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This is exact! Thank you! I tend to go a bit heavy and stick around 50lbs per acre for reasons I stated above vs. a lesser of only 30lbs per acre. Either will work!
Plots Made Easy - First Timers
- Thread starter at1010
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This is exact! Thank you! I tend to go a bit heavy and stick around 50lbs per acre for reasons I stated above vs. a lesser of only 30lbs per acre. Either will work!
buckstar25
Junior Member
Pinwheeling your plot will give you a lot of different options. Depending on the size of your plot you can really create good edge habitat. I only do a small 1 acre plot as I have tons of crop fields around me.
I second the turnip bullshit, we had some awesome turnips and the deer never touched them. Waste of time and money.
Winter peas cannot be beat in my area, everything eats them. I plan on planting sorgum this year to allow the peas to climb. The sorgum will provide some browse protection until the plants start climbing.
Another great option is the forage radish, lettuce, and rape.
I second the turnip bullshit, we had some awesome turnips and the deer never touched them. Waste of time and money.
Winter peas cannot be beat in my area, everything eats them. I plan on planting sorgum this year to allow the peas to climb. The sorgum will provide some browse protection until the plants start climbing.
Another great option is the forage radish, lettuce, and rape.
I know some don't like turnips and tublers for deer plots.
I planted turnips, ground hog radish, and rape. Then overseeded with rye.
I've also read where the deer would not touch the tubes, Guys let me say I'll be doing the same this year with some corn just for something tall standing out there.
It got hammered hard to start with, turnip salad got hammered the most, with the radish and rape second.
Once the acorns started to fall they let up a little, still had deer on it everyday.
They loved that plot. It's about 3/4 acre plot.
below are pic of plot from sept. till jan. It looks like a hog pen with hardly and tublers left, after the cold hit it they absolutly demolished the turnip roots.
don't know why i had the success with mine where others are dissatified with the way theirs turned out, maybe the deer in other areas had other plots they feed on.
I planted turnips, ground hog radish, and rape. Then overseeded with rye.
I've also read where the deer would not touch the tubes, Guys let me say I'll be doing the same this year with some corn just for something tall standing out there.
It got hammered hard to start with, turnip salad got hammered the most, with the radish and rape second.
Once the acorns started to fall they let up a little, still had deer on it everyday.
They loved that plot. It's about 3/4 acre plot.
below are pic of plot from sept. till jan. It looks like a hog pen with hardly and tublers left, after the cold hit it they absolutly demolished the turnip roots.
don't know why i had the success with mine where others are dissatified with the way theirs turned out, maybe the deer in other areas had other plots they feed on.
cspot
Member
Nice pics Jlane! I do think deer in certain areas have different taste preference. I also think that it can take a few years of planting them for deer to figure out the tubers.
Stressless
Active Member
Good stuff, the original post stated Clover fixes Nitrogen which is technically correct, but if you inoculate any legume (clover, alfalfa, chicory, birdsfoot trefoil, etc) the nitrogen fixation factor is multiplied many times.
Inoculation is the process of introducing commercially prepared rhizobia bacteria into the soil. Each legume species requires a specific species of rhizobia to form nodules and fix nitrogen.
This is why I suggest everyone should discuss your soil sample with a local co-OP or extension agronomist and get your seeds from same, properly inoculated with the correct bacteria for the species you want to plant in your plot.
Legume family
Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include those of the legume family—Fabaceae— with taxa such as kudzu, clover, soybean, alfalfa, lupin, peanut and rooibos. They contain symbiotic rhizobia bacteria within nodules in their root systems, producing nitrogen compounds that help the plant to grow and compete with other plants. When the plant dies, the fixed nitrogen is released, making it available to other plants; this helps to fertilize the soil.
Inoculation is the process of introducing commercially prepared rhizobia bacteria into the soil. Each legume species requires a specific species of rhizobia to form nodules and fix nitrogen.
This is why I suggest everyone should discuss your soil sample with a local co-OP or extension agronomist and get your seeds from same, properly inoculated with the correct bacteria for the species you want to plant in your plot.
Legume family
Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include those of the legume family—Fabaceae— with taxa such as kudzu, clover, soybean, alfalfa, lupin, peanut and rooibos. They contain symbiotic rhizobia bacteria within nodules in their root systems, producing nitrogen compounds that help the plant to grow and compete with other plants. When the plant dies, the fixed nitrogen is released, making it available to other plants; this helps to fertilize the soil.
Anyone already planting food plots, or thinking about it, needs to watch this video. I'm no guru like Sturgis, but his views here align very well to my opinions on the topic.
Stressless
Active Member
Yep totally agree, I had all my plots in summer clover, trefoil, chicory- early- Summer- early fall plots then overseeded with rye. I, just Last week, burned down three of them to plant a solid fall/winter plots, they are in an area to define movement, hit that 3rd feeding of the day, "deer feed five times a day-Sturgis".
I can't get the touch rate up (revisit) on the plots to do the full buckwheat and half brassicas, I admire Jeff for his business plan and the way he presents solid info.
I can't get the touch rate up (revisit) on the plots to do the full buckwheat and half brassicas, I admire Jeff for his business plan and the way he presents solid info.
There's nothing easy about spreading seed and then going 7-8-9 days without rain. I'm sitting here fingers crossed contemplating a rain dance that we get rain this weekend. If not, I'm in trouble...
It's looking a little better for the weekend. Fingers crossed.
Spencie
Senior Member
I ordered seed that is supposed to be here tomorrow. Field is sprayed and hoping to get it turned over and seeded before Saturday. Would have been easier if I didn’t take 2 overtime’s this week.
Spencie
Senior Member
I disked up a plot last night. Going to seed it with brassicas this evening. It wouldn’t hurt to be disked again. Should I do that before seeding or after?
I'd disc it before, seed, then pack. I think most brassicas are planted at most 1/2" deep. I could be wrong.
Definitely do not disc in your brassica seeds. They really need nothing more than seed to soil contact, so discing after seeding will bury them too deep. Disc, then seed, then pack the seed with tires or a cultipacker if you have one.
Spencie
Senior Member
Spencie
Senior Member
Got everything disked again and seeded. Kept hearing thunder rumbling. No rain...it must be food plot season.
We're gonna get what we need tomorrow. I'm running to the farm tonight to check what I seeded last week and overseed if needed. All my brassica/turnip/sugar beet seed should be here today. I'm going to broadcast those in the bare spots in our beans and see what happens.
They're saying we'll get around a half inch of rain. I hope to God they're right.
Yep, we're looking at anywhere from 0.5"-1" over the course of the weekend. As long as it's slow and steady, I'm fine. If it starts with an immediate toad strangler, I have 2 plots in big trouble.
