Sowing

When sowing it is important to: Among the major field crops, oats, wheat, and rye are sown, grasses and legumes are seeded and maize and soybeans are planted.

In planting, wider rows (generally 75 cm (30 in) or more) are used, and the intent is to have precise; even spacing between individual seeds in the row, various mechanisms have been devised to count out individual seeds at exact intervals.

The standard design uses a fluted feed metering system, which is volumetric in nature; individual seeds are not counted.

Open-field planting refers to the form of sowing used historically in the agricultural context whereby fields are prepared generically and left open, as the name suggests, before being sown directly with seed.

The seed is frequently left uncovered at the surface of the soil before germinating and therefore exposed to the prevailing climate and conditions like storms etc.

This is in contrast to the seedbed method used more commonly in domestic gardening or more specific (modern) agricultural scenarios where the seed is applied beneath the soil surface and monitored and manually tended frequently to ensure more successful growth rates and better yields.

Especially with easily infected tropical fruit such as lychees and rambutans, seed washing with high-temperature water is vital.