fertilize food plot
 

i got a question about my clover plot. i planted it last spring, and along towards fall, i applied vantage to kill out the grass. i fertilized it in the fall. my question is, do i have to fertilize it again this spring? is it necessary to fertilize a clover plot twice a year? it came in real good, and i had several deer feeding in it. once, i counted fourteen deer at one time. i would appreciate any feed back, thanks.

RE: fertilize food plot
 

Do soil samples, stay on top of the weeds and grasses. Keep the pH value up. If possible, stay away from the salt based fertilizers... We suggest the organic liquids. We have people that fertilize 3-5 times a year because their soil is so well drained. Fertilizing twice a year is not uncommon, but the soil samples will take the guess work out of it.

Romans 10:9 Psalms 42

RE: fertilize food plot
 

Ditto what lunchbucket says. Also; if you take crops off the plot instead of just letting the deer harvest it or bushhogging it you will require more fertilization.

For my property it costs me more to fertilize than I get for the hay crop based on nutrients removed. It's cheaper for me just to bush hog the crop.

Dan O.

RE: fertilize food plot
 

Same here - I'd rather brushog it, or mow it and leave it lay, than take the nutrients off as hay - on most of my plots.

Keep in mind that topical applications of P&K generally stay in the top 2-3" of soil, and most will go into the plants themselves, before they leach out of the soil, especailly so - the heavier the soil is (eg. - clay).

This is because P&K are generally imobile in soil, unlike N, which tends to migrate down faster under normal conditions. Unless you have taken hay off, or started with a deficit, I would not fertilize again in the spring. Soil tests taken at 6" down after topical applications of P&K will not always give true values for P&K percentages - this is especially important with shallow rooted crops like clover.