Seeding is the easiest approach to establishment of prairie grasses and forbs but transplants should establish earlier and can be set out according to a design. The way that seedlings are grown can influence their survival and growth after transplanting. We were interested to determine

• whether seedlings established better after production in topsoil or greenhouse mix
• whether compaction of the growing medium led to better establishment
• whether seedlings established better in tilled or untilled soil

Part of the area within the seed mix evaluation experiment was set aside for establishment of grass and forb seedlings produced under different conditions in the greenhouse.

The area (20X20') was divided into 4 10' squares:

• The whole area had been treated with Roundup in early April. Remaining weeds were similarly treated April 12 and then hand-weeded May 3.
• Two squares were left untilled and two were tilled with a fork to a depth of 10" June 11.

• seedlings were grown in a greenhouse mix (Metromix 350) or commercial top-soil
• 16 of 32 cells in a flat were loose-filled with one of these media (uncompacted) and 16 others were compacted with a 1 kg weight
• see key below