Food Plots for Turkey
02-14-2016, 04:56 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
Chufas is a "nut sedge" type grass. Cost is reasonable as far as food plot seeds go. There might be a discount going through the NTWF. There is a lot of free info on planting time, soil types, pH, fertilizing, etc. from the seed marketers and state university web sites. Turkeys absolutely love this stuff. 4X better than some other food plot crop .... can't answer that.
I hunt in SE Alabama and have planted Chufas plots in the April - May time frame for over 20 years. The "crop" is a clump of nut like nodules below the ground (sort of like a peanut is) and a clump of grass above. I have never seen any wild critter go for the above the ground plant. Down this way I have seen feral pigs, raccoons and deer also digging up the Chufas. If you have feral hogs on your place, I would suggest not wasting your time. The pigs will destroy a Chufas plot in very short order. Under good conditions, the crop will self sustain, however if it is hit hard by the critters it will probably need to be replanted yearly.
Weed type grass control in a Chufas field is pretty difficult. I have been somewhat successful using light app of .5% by volume of generic Round-Up. But RU will stun (yellow) the Chufas and kill it if the app is too heavy. Might want to try a small area to determine what is or is not too heavy an application. I am not aware of any selective herbicide for Chufas. As for broad leaf weed control, 2-4-D does well ..... following directions for weed control in lawn grasses. Blasting the field with herbicide 3-4 weeks ahead of planting and then deep disking helps tremendously.
It is also my experience that planting Chufas is best done with a "planter" rather in rows about 12" - 18" apart rather than by broadcast. In fact I have hand planted Chufas in a disc harrow trench before like one might plant a small garden with great results .... just took a long time to get done. Row planting results in better coverage/pound of seed and better ease of weed control.
Good luck and let us know how it goes if you decide to try Chufas.
I hunt in SE Alabama and have planted Chufas plots in the April - May time frame for over 20 years. The "crop" is a clump of nut like nodules below the ground (sort of like a peanut is) and a clump of grass above. I have never seen any wild critter go for the above the ground plant. Down this way I have seen feral pigs, raccoons and deer also digging up the Chufas. If you have feral hogs on your place, I would suggest not wasting your time. The pigs will destroy a Chufas plot in very short order. Under good conditions, the crop will self sustain, however if it is hit hard by the critters it will probably need to be replanted yearly.
Weed type grass control in a Chufas field is pretty difficult. I have been somewhat successful using light app of .5% by volume of generic Round-Up. But RU will stun (yellow) the Chufas and kill it if the app is too heavy. Might want to try a small area to determine what is or is not too heavy an application. I am not aware of any selective herbicide for Chufas. As for broad leaf weed control, 2-4-D does well ..... following directions for weed control in lawn grasses. Blasting the field with herbicide 3-4 weeks ahead of planting and then deep disking helps tremendously.
It is also my experience that planting Chufas is best done with a "planter" rather in rows about 12" - 18" apart rather than by broadcast. In fact I have hand planted Chufas in a disc harrow trench before like one might plant a small garden with great results .... just took a long time to get done. Row planting results in better coverage/pound of seed and better ease of weed control.
Good luck and let us know how it goes if you decide to try Chufas.
Last edited by Mojotex; 02-14-2016 at 07:37 AM.
