No Till Food Plots
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
No Till Food Plots
I want to try food plot. One about 50 ft by 70 feet. It is in an area we keep chopped in a woods where a field tile runs into a woods and dumps into a creek. I do not have access to a tractor/plow/disc/planter. Would it be best to go in and use some no till seed, or try and work it up with my tiller. Anyone else ever make a food plot with minimal equipment. What are some tips you can give me and what are some things to avoid. Can anyone make any recommendations on what plants/seeds to use in a situation like this. How can I get the best bang for my buck since I am a rookie on my first attempt at a food plot. Thanks
At the farm we lease , they grew canyoula.
It is a leafy plant which stays live and produces all year round.
Farmers harvest only the seeds and leave the rest to waste away.
Deer love the large leafy remains.
We had animals the entire year eating thier fill of this perfect plant!
If we had a choice of a food plot to plant this would be my choice!
Oneshot.............
It is a leafy plant which stays live and produces all year round.
Farmers harvest only the seeds and leave the rest to waste away.
Deer love the large leafy remains.
We had animals the entire year eating thier fill of this perfect plant!
If we had a choice of a food plot to plant this would be my choice!
Oneshot.............
Leave the concrete jungle behind and just go hunting !
-
Adrian J Hare
- Posts: 573
- Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2002 8:56 am
- Location: Ontario
Bryan,
Preparing a Plot Area
Food Plots can be done in a number of ways. There are a number of things to consider when deciding to put one in.
1/ How do you plan on hunting the plot (Gun or Bow)
2/ How many hunters will be hunting this plot.
3/ How much sunlight will it recieve
4/ Climate temp's for seed germination and growing time.
5/ Stand locations
6/ What kind of Crops are in your area.
and so on....
If you are going to put the work into a food Plot you should make a plot that will work for the season in Plant production. Keeping in mined that Food Plots produce a better quality of food when it is young or not to high. Protine is one of the main sources in a Plot aswell. Plots will grow for a couple of years , but foreign grasses will out grow your plot and take away from what you have produced. This means it is something you should plan on keeping up every couple years and re-do your plot to keep the production of protine in one combined area so the Animals know as to where they will find what they need.
Starting a Plot area is not hard, look for an area that will give a plot at the leased 1/2 of day of sun. Too much sun can burn off the new growth in the warm season and damage your plot aswell. A area that has moisture but not under water is a great advantage aswell.
After you have found a good location for your plot , you need to get rid of any foreign grasses or weeds. I generally will cut and area with a sye or more of some sort , this takes the tops off of the grasses not wanted and puts them into a water thiving stage. This is the time to spray a weed/Grass killer on the area and kill all outbound pants. Round up works good for this , keeping in mined to keep away from any water flowing source.
After this step it takes in around 8-10 days before all grass and weeds have dropped and Raking came begin.
Rake the area of your plot and try to clean up the area. You can pile any of the old grasses off to the side of your plot and they will just disapear over time. Some will spread Lime on a such area if the Soal is not rich,this brings up the PH level of the soal and aswell add a fertilizer as well. I have used a thriple 20 myself.
Broadcast the area leaving a 2 foot area all along the outside edge of your Plot with both Fertilizer and seeding. A plot will grow outwords in the growing stage and will fill this area as it grows. Aswell foreign grasses will grow inwards. Myself i will keep an outside 2-3 foot area as a kill zone and not plant and spray a couple times over the growing season to stop this creep of weeds that tends to happen.
Now that your Plot area is set and ready for planting, you should broadcast the seed in 2 different directions making a cross spread design as you seed the plot. Remember to leave a 2 foot area all around the plot unseeded.
It does not take long to drag a Fan rake or such around the area to upload a little soal over your seed. This helps from having birds take away a large portion of seed and puts the highest percentage of seed in the plot. As much seed under dirt the better the plot will turn.
Germination should start with in a 8 day period. Plots are looked after in different ways after this. Some can be just left alone or they can be cut by a more to give it a thicker outcome. If you plan on cutting it a few times make sure the Plants have grown about 8 -10 inches high. Do not cut it off too low if this is what you want to do. Leave about 4 inchs + of growing stuble on your Plot. Cutting will thicken a plot and done a couple or few times a season will make a big difference.
