No Plow Fall Food Plots
#1

If it decides to rain here in central IL somtime before september I was thinking about trying one of those "no plow" seeds to grow a small food plot on a travel route the deer are taking from a bedding area to 2 fields which by the time october comes around one field will be a worked corn field and the second will be cut beans.
I can't get any equipment such as a tractor or 4 wheeler to this spot and I understand its not as easy as just throwing the seed down and you have a food plot.
I am prepared to use alittle elbow grease. For the people that have tried these products what did you do and how effective was it?
The area I am going to pant which is probably 10yrds wide and 15 yards long is already cleared to the bare dirt. My plan is to go out before a rain (if we get one)and use a metal rake and a small mantis tiller I can carry in to break up the soil then just spread the seed and let the rain work it in.
not sure if it will work but I am going to try.
I can't get any equipment such as a tractor or 4 wheeler to this spot and I understand its not as easy as just throwing the seed down and you have a food plot.
I am prepared to use alittle elbow grease. For the people that have tried these products what did you do and how effective was it?
The area I am going to pant which is probably 10yrds wide and 15 yards long is already cleared to the bare dirt. My plan is to go out before a rain (if we get one)and use a metal rake and a small mantis tiller I can carry in to break up the soil then just spread the seed and let the rain work it in.
not sure if it will work but I am going to try.
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Southeast Missouri
Posts: 2,178

If you break up the ground as You mentioned I think the seed will have a much better chance of growing,I tried the throw-n-grow last year and very little plants grew from it...we had very little rain so I can't blame it completely on the seed itself and we had poor results in our regular plowed and disc food plots also.
#6

I have used the Throw & Grow clover,brassica and rye grass mix a couple of times.The first time I used it was near our pond and due to dry conditions and to much shade it did not do well.The clover and the grass came up but not the brassica. This year while developing some land I had some fresh turned up soil and covered a larger area once again in very dry conditions.It seemed it was doomed because of the dryness but because I put lime and fertilizer down and strawed the area,my efforts at watering it have payed off somewhat. We have had 2 good rains and 3 or 4 good showers and it is coming up 5 weeks after I planted it. Only time will tell with more heat coming and dry conditions if it will mature before this fall. Throw and grow with no work doing some prep is a bit deceptive,you need decent soil and rain to get it to grow but it's minimal if the good earth is there. I've yet to see a Deer eat any of what has grown yet,it's not like they are lining up to get at it.