering your seed request Superstrike or Superstrike Plus — the most timely and flexible seed treatment options.
Coating ratios
Due to the strong benefits of sowing coated seed, most high value lucerne seed is sold coated. Please ensure that seed coating is within its due date for best results. Also be aware that coating ratios may vary between companies (from 1.25:1 up to 1.8:1), so check coating ratios with your supplier.
Seed coatings also vary considerably in terms of what is included in the coat. These can range from the inclusion of fungicides only or longlife inoculation only to a combination of inoculant, fungicide, insecticide and trace elements.
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