food plot questions?
 

howdy i live in southwest ohio. i have never planted a food plot in my life and this year i have decided to do so. i have 3 fields right next to each other with some trees and bushes in between them but with deer trails connecting all three. in the fields red clover grows there naturally but not very much of it. would it be a good idea to plant red clover up in those fields or will the deer not go after it? i have some cedar trees up in all the fields and i heard that it is a a sign of bad ph or something
so what should i plant in these fields that is easy? and the deer will go after?????
is there a good seed to plant on uneven ground w/ hills in a small spot?
also i have to use is a rototiller and a fertilizer spreader and tractor

RE: food plot questions?
 

Mossbergman, you will have fun doing it. It's a lot of work and quite rewarding. First off get you a book on food plots, it will help tremendously, and save you a boat load of mistakes a lot of us make. I would recommend QDMA Quality Food Plots about $35.00. I promise you it will save a lot more than that.

Bushes and trees will help the deer feel more comfortable in the plots. The cedar are not nessisarly sign of acidic soil, it is that they can grow better in more acidic soils than most plants. The only true way to find out the ph of the soil is to take a sample (another $5-$10 spent).

If you decide to put some clover back in try planting a mix of white, yellow, and red clover, with some chicory. Plant a spring annual like Lab Lab/mix, soybeans and sorghum, just any warm season mix will do. Then plant a fall hunting plot I like a ceral grain mixed with brassica (Purple Top Turnups), and a winter pea (my pref. is WWII peas).

Equipment wise you are doing fine, probably find some type of roller or cultipacker, to firm up the seed bed before and after you plant. Some of your bigger seeds need to driven into the ground. So some kind of drag will normally do that.

RE: food plot questions?
 

a couple of things.................how do i test our soil ph?...........where can i find this book?........ does the book tell you how to plant?.....................if i plant the white, red, yellow clover and the chicory for say how do i plant this?

RE: food plot questions?
 

a couple of things.................how do i test our soil ph?...........where can i find this book?........ does the book tell you how to plant?.....................if i plant the white, red, yellow clover and the chicory for say how do i plant this?

_____________________________

RE: food plot questions?
 

soil test is vital. You can have your county Agricultral coop do it, or there are several places where you can order the tests from. Personally, I use the bioogic test. It is easy, quick and relatively cheap. It doesn't matter who does it for you, but it must be done. As far as the book, go to the QDMA website http://www.qdma.com/ for info. I personally had great success last season with oats as a late season plot. Very easy and the deer hammered it. I will plant it again this year, but sometime around August 1. I planted on Labor Day last season. For a spring planting, I will be doing corn and soybeans, and leave both standing. Good luck, but make sure to get the soil test done. It will save a lot of time and frustration.

RE: food plot questions?
 

Red clover growing naturally is generally a good sign that the soil has some merit already. Probably Ph at least close to 6.0. Red clover will grow a little more easily than most white clovers on soils 5.5 - 6.0 ph.

Sometimes you can tell by the plants growing, what parts of a field might be better suited for plots. Use existing weed vegetation as soil indicators.

Acidic loving plants include: Queen Anne Lace, Daiseys,Paintbrushes, plantain .

On "less acidic soils" - you will see more: Milkweed, lambsquarters, chickory, clovers.

I like clovers above all else for "pasture type" plots.Use lime to "up" your Ph.
I like White clover mixes best since they grow lower to the ground - and my deer seem to prefer white clovers. Once established - I mow 2-3 times per year and leave the clippings lay.

FH

RE: food plot questions?
 

That book will give you the knowledge. You can pick it up at the QDMA website store. As fare as planting the clover, work your seed bed untill it is as fine as you can, spread your clover with a spreader, and cultipack it. Your county soil office will be the cheapest place to take the sample to. I like to have a sample of each plot each year. Then spread your lime and fert. as needed.

RE: food plot questions?
 

is burning the field before i plant where i will be planting a good idea????
do you think lime in really nessecary if red clover is growing there already? or even a ph test? can i plant a mixture of red and white clover and chicory or is it not a good idea to plant these 3 together????

how do i plant these 3 if they will work together?do those 3 plants require different planting methods?

one more thing (sorry about all these questions) can i mow the chicory if a plant, red clover, white clover, and chicory? also can i just mow the stuff with a bush how or should i use a riding mower with a chute????

RE: food plot questions?
 

https://www.qdma.com/store/details.asp?id=219&catid=&catname=

RE: food plot questions?
 

im gonna have to get that book i guess

RE: food plot questions?
 

[blockquote]quote:

ORIGINAL: farm hunter

Red clover growing naturally is generally a good sign that the soil has some merit already. Probably Ph at least close to 6.0. Red clover will grow a little more easily than most white clovers on soils 5.5 - 6.0 ph.

Sometimes you can tell by the plants growing, what parts of a field might be better suited for plots. Use existing weed vegetation as soil indicators.

Acidic loving plants include: Queen Anne Lace, Daiseys,Paintbrushes, plantain .

On "less acidic soils" - you will see more: Milkweed, lambsquarters, chickory, clovers.

I like clovers above all else for "pasture type" plots.Use lime to "up" your Ph.
I like White clover mixes best since they grow lower to the ground - and my deer seem to prefer white clovers. Once established - I mow 2-3 times per year and leave the clippings lay.

