Fran₂o French Serradella

Yes, we recommend podded Fran2o Serradella for summer sowing. It's hard seeded, with a hard-seed breakdown pattern suited to summer sowing, so pod sown in February or early March is ready to germinate at the break. Sow the pod 5 to 10 mm deep. It suits acid sandy and loamy soils.

For summer sowing podded Fran2o Serradella, our tech sheet recommends 15 to 20 kg/ha of pod in February or early March. For winter sowing from April to early June, use 5 to 7 kg/ha of dehulled or scarified seed. Sow summer pod shallow, around 5 to 10 mm.

We recommend Fran2o Serradella. It flowers about two weeks earlier than Margurita, at around 90 days, which gives it good adaptation to low rainfall zones. It was specifically bred for summer sowing in low and medium rainfall areas, and suits acid sandy and loamy soils with pH (CaCl2) 4 to 7.

Yes, Fran2o Serradella has about 25% larger seed than Margurita, which gives it better early vigour. It's hard seeded like Margurita but flowers roughly two weeks earlier. It suits acid sandy and loamy soils with more than 20 cm of topsoil, and is highly palatable and very productive in spring.

In serradella such as our Fran2o, we recommend spraying for redlegged earth mite post-sowing or pre-emergent, and monitoring for native budworm in spring during seed set. Good pest control at these stages protects both establishment and the seed that drives regeneration in following years.

For Fran2o Serradella, our tech sheet lists imazethapyr and propyzamide applied pre-sowing for capeweed and grass suppression, and imazethapyr or imazamox post-emergent for broadleaf weeds. One or two knockdowns before sowing are preferable. Always follow current product labels and check with your agronomist.

Not with Fran2o. It's a licensed variety, bred at Murdoch University and commercialised by LegumeN2, and seed or pod must not be harvested and sold unless under licence. Buying only from licensed producers protects its hard-seed trait, earliness and vigour. We supply Fran2o under licence from LegumeN2.

Fran2o Serradella works with Italian ryegrass, fescue, panic or Rhodes grass, and legumes like biserrula, gland clover, sub clover and other serradellas. From our range, consider Achieve ryegrass, Gatton Panic, Casbah Biserrula or Prima Gland. We can blend a Custom Mix to suit your soil and rainfall.

Yes, Fran2o is very productive in spring with high nutritive value for grazing, silage and hay. We recommend cutting for silage at pre-flowering to early flowering, and for hay at early to mid flowering. At flowering it typically runs 15 to 25% crude protein and 65 to 75% dry matter digestibility.

Both are hard-seeded, pink-flowered French serradellas that can be summer sown in pod. Fran2o is the newer, improved option: it flowers about two weeks earlier, at around 90 days, and has roughly 25% larger seed for better early vigour, suiting lower rainfall areas. Margurita is a little later maturing and a proven Cadiz replacement.