SE Ohio food plots

[nicholas buck]

I want to put a food plot in on a piece of land I just bought. Since I have been hunting public land the last 10 yrs I am not sure what is best to plant.

The area I want to put in a plot is all cleared an just grass is growing there. Now my only problem is I do not have any equipment to plant anything special. I have a atv and a roto tiller. So the area is about 3/4 acre.

What I was thinking of tilling up all the grass with a roto tiller and plant either imperial clover or buck grass.

Those two I heard were the best to plant, but if anyone has something better let me know.

 

[Michbowhunter]

Let the grass get growing and spray with a round up type spray in May or June. Let it dye off and your summer weed seed, dormant seed, or things you missed will start growing. Spray again around July or beginning of August but before you spray broadcast clover and very light radishes or other type of brassica. Try to time it before a rain. Then beginning of September broadcast winter rye or oats and you will be in business.

The dead grass and weeds will act as a vapor barrier to hold moisture like you would use straw for growing grass. Then frost seed clover again in late winter and in the spring you should have a killer clover plot. I have and still do this every year with great success and never turning the soil which will just bring up more weed seeds.

Only other thing I could say is still it once and do the same spraying routine and you will have better seed to soil contact, I have done it both ways.

 

[ADKMtnTrapper]

Let the grass get growing and spray with a round up type spray in May or June. Let it dye off and your summer weed seed, dormant seed, or things you missed will start growing. Spray again around July or beginning of August but before you spray broadcast clover and very light radishes or other type of brassica. Try to time it before a rain. Then beginning of September broadcast winter rye or oats and you will be in business.

The dead grass and weeds will act as a vapor barrier to hold moisture like you would use straw for growing grass. Then frost seed clover again in late winter and in the spring you should have a killer clover plot. I have and still do this every year with great success and never turning the soil which will just bring up more weed seeds.

Only other thing I could say is still it once and do the same spraying routine and you will have better seed to soil contact, I have done it both ways.

I never thought of it this way, I have always disked up the soil and broadcast seeded I think this is a great idea. I have a lot of leaf litter in my plot I usually rake off or disk in, maybe ill wait a little later this year for the weeds to grow and then spray them.

 

[Michbowhunter]

As long as you get enough light you should grow fine. I have a small clover plot in the woods that I have to rake or use my leaf blower to clear the leaves off. If I didn't the leaves are to thick and would kill the clover.

 

[nicholas buck]

Let the grass get growing and spray with a round up type spray in May or June. Let it dye off and your summer weed seed, dormant seed, or things you missed will start growing. Spray again around July or beginning of August but before you spray broadcast clover and very light radishes or other type of brassica. Try to time it before a rain. Then beginning of September broadcast winter rye or oats and you will be in business.

The dead grass and weeds will act as a vapor barrier to hold moisture like you would use straw for growing grass. Then frost seed clover again in late winter and in the spring you should have a killer clover plot. I have and still do this every year with great success and never turning the soil which will just bring up more weed seeds.

Only other thing I could say is still it once and do the same spraying routine and you will have better seed to soil contact, I have done it both ways.

Thanks that sounds like a cool method I am going to try it .

On question Not sure if I understand you 100%. To clearify, If you spray it again in July with roundup then put clover seed Down right after you spray wouldn't that kill the clover seeds too? Not sure if you ment spray the entire plot area or just where the new weeds poped up? I am the furthest thing from being a green thumb, hope this is not a dumb question.

have you found any specific clover types the the deer like prefer over others?.

 

[Ontariofarmer]

Roundup is only active on what it hits and is quickly absorbed by only growing plants. Soil inactivates roundup so you can easily plant your clover the day after you spray roundup. I am a newbie at saddlehunting but have been farming for 32 years.

 

[flinginairos]

Let the grass get growing and spray with a round up type spray in May or June. Let it dye off and your summer weed seed, dormant seed, or things you missed will start growing. Spray again around July or beginning of August but before you spray broadcast clover and very light radishes or other type of brassica. Try to time it before a rain. Then beginning of September broadcast winter rye or oats and you will be in business.

