North Texan

Will get you kicked out of the nudist colony every time.

TN Lone Wolf

Do you think I should?

Semisane

I'd be inclined to kill that grass before it goes to seed.

North Texan

I would add it every time I used glyphosate. Calcium and magnesium will bond with glyphosate, so something like hard water will reduce effectiveness, or plants that contain an abundance of either. When ammonium sulfate is added, it does two things. First, the sulfate acts to bind and tie up some of the calcium and magnesium in the tank water, and even some in the treated plants. Second, the glyphosate has a tendency to bind with ammonium. Plants uptake the ammonium-glyphosate ions a little better, making the glyphosate more effective. The key is to use spray grade ammonium sulfate and to add it to the tank before adding the glyphosate.

You'll still need to use a surfactant. Some people try to use the ammonium sulfate in place of surfactant. That's not what it is for.

I would not mix the glyphosate with a product like Crossfire, which is 2,4-D + triclopyr unless you are specifically having trouble with woody plants in the food plot. I use triclopyr a lot for rangeland restoration, generally tank-mixed with a clopyralid. It works fairly well for certain species of brush, and does provide substantial broadleaf control of western ragweed, common broomweed, and many other forbes (and unfortunately legumes). Would make me want to be very cautious about applying to a food plot.

TN Lone Wolf

Checked up on it again. The grass is now waist high in most of the plot, and even taller in places:



I found a pair of sunflowers growing. You can clearly see where something, no doubt a deer, has eaten the topmost leaves of one of them:



As thick as the grass has grown, I'm going to mow the plot down before this grass goes to seed. Very little of the lablab and sunflowers are left, and I definitely need to get that johnsongrass knocked back before it produces seed.

Doc7

Wishing you luck in your continued efforts here!

Semisane

I agree. Kill that stuff ASAP.

minihunt83

THanks for your post

TN Lone Wolf

This weekend, I'm planning on mowing both plots I'm planting this fall. I'm going to start a regimen of mowing them every other weekend until I spray them the weekend prior to planting.

Semisane, I've got a few questions. My dad is looking to buy one of those tow-behind lawn sweepers to pick up the grass clippings left over after he mows. Do you think I should use that to remove some of the grass left over in the plots before I sow the seed?
Also, what do you think I should look into planting? Winter wheat will be the primary crop, but I was also considering adding a bit of oats, Austrian winter peas, and possibly ladino and/or crimson clover.

Semisane

I wouldn't remove any of the thatch. That's what's building your top layer of organic matter over the long run. No-till is a process that gets better over time. You will get less and less grass over the next three years because you are not bringing up old grass and weed seed from the soil seed bank by tilling, and are terminating any grass and weed before it goes to seed.

Your mowing/spraying plan should work fine. But I see no need to mow that often. You only need to mow to prevent whatever is there from going to seed. If you have foot tall grass on the plot when you're ready to plant, that would be perfect. Spray it with a heavy dose of Glyphosate the week before you plant. Then throw your seed first, then any fertilizer you plan to use, then mow. The traffic from spreading the fertilizer and mowing will help move the seed down to soil level.

Winter wheat is perfect, as is ladino clover. I do a 50/50 mix of wheat and oats. But I'm quite a bit South of you and don't usually have the oats killed by extreme cold. I really don't know how oats do in your area. I think I would go with a 70/30 mix of wheat/oats.

I'm not a fan of Crimson clover. Some of the guys on my lease use it, and it's grown well for them. But my observation is my white clover plots get hit by our deer in the Spring and early Summer a lot more than their Crimson plots. That said, you should try some yourself - maybe the same 70/30 mix of Ladino/Crimson.

There's nothing wrong with adding peas to your mix. They are fairly expensive when compared to the other seeds and unless you have awfully large plots you can expect them to be completely wiped out before they get much growth.