GMMAT

I’ll be purchasing a mini-disc with some expendable cash around Christmas (sounds like a contradiction of terms, I know). Anyways….I have permission from my land owner to plant 2 food plots in the Spring. I have a VERY good turkey flock, here….and I’d like to plant something that would draw them in for the Spring hunts. I also have a fairly healthy whitetail herd that is nearby…..but only uses this little stretch of land because: 1) I supplemental feed 2) I have mineral licks that I keep actively worked 3) it is a water source and 4) it’s a quasi-sanctuary……because it’s an acre field in the midst of woods on all sides.

I don’t mind planting and re-planting. Would it be more practical for me to plant something for the turkeys in the Spring……and back that up with something for the whitetails in the Fall? Would one plot mixture work for both???

I’m in NC…..and I’m wondering how early I can plant????

Do I need to have my soil tested?

Is there anything I should be doing to the land over the winter?

I probably have MORE questions!!!.....lol

Jeff

bawanajim

Be careful buying little dics if they are to light they won't cut up the sod.
You do have a good idea for the turkeys ,they love fresh dirt.They will dust in it pick grit and they love worms and other bugs in a new field.
You will need to round up the field a couple of times to get the weeds under control.Then you can plant about any thing .Sunflowers are cheap and so is buck wheat & both turkeys a deer love them.

GMMAT

Will buckwheat (someone else suggested this, also) work for turkeys in the Spring?

Should I have my soil tested, now?

Thanks for the roundup tip. I'd heard that......and I have a boom attachment I can access. Do I do this (__how long____________) before I plan to turn the soil?

The mini-disc I'm talking about is just like one that a friend has.....and he says his works fine (I think it weighs 340#'s and can be supplementally weighted with SB's).

I'm going to be serious about this.....and I appreciate your help. I HAVE to get something growing........I have guests coming to shoot turkeys w/ a bow!....lol

When will I be able to plant in the Spring??? (date)

Thanks!

RayC

I'm far from being an expert but I'll throw out some ideas. I would get a soli test done now and add lime as suggested (it takes a long time to take affect). It kind of sounds like you want something for NEXT spring (though I hate to assume), if so I would be ready to plant and re-plant.Along those lines I would tillas early as you can in spring and plant something like an early growing clover to be there for turkeys (hopefully it will grow enough by start of season). Then later in spring do the roundup spraying to kill the weeds as needed then re-plant with whatever you decide on for better plot. Buckwheat is not a bad thing for summer but is in-tolerant of any frost at all and would take about 8 weeks ( I think) to start to flower and produce seeds (which turkeys like) so I think that would take you beyond spring hunting season.

GMMAT

I'll get a soils test done within the month.

My area has a lot of tree shade (though it is a field.....see photos, attached).

Will clover grow if there is not direct sunlight? You should be able to see the time of day on the trail cam photos.....as well as how much sun is getting to the field. this field is approx 1 acre.

I'll take all the help you all will give me!

JEff

GMMAT

1st photo

GMMAT

2nd photo

RayC

Just judgeing from the amount of vegatation that is there now, I think you should be fine. Shade will inhibit growth a bit, but on the other hand will keep the area a little cooler and maybeit will dry out slower when its not rainy, plus the total amount of area you are going to use should produce enough.,

Rob/PA Bowyer

Comon guys, I know you guys sure helped me, now let's fix up SBG. The ATV disc was my recommendation, it sure did a great job for me with a little added weight and wet weather..lol

Anyhow, let's fix him up guys, I directed him to you all because you sure fixed me up. Thanks again and thanks in advance.


Jeff, soil sample is a great idea and yes, if that is what your going to do, do it now. From what I learned here and on a liming site is that you want to lime in the fall for spring planting and lime in the spring for fall planting. A good six months, especially for pelletized lime.

I didn't soil test, I took a recommended amount of lime (pelletized) and added it to the soil before a good rain, I then waited a couple weeks, turned/disc'd it in and planted. I planted clovers, brassicas, turnips, rape, rye grass mixture and then a month or more later I planed buckwheat. It all came up fantastically other than I over seeded the clovers and they choked out the other plants.

Rick James

I am certainly no expert on this stuff but I did learn a lot this past summer putting in my own plot. I kept an updated journal of sorts in this forum that shows all the steps I went through in the process.

It may be a bit late for you to do this as the ground may be too hard soon, but I would do things in the following order.

First of all, I would brush hog or mow the entire area as low as possible. Once this is done, I would immediatelyapply roundup to the entire area early as your first step. Apply well so they whole area dies off and kills/weakens the root structure. This will allow discing to be MUCH easier and will prevent you from packing the ground w/ the weight of the tractor/4-wheeler because you had to go over it too much.Allow it to sit for approx 2 weeks after the roundup. I used a hand pumped sprayer that I bought for around $30. This also prevents weeds from taking over your plot when you plant next year.

Once sprayed and everything is dead, spread the lime. I made a huge mistake and used powdered lime this year through a mossy oak biologic hopper/spreader, it is more money but the pelletized is MUCH easier to work with despite taking longer for it to get into the ground. Once this is done disc away...........don't over disc and pack the ground but disc well. Then let it sit till next spring. I would probably spray again w/ roundup next spring and let sit for a couple weeks before seeding. After your spring spray, rake it with a rake implement, seed, and then drag to bury seed 1/4". If you have a cultipacker that is even better than a drag but I didn't have one and mine came out great. Hope this helps!

Also as has already been said, the best time to lime is always yesterday. I applied a full ton of lime to 1.2 acres of ground. I started with a 5.5-6ph in my plot and ended up with a 6-6.5ph about 2-3 months after the lime was spread. I will spread another full ton of lime next spring on this plot to help it a bit more and then I should be set. I bought the Mossy Oak PH tester kit online for around $30 and that is what I used for my soil testing, making sure to clean with distilled water between tests. This isn't as thorough as a send away soil test to a lab that tests other stuff other than PH, but I knew this ground was fertilized well as manure was spread on it weekly for several years before I turned it into a food plot.

Anyhow, hope this helps you a bit. There are more details in the thread about my plot from day one including pics of the whole process. Robs plot and thread about it has some good info as well from his experience and some good tips from others as well, go through that one also. Also I noticed the QDM forums at qdmaforums.com has probably the best collection of info on the net that I have seen, lots of knowledgable guys over there that are helpful.