FH


[/blockquote]
is burning the field before i plant where i will be planting a good idea????
do you think lime in really nessecary if red clover is growing there already? or even a ph test? can i plant a mixture of red and white clover and chicory or is it not a good idea to plant these 3 together????

how do i plant these 3 if they will work together?do those 3 plants require different planting methods?

one more thing (sorry about all these questions) can i mow the chicory if a plant, red clover, white clover, and chicory? also can i just mow the stuff with a bush how or should i use a riding mower with a chute????

RE: food plot questions?
 

The book will help you no doubt - Also - sometimes experience is the best teacher - and as long as you learn as you go -you'll make out all right - you need to keep an open mind and note POSITIVES and NEGATIVES as you go.

Just the fact that Red clover is growing only tells you the spot has potential. White clovers might fail miserably - and a pure stand of Red clover might not fare a well as a few plants here and there. The only way (cheapest way) to know - is a soil test.

Burning can help some - no doubt. - but if pH is lacking - buring alone will not help much -its sometimes a short term boost for residual seeds to really get going. Again a soil test will tell you if you need lime ( you probably do ) - and how much to get to 6.0-6.5 pH.


Personally - I don't like mixing Red & White clovers on purpose. Red clovers are more like Alfafa - in that they grow fast and tall. There is a lot of stalk, and is more suited to cattle thandeer in my opinion. They also tend to shade out white clovers in the mix - which rarely get over 12" tall. If some red clovers chow up in my white clover plots - I'm OK with that however - I mow them along with the weeds. In my expereince - if you have red & white clovers combined (or alsike & Whites) the deer will eat the White Clovers.

Chicory is a good mix with white clovers, I can attest to this mix - I don't know about with red clover. Keep them mowed - and any mower that evenly spreads the clippings is fine (you don't want a windrow left).

FH

RE: food plot questions?
 

Yeah, you will still make some mistakes. Don't worry you won't be the first or last. One thing to remember is you reap what you sow. So be willing to do the work up front.

Mow them with your bush hog. You don't want to cut it lower than 6". And try to mow them right before it rain will help to.

You can plant all this together. Just work the ground and spread and cultipack. The only thing to no about the differences in the clovers is the whites are true perrenials, and the reds and yellow are normally bi-enials. Though they will reseed.

RE: food plot questions?
 

could i get by by doing this in order?
1. mowing down where i am going to plant
2. test ph levels.
3 possibly add lime or ferilizer.
4. burn fields where im gonna plant
.5 rake away any branches etc.
6. put red clover,white clover and maybe alfalfa in fertilizer spreader and spread (will these three plants plant well together with same ph levels and same preperation?) pikecofoodplotter what does this mean? "Just work the ground and spread and cultipack"
.6 when it gets high enough bush hog
is this all i need to do to have a good food plot?

RE: food plot questions?
 

anybody?

RE: food plot questions?
 

Disc it. Turn you sod into a seed bed.

Though clover will come up if you spread on the hard soil you are not going to get the best germination rate. Cultivate the ground with a disc (or rototiller), spread your seed with a spreader, and pack the seed bed back down with a roller or cultipacker. This will allow maximum seed to soil contact and your germination rate will be high.

Man if you got it in your head that clover plots cheap and easy, just wait. Some years it would be just as cheap to plant an annual. If this is going to be your first attempt at food plotting try to plant an annual. The bigger seeds makes it easier to get a first stand and will not be as frustrating.

RE: food plot questions?
 

what you reccommend then if not clover? i gotta get dirt for aph test as soon as all this snow melts.......we got over a foot of snow in the past few days. im planting 2 plots all easily accessible. i have a tractor with bushhog, scraper blade, and auger. i have a rototiller but i imagine its a lot easier with a disk........i could probably get my hands on a disk and a roller

RE: food plot questions?
 

do i need to plow the land before i disk it?

RE: food plot questions?
 

It typically makes a better seed bed if you can but not required.

RE: food plot questions?
 

all right we have a plow but no disk. does it matter at all what kind of plow i use or how far down the plow goes into the ground? also what seed would you reccommend?

RE: food plot questions?
 

all right...........i have been reading outdoor life on food plots and wondered if this would work to make a plot
cut grass
test ph
spread roundup as needed
plow the area
disk the area
spread pellet lime and fertilizer
go over that with a chain harrow
gow over with a cultipackter
plant seed
go over agin with cultipackter
once its grown pretty well spread more fertilizer
does this sound good to you to make a good plot?
WHAT IS A GOOD SEED TO PLANT?????

RE: food plot questions?
 

would this work well?

RE: food plot questions?
 

How I did mine for a first time never been plowed field.
1-Plowed, turning over the sod in fall. Let it sit until next late spring- early summer. Rots the top sod.
2-Following spring Disc'd it out
3-That fall weed sprayed killing any new growth.
4-Same fall Limed whole plot, had spreader truck come in to do it.
5-Let lime work in over winter.
6-Next spring redisc'd field
7-Fertilized, and dragged it.
8-Seeded, then bed springed it
9-Used roller to pack it down.
10- The sucker grew like crazy!! I had to mow it 2x;s that first summer to keep it down.

RE: food plot questions?
 

could i do that if im planting this spring/summer?
what did you plant?

RE: food plot questions?
 

question on food plots. is there any mixes that dont require plowing or turning over the soil? would like to try a small section to see if this would work. deer frequent the field but dont have a lot to eat. thanks

RE: food plot questions?
 

yeah. i would to to www.mossyoakbiologic.com or www.whitetailinstitute.com. they both have no plow plots and have plots for small areas

RE: food plot questions?
 

it is www.whitetailinstitute.com