The dead grass and weeds will act as a vapor barrier to hold moisture like you would use straw for growing grass. Then frost seed clover again in late winter and in the spring you should have a killer clover plot. I have and still do this every year with great success and never turning the soil which will just bring up more weed seeds.

Only other thing I could say is still it once and do the same spraying routine and you will have better seed to soil contact, I have done it both ways.

This is about the best way to have a great plot with very little work. I have done an acre plot twice like this just spraying it twice and then broadcasting seed into the dead grass before a rain. makes a beautiful plot and the dead grass hold in moisture! Here is an article I wrote on doing this exact thing
http://www.xtremepursuitoutdoors.com/food-plots.html

 

[Prill87]

Let the grass get growing and spray with a round up type spray in May or June. Let it dye off and your summer weed seed, dormant seed, or things you missed will start growing. Spray again around July or beginning of August but before you spray broadcast clover and very light radishes or other type of brassica. Try to time it before a rain. Then beginning of September broadcast winter rye or oats and you will be in business.

The dead grass and weeds will act as a vapor barrier to hold moisture like you would use straw for growing grass. Then frost seed clover again in late winter and in the spring you should have a killer clover plot. I have and still do this every year with great success and never turning the soil which will just bring up more weed seeds.

Only other thing I could say is still it once and do the same spraying routine and you will have better seed to soil contact, I have done it both ways.

This is about the best way to have a great plot with very little work. I have done an acre plot twice like this just spraying it twice and then broadcasting seed into the dead grass before a rain. makes a beautiful plot and the dead grass hold in moisture! Here is an article I wrote on doing this exact thing
http://www.xtremepursuitoutdoors.com/food-plots.html

Excellent article.

I am in year 2 of my WTI Chicory plus plot. I frost seeded 1/2 the plot and I just blew the leaves off of it and I have quite a bit of growth this early. I plan on using no more than a bag seeder and backpack sprayer for maintenance. Similarly I'll mow(via weed whacker) and broadcast some radishes and turnips just before a July or August rain. The mowed grass should give a similar thatch effect.

There's more info on a similar method over on QDMA/forums called "throw and mow" by a guy by the name of Crimsonncamo. Similar concept of burning, then cutting and seeding without equipment.

 

[Maustypsu]

Lots of reasons not to till after the first time... and with what we put into food plots, there should not be a reason to till again.

When you dig deep into rich soil like a farm field you see the white strands of stuff that sort of grow together like a web... You see the same just under the leaves or a few inches of dirt if you do this in a forest.

That white webbing is very beneficial fungus growth. It transports and holds moisture and nutrients. Every year that farm kills it when he tills. It's the only way that modern ag works, I get that. But that is also one of the reasons they have to fertilize and repair the soil each year too.

Not to mention, moisture loss, essentially re-seeding whatever grew before you tilled, soil erosion ,etc.. Modern ag feeds us all very cheaply because they do what is most efficient with heavy equipment. but it is not the way nature does it. The closer you can replicate nature, the less work you have to do... because it is NATURal...

 

[redsquirrel]

Lots of reasons not to till after the first time... and with what we put into food plots, there should not be a reason to till again.

When you dig deep into rich soil like a farm field you see the white strands of stuff that sort of grow together like a web... You see the same just under the leaves or a few inches of dirt if you do this in a forest.

That white webbing is very beneficial fungus growth. It transports and holds moisture and nutrients. Every year that farm kills it when he tills. It's the only way that modern ag works, I get that. But that is also one of the reasons they have to fertilize and repair the soil each year too.

Not to mention, moisture loss, essentially re-seeding whatever grew before you tilled, soil erosion ,etc.. Modern ag feeds us all very cheaply because they do what is most efficient with heavy equipment. but it is not the way nature does it. The closer you can replicate nature, the less work you have to do... because it is NATURal...

Nice post Mausty. I like it.

 

[nicholas buck]

Ok plot guys I found two types of clover seed which do you prefer : imperial clover from the white tale institution or cabelas clover blend with microboost???