Food plot planting steps

[gamecock1974]

I’ve gotten my process for planting down pretty well. Generally will cut my plots, then come back and spray them with glyphosate - then a couple weeks later burn, disc, broadcast and cover.

The part always wonder about is whether the cutting on the front end is wasted energy. For those of you who go through this exercise each year, any advice? Cut it all first or just go to spraying. Cutting it takes 3/4 of a day or so - so kind of thinking about skipping it - but don’t want to spray with out cutting and then find that I wasted more time because spraying the jungle didn’t work.

Thoughts?

[b-stick]

Spray it.

Drill through it.

Kill goats.

[Quackhead22]

In my opinion, and I do this for a living, if broadcasting is your only option. Then a very well prepared seedbed is crucial. That said I would...Mow, burn it down with chemical, disc it until you have a level even seed bed, then plant, cover...


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[TheVisorGuy]

Mow, wait a few weeks, spray, till (whichever way you are able), then plant. Most folks ain't got a no till drill

[Whackumstackum]

Depends, winter or spring plots? Winter I’m not spraying anything, bush hog it, disc it, plant it. Summer is a waste of time and energy in my situation. I’ve been leaving the winter stuff to seed and let the birds feed in/have cover all spring and summer, deer around here don’t need extra encouragement during the summer and won’t let anything come up anyway.

[gamecock1974]

Thanks. This is all for fall/winter planting. I am in the zone that doesn’t start rifle until October 11 - so not in a huge hurry. I usually plant around sept 15. Just find if I bush hog and then try to disc it - it is still so matted down that it takes forever to get it so a nice dirt seed bed. So have always sprayed it and burned it afterwards. Find that makes it a ton easier to disc and I just really enjoy burning shit.

Going to try to just spray it tomorrow and see if that kills it all when it is 3 feet tall and then burn it. Just worried that won’t kill everything and it won’t burn. Guess I will live and learn.

Thanks for the knowledge.

[Quackhead22]

Thanks. This is all for fall/winter planting. I am in the zone that doesn’t start rifle until October 11 - so not in a huge hurry. I usually plant around sept 15. Just find if I bush hog and then try to disc it - it is still so matted down that it takes forever to get it so a nice dirt seed bed. So have always sprayed it and burned it afterwards. Find that makes it a ton easier to disc and I just really enjoy burning shit.

Going to try to just spray it tomorrow and see if that kills it all when it is 3 feet tall and then burn it. Just worried that won’t kill everything and it won’t burn. Guess I will live and learn.

Thanks for the knowledge.

That’s why you mow before you spray. What you mow down will die and become fuel and then what you spray will also die. Much better way to get a good kill.


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[Quackhead22]

That’s why you mow before you spray. What you mow down will die and become fuel and then what you spray will also die. Much better way to get a good kill.


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Mow...then let it begin to green back up...then hit it with your burn down chemicals


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[joshua2]

Depends, winter or spring plots? Winter I’m not spraying anything, bush hog it, disc it, plant it. Summer is a waste of time and energy in my situation. I’ve been leaving the winter stuff to seed and let the birds feed in/have cover all spring and summer, deer around here don’t need extra encouragement during the summer and won’t let anything come up anyway.

When I was doing a few a year this was my mindset. Once I got my hands on a roto tiller the bush hog stayed in the barn. I’m talking 6 ft milk weed and all kinds of weeded mess turned to dirt in 1 pass.

[TheVisorGuy]

Mow...then let it begin to green back up...then hit it with your burn down chemicals


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This right here. A lot of the stuff you mow won't come back anyway

[Whackumstackum]

Burning also promotes nutrient loss, those plants rotting equals fertilizer you don’t have to pay for.

[Swift Strike]

Mow...Let green-up...Glyphosate... Fertilize...Harrow...Plant

Any shortcut from that and you will pay for it in reduced success of your plots...Till the dead vegetative matter in for soil building...Do not burn, it robs you of soil building ability and moisture.

[banded_mallard]

Spray it.

Drill through it.

Kill goats.

This but depending on height I will bushog first. With the first being born in March, I could not keep the clover clean. So I have mowed next I will spray with clethodim and buteryac. Will drill in October or if we catch a good rain in September.

I would also like to add that plowing and turning over soil has its cons as well. Plowing actually hurts soil.

[Frank1]

we just bushhog a couple weeks in advance, rip the ground up with a spring tooth ripper attachment thing, then till it to fine dirt. Spread fert and seed then cultipack. If we get rain the plots do great, if no rain they dont . . . . . seems it all depends on regular rain after planting. One year we got rain, plots looked great then a long dry spell, burned most stuff pretty bad, lots were poor that year, its all about the rain IMO

[Duckman#1]

Burning it will put ash in the soul. Good thing. Rotting grass and weeds isn’t going to give you sustainable nutrients so you still need to fertilize if your want the most out of it. If you plant clover the go with zero nitrogen fertilizer. Less weed competition early on

[darealdeal]

Going to try the no till next year. Planting this fall and during the spring early summer going to plant a mix of buckwheat and vetch. Going to kill it then lay it all down and plant in the stems. See how that works.

[LabLuvR]

Mow wait two or three days, spray then when all the shit dead, disc and plant. Plant clover only after daytime temps remain reliably below 90 degrees. Ladino or Duranna are your best bets.

[LabLuvR]

Frost will kill the buckwheat if the deer haven',t don't have to spray unless it just makes you happy.

[tprice]

Mow, wait a few weeks, spray, till (whichever way you are able), then plant. Most folks ain't got a no till drill

This is way we do ours.

No grain drill and not sure too many folks have one.

My deer hunting partner looked at a used one for $14K and that is a lot of money for something to me that will not make a big deal

We cut, then spray. Come back and run AP plow and then a tiller. Cultipacker, seed and cultipacker again Watch/shoot deer


As old hunting partner told me years ago, “we ain’t farming or planting damn gardens We just trying to get deer to come out and feed on something while we get the cross hairs on the shoulder “. (RIP Mike Hunt )

[Duckman#1]

Planted 9 acres of red clover the weekend. Plowed twice, fertilized , drag harrow, packed, drilled and packed again

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