Ramona Garner PM Specialist East National Technology Support Center
Each disturbed site is unique and seed mixes should reflect the sites: climate soils environmental setting proposed land use the desired plant community
typically expressed as pounds per acre derived from seed per square foot
INCHES
INCHES
Pure Live Seed (PLS) number of seed per pound planting area desired seeding rate
PLS = % germination X % purity 100 Americus Indiangrass Lot # GAPMC2010-F % PURE SEEDGERMINATION: 73% 00.00% OTHER CROP SEEDORIGIN: GEORGIA 16.71% INERT MATTERTEST DATE: 11/ % WEED SEEDNET WEIGHT: 10 LBS NOXIOUS WEED SEED: NONE FOUND PLS = 73 germination X purity =
Hedge your bets: Small seeded grasses and forbs have emergence of ~52% if germination is greater than 80% ~33% if germination is between 60 and 80% Munshower, Frank F Practical Handbook of Disturbed Land Revegetation. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL All seed has the potential to germinate
PLANTS Database (
Seed Catalogs Internet Search
PlantSeed Per PoundPLS Indiangrass174,72061% little bluestem240,67068% lanceleaf tickseed221,00048% purple coneflower115,66452% joe pye weed1,500,00026% Planting Area: 1 acre = 43,560 ft 2 Desired Seeding Rate = 30 seed/ft 2
PlantSeed Per Pound PLSSeed Per Acre Pounds Per Acre Without PLS Indiangrass174,72061%1,816, little bluestem240,67068%1,724, lanceleaf tickseed221,00048%1,986, purple coneflower115,66452%1,934, joe pye weed1,500,00026%2,640, seed needed = seed/ft 2 X total area (in ft 2 ) seed needed = 30 X 43,560 = 1,306,800 PLS seed needed = 1,306, % = 1,816,452 Pounds per Acre = Seed Per Acre / Seed Per Pound 1,816,452 / 174,720 = 10.39
Florida Seed Mix Calculator Contact: Mimi Williams New York Seed Mix Calculator Contact: Paul Salon