SWThomas

Okay... I'm getting ready to prep a new spot for planting a food plot. I'm going to plant some Tecomate LabLab Plus. I'm on a limited budget with limited resources. I'll be planting an area about 1/2 acre or smaller. Here's my plan of attack...

- Weed-eat and mow down the area I want to plant as close to the soil as I can get.
- Spray herbicide to kill off the remaining vegetation and wait a few weeks.
- Rake out the remaining dead vegetation and till the whole area with a push tiller.
- Broadcast seed over the plot and then rake it into the soil with a heavy duty metal rake.
- Surround plot with deer repellant ribbon to allow the plot to grow before exposing it to grazing.

My main questions are these...

1. What would be a good herbicide to use that will kill the remaining vegetation quick and won't adversely affect the growth of my plot?

2. When is the best time to fertilize? Before I plant? When I plant? Or after I plant? And what would be the best fertilizer to use?

3. With the seed I'm using, do I need to inoculate them?

Again, I'm doing this on the cheap. I'm not liming the soil and I'll be doing most of this through manual labor withoutthe assistance of a tractor.

gmil6184

Roundup or a generic alternative would be the herbicide you would use. its a broad spectrum herbicide which should kill off pretty much everything but shouldn't effect the soil. Also I would wait a week or two before mowing before spraying the herbicide because you want the plants to be growing when you spray. I am by no means an expert but that is what I would recommend from my limited personal knowledge and what i've read. good luck!

psandhu

Do this:

Spray Roundup on it now. Wait 2-3 weeks and thenmow/weedeat the area down real low. All theweeds should be brown. Alternately, you could just burn off all the dead vegatation on the plot and not mess with the mower.

Broadcast some 12-12-12 over the area then till the soil with your push tiller. Broadcast your seed and work it lightly into the soil, either with a rake, riding mower, tiller etc.

So...

Spray then wait.

Mow or burn.

Spread fertilizer and till.

Spread seed and incorporate.

SWThomas

Thanks guys! That's some of the best advice I've gotten yet!

What do you think about the deer repellant?

psandhu

Somebody will end up richer, and someone else will end up wiser.

SWThomas

So it doesn't work... I gotcha... Thanks!

gregrn43

psandhu is right spray before mowing. I have mowed before spraying and it doesnt work as good because of the dead grass that will be laying on top of the live grass underneath the chemical cant get to it. Roundup isa very good choice, even better if you can mix a little bit of 2-4d with it. Here in Arkansas you can buy a quart without having a restricted permit for it. 2-4d is reasonable price to. I bought 2.5 gallons a couple of weeks ago for 30 bucks. I would reccomend getting a soil test on it now. This can be done for freeat your county extension service. That way your will know how much lime to add and the combo of the fertilizer that is best for your soil.

SWThomas

Thanks for the info!

SWThomas

Okay, I went out and sprayed the area with Ultra-Kill today. I'm gonna let it set for a couple weeks and then go out and mow/weed eat. A controlled burn is not an option because of how heavily wooded the surrounding area is and I am on my own. I took a soil sample in accordance with Clemson University's website and dropped it off at my local Clemson Extension Office. I should have the results and recommendations emailed to me in about a week. If the ph is off, I'll go ahead and lime the soil per their recommendations. I'm having them evaluate it and recommend fertilizer specifically for growing beans since I'm going to plant LabLab. No need for the grass recommendations.

Thanks again for all the help fellas! I now have a good idea of the route I need to take. Although it will be back breaking and long, I think it will be worth it in the end. The plot I'm going to plant is right on the other side of an opening with several large oak trees. I'm sure the deer will be hitting it hard when the acorns begin to drop. The plot and the oaks are devided by a very thin tree line and I'm planning to set-up my stand to where I can observe both areas to maximize my chances.

gregrn43

Good luck with your plot