Anyone who has
looked inside a bag of Whitetail Institute perennial seed will likely say they
immediately noticed the seeds are various shades of blue, red, yellow, gray and
green. The same is true of many Whitetail Institute annual seeds.
These are the
colors of the seed coatings the Whitetail Institute applies to its perennial
seeds and to annual seeds that benefit from coatings. Not all food plot seed
companies go to the extra time, effort and expense of coating their seeds. So,
why does the Whitetail Institute do so? For one reason: to help maximize your
odds of food plot success.
Much has been written in the Whitetail News about other
aspects of the Whitetail Institute’s scientific research, development and
testing. Comparatively little, though, has been said about Whitetail Institute
seed coatings. This is something you will likely see covered more often,
because Whitetail Institute seed coatings are an extremely important part of
product performance. Unfortunately, some seed sellers try to confuse potential
buyers into thinking seed coatings are a negative. As I hope you’ll learn,
Whitetail Institute seed coatings are beneficial and an important part of the
company’s exhaustive approach to
maximizing product performance. What are
seed coatings? Seed coatings are seed-treatment or seed-dressing materials
designed to be applied and adhere to raw seed. Depending on the type of seed
being treated, coatings help protect seeds before they germinate, regulate and
stimulate seedling growth after germination, and otherwise enhance seed
performance. Although seed coatings continue to improve as technology
progresses, the idea of coating seeds is nothing new. In fact, it’s a matter of
global research and development. Just do a web search for “applied seed
technology,” and you’ll see what I mean. Are seed coatings always a benefit to seed
performance? No. There is one situation in which seed coatings provide no
benefit: when the seed’s growth environment is perfect, at the moment the seed
germinates and consistently through the first few weeks after germination,
while the seedling and its roots are still developing. When you consider how many factors affect a
seed’s growth environment, you can understand why perfection is rare. For
example, the type of soil in the seedbed must be optimum for the seed variety
planted; the seedbed must be correctly prepared so the soil isn’t too hard or
loose; the soil must contain optimum levels of essential nutrients; the seed
must be planted at optimum depth relative to the surface of the soil;
seed-to-soil contact must be excellent; the soil must contain necessary
bacteria for that type of seed to grow and flourish, and water must be
consistently available in optimum levels. Given that, you can understand why a
perfect growing environment is rare. And
even more important, no matter what we do, we can never be sure our food plot
seeds will have a perfect growing environment. Although we can do our part to
provide the best growing environment, some factors will always pose a risk
because they are beyond our control. And that’s where seed coatings come into
play. They stack the odds of having a successful planting in your favor by
substantially reducing risks you can’t eliminate.
Seed Coatings Reduce the Likelihood of Risks
You Can’t Control
Consider two conditions that can damage or
kill a food plot during the weeks after planting: low soil pH and lack of
moisture in the soil. Low soil pH is a problem we can easily identify and
correct before planting. Low rainfall right after planting, though, isn’t.
Whitetail Institute seed coatings substantially reduce the likelihood that
seedlings will die because of lack of moisture if Mother Nature shuts off
rainfall right after planting.
Consistent Access to Moisture
If water availability is inconsistent soon
after planting, coated seed can mean the difference between a great food plot
and a poor plot. In extreme cases, it can mean the difference whether a
planting even survives. Seeds consist
of an outer shell that encloses a plant embryo and supplies the food the
embryo will need during its early growth stages. A trigger is required to start
the growth process (to germinate the seed). That trigger is usually water. When water penetrates the seed coating, the
embryo begins to grow, and after enough water is absorbed, the outer shell
splits open and the seedling plant emerges. During the seedling stage — from
germination through the next few weeks — plants are at their most vulnerable
to fluctuations in moisture because their roots are still developing. Next, let’s look at three ways Whitetail
Institute seed coatings reduce the risk of seedling damage or death because of
lack of moisture.
1. Whitetail Institute seed coatings help
delay germination until sufficient moisture is present in the soil to sustain
the seedling. When sufficient moisture
is available to penetrate the seed coating and germinate the seed, the seed is
fully committed, and if the seedling dries out and dies, it can’t be brought
back to life via re-wetting. Again,
seed coatings provide no advantage to water availability if the seedling’s
access to water remains otherwise consistently optimum as the seed germinates
and the seedling grows. If planted raw (uncoated), though, some types of seeds
can germinate on moisture amounts that are too low to sustain the seedling. If
that happens, the plant can die. Whitetail Institute seed coatings can help
minimize the chance of seedlings dying from lack of moisture. After sufficient moisture exists to penetrate the seed coating
and germinate the seed, the role of the coating material changes. Instead of
inhibiting moisture absorption, the coating material helps facilitate moisture
transfer from the soil to the seed. As we’ll discuss, Whitetail Institute seed
coatings do this in two ways.
2. Whitetail Institute strategically uses
Rainbond, which acts as a mini-reservoir that keeps moisture next to the seed
as it germinates and starts to grow. After rain, moisture that isn’t used by plants is eventually
lost by percolation through the soil or evaporation. Rainbond is an absorbent
material in Whitetail Institute seed coatings that acts as a mini-reservoir,
retaining up to 200 times its weight in water that might otherwise be lost, and
then keeping it next to the seed as it germinates and grows. And as the
seedling uses the moisture Rainbond holds, Rainbond continually replenishes its
supply by drawing more moisture from the soil. So, when rainfall is less than
optimum after planting, Rainbond’s ability to help ensure consistent moisture
availability to early seedlings cannot be overstated.
3. The seed coating helps optimize
seed-to-soil contact. Liming,
fertilizing, disking, tilling, smoothing, firming and planting the seed at the
correct depth are common mechanical actions involved in preparing and planting
a seedbed. How well they are performed is within your control, and they are
important for one main reason: They contribute to ensuring optimum seed-to-soil
contact. Seed coatings improve seed-to-soil contact even more by increasing
the moisture absorbing surface area of the seed.
Inoculation of Legume Seeds
As mentioned, coatings help improve seed
performance by protecting seeds before they germinate, regulating and
stimulating seedling growth after germination, and enhancing seed and seedling
performance. In addition to enhancing water availability and transfer, Whitetail
Institute includes the appropriate inoculants (rhizobia) in its legume-seed
coatings to ensure that nitrogen fixing can occur.
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped clarify what’s
important when you’re shopping for seed. It’s not how many seeds you buy. It’s
how many plants you grow. And coating seeds is one of many steps the Whitetail
Institute takes to help ensure your food plot success.
