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food plot advice

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
I have a little spot in mind for a food plot.



In the spring this is a shallow pond, but as the weather warms and summer moves in it dries up and becomes what you see in the picture.As summer moves along the bright green sprouts you see become chest high burrs. behind where I was standing when I took this pic is a big oak flat, lots of acorns in the early fall, there are hardwoods to the left and the whole thing is surrounded by beans and corn.

This afternoon I treated a fairly good sized area of this with roundup. my plan is to return in a couple weeks and throw out some seed.

so my question is this, what seed do I get? I cant bring in a tiller, the best I can do is to rake up the soil and turn it over a little bit. It isnt a big enough area to sustain the deer all winter but I would like to find something to keep them interested when the acorns and crops are gone.

by the way.In the head to head thread I just started in the trail cam forum, all the deer in those pictures were in just about the very spot I was standing when I took this pic. every one of them was exiting this meadow in the evening. nut last year they had a tendency to move into this spot in the evening.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Some variety of winter rye might do the trick, dante. That's the bulk of most "throw and grow" or "no till" seed blends that are on the shelves. I'm not sure how rye responds to wet areas, though... so if this area remains saturated, you may want to look into that. If you can rake the soil, that would definitely help out whatever you decide to throw down. You're probably going to need to respray with roundup here in another couple weeks. My guess is there is a pretty substantial seedbed for weeds in the soil there, so getting a weed-free plot established could require a good bit of work.
 

Rutin

Senior Member
2,029
0
Ina Duck Blind
Check your pH before you blow money on seed to make sure it will even grow.... If you want a good early season plot I would plant oats, very hardy and grow in just about anything. They are a great late fall plant, I would count back 30 days from season opener and plant forage or bin oats. This will be my first year planting oats as well but have read nothing but GREAT stuff on them!
 

Darron

Junior Member
273
0
Dayton, Ohio
If you're dead set on planting oats I would mix in some winter rye and/or radishes with them for some late season feed. No matter what oats you buy after a couple hard freezes they are toast. I've yet to see oats I have planted last through December.

If the area you are planting holds water, I would try possibly a gain/clover mix. Clover does decent in wet soils as long as they don't stay saturated for too long.
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
This spot dosent hold water for long, like I said, in the spring its a shallow pond, mostly from melting snow and spring rains. right now its dry as a bone and judging by last year it stays that way till next year. I'm sure the back part might get a little spongey if we were to get a good rain again ,but I have concentrated my efforts on the fron part.


You're probably going to need to respray with roundup here in another couple weeks.

Is there any other product out there that is better than round up? and if I do that again in a couple weeks, then I will need to wait even longer to get some seed in there, how late is it still ok to try planting?
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
If you're dead set on planting oats I would mix in some winter rye and/or radishes with them for some late season feed.

not dead set on anything yet. getting as many opinions as I can before I commit to anything.
Is there maybe an "all in one" seed mixture out there that will be a good all purpose seed?
 

Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
154
Sunbury, OH
I can attest to radishes. They grow great in the fall and the deer love them but you need to till the ground and like well drainded soil.

With clover I usually go to the Feed/Seed store and get equal parts dutch, red and white clover. Rake the soil as flat as possible, but it doesn't have to be perfect; just be sure most of the major holes/mounds have been eliminated. Mix your clover seed with some soil using a wheelbarrow as a "bowl." The soil you use can be common garden soil, or any kind of dirt will work. Mix in the seed until you have about four per square inch. Then spread this mix evenly over your entire lawn.

Once you complete this step, go back to where you started and cover everything you put down with another layer of soil - about 1/4 of an inch this time. Be careful not to pack it too tightly or the clover sprouts will have a tough time breaking through. Water the soil lightly, taking care not to wash away any seeds. Try not to walk on your newly planted lawn for at least a week. And remember to keep the soil moist at all times. Within two weeks, you should see clover sprouts all over your plot.

Keep in mind that the above is assuming you are working from bare soil which will be hard in your case since the weeds have been there for so long and they are not going to be tilled. Basically, you are going to have problems with weed control. Also, clover likes to be planted in early spring. It is getting pretty late unless you have a water source close by to use for daily watering.

Hey if you got it in today that would be perfect. We are suppose to have rain all week! To bad you couldn't get a plow and tiller back there...

Beentown
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
The throw and grow stuff worked great for me last year in a similar area. I mostly raked, with a little tilling. I'll be doing the same again this year. In fact, I'll be planting next weekend.
As far as the soil test, Rutin is right, bnut I didn't do it last year and it grew fine. Either I was lucky or the throw and grow stuff does indeed grow anywhere.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
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Ohio
This spot dosent hold water for long, like I said, in the spring its a shallow pond, mostly from melting snow and spring rains. right now its dry as a bone and judging by last year it stays that way till next year. I'm sure the back part might get a little spongey if we were to get a good rain again ,but I have concentrated my efforts on the fron part.




Is there any other product out there that is better than round up? and if I do that again in a couple weeks, then I will need to wait even longer to get some seed in there, how late is it still ok to try planting?

Roundup is a commercialized brand of glyphosate... It just happens to be the most popular brand out there. Any generic glyphosate will do the trick. If you can find it somewhere relatively cheap in concentrate, go for it because then you can mix it as strong or as weak as you'd like. If you really want to kill them dead, mix about a 3% to 4% solution and add a crop oil surfactant. That should burn it down pretty good.

If you plant oats and/or rye, you can wait until the first week or so into September to do your planting. Brassicas or radishes will need to be planted pretty soon, but if you stick to cereal grains you have plenty of time to spray that spot another time or two. Plant some clover with the grains too... it won't do much this fall since it'll be establishing roots, but next spring it'll really take off and provide the deer with high protein forage throughout the spring and summer.
 
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Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
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The throw and grow stuff worked great for me last year in a similar area. I mostly raked, with a little tilling. I'll be doing the same again this year. In fact, I'll be planting next weekend.
As far as the soil test, Rutin is right, bnut I didn't do it last year and it grew fine. Either I was lucky or the throw and grow stuff does indeed grow anywhere.

This brings me back to my idea a couple years ago when someone asked if they could plant a plot around an old abandoned oil pump.. The ground was rocky and baron from the Brine and oil.... He posted a picture of it... Everyone laughed.. I told him to contact the chia pet people and see if he could get his hands on bulk chia seeds then spread them all over the oil pump... lmao... NEW Chia Oil Rig! lmao