If you decided or can not cut a plot , you may want to start your growing period later in the growing season, this will not harm your plot but it will not grow thick , but will keep the plants from becoming woody tasteing to deer. To make this thought easyer for the grower , decide when you plan on hunting and allow 2 1/2 months of growing time for your plot from that time. Your plot should be about 6-8 inches high at hunting time, depending on any rain you get in your growing area.
Plot Seed
Climate and growing time will make a difference in a Hunting Plot. Plant protine aswell help and is a big factor in a Plot. Not all Seeds will grow in all areas , as some do need a larger growing season to produce the quality in your Plot. Alot of seeds are Climate germinators and having the proper seeds will help make a difference in the outcome as well as what type of seeds you have planted.
Over the years different Companies have tested these type Plot mixtures to produce in the Climates we have to work with. QuakerBoy Game Call Compay is one of these such Companies and have joined hands with a such Company like Bishops Seeds in Ontario Canada to produce a seed blend that will grow in shorter growing seasons and tempetures as the Northern States and Canada tends to have.
Plot Mixtures like the Northern Forage- 15 Plus or Fall Feast are two that have been tested and proven in the passed. These such mixtures work as No Till but if one wants a higher percentage of growth that extra little work of raking will work far better for you and your Plot. These Both Blends are mixed with Annuals that will grow year after year. They do also have a Perrennials that will only grow the one season and need to be added each year. Keeping in Mined a high productive Plot should be regrown every Couple years.
Clovers are one of the main seeds in any blend and grow well in most areas. Rape and Winter Turnip work great for the later season hunting. Millets are added for Turkey activity in a Plot.
I have learned to aswell play with the odd extra seeding and add a 2 part Plot with 3/4's of the Top Blend mixes and a 1/4 of the Plot of mixed Red Clover and Alfalfa. The above advice with granolia work work great in this type of Plot layout. This really works great for early season as Ontario's Deer hunt starts in Mid October.
I hope this may give you a little better insight on getting a Plot started...BT
Preparing a Plot Area
Food Plots can be done in a number of ways. There are a number of things to consider when deciding to put one in.
1/ How do you plan on hunting the plot (Gun or Bow)
2/ How many hunters will be hunting this plot.
3/ How much sunlight will it recieve
4/ Climate temp's for seed germination and growing time.
5/ Stand locations
6/ What kind of Crops are in your area.
and so on....
If you are going to put the work into a food Plot you should make a plot that will work for the season in Plant production. Keeping in mined that Food Plots produce a better quality of food when it is young or not to high. Protine is one of the main sources in a Plot aswell. Plots will grow for a couple of years , but foreign grasses will out grow your plot and take away from what you have produced. This means it is something you should plan on keeping up every couple years and re-do your plot to keep the production of protine in one combined area so the Animals know as to where they will find what they need.
Starting a Plot area is not hard, look for an area that will give a plot at the leased 1/2 of day of sun. Too much sun can burn off the new growth in the warm season and damage your plot aswell. A area that has moisture but not under water is a great advantage aswell.
After you have found a good location for your plot , you need to get rid of any foreign grasses or weeds. I generally will cut and area with a sye or more of some sort , this takes the tops off of the grasses not wanted and puts them into a water thiving stage. This is the time to spray a weed/Grass killer on the area and kill all outbound pants. Round up works good for this , keeping in mined to keep away from any water flowing source.
After this step it takes in around 8-10 days before all grass and weeds have dropped and Raking came begin.
Rake the area of your plot and try to clean up the area. You can pile any of the old grasses off to the side of your plot and they will just disapear over time. Some will spread Lime on a such area if the Soal is not rich,this brings up the PH level of the soal and aswell add a fertilizer as well. I have used a thriple 20 myself.
Broadcast the area leaving a 2 foot area all along the outside edge of your Plot with both Fertilizer and seeding. A plot will grow outwords in the growing stage and will fill this area as it grows. Aswell foreign grasses will grow inwards. Myself i will keep an outside 2-3 foot area as a kill zone and not plant and spray a couple times over the growing season to stop this creep of weeds that tends to happen.
Now that your Plot area is set and ready for planting, you should broadcast the seed in 2 different directions making a cross spread design as you seed the plot. Remember to leave a 2 foot area all around the plot unseeded.
It does not take long to drag a Fan rake or such around the area to upload a little soal over your seed. This helps from having birds take away a large portion of seed and puts the highest percentage of seed in the plot. As much seed under dirt the better the plot will turn.
Germination should start with in a 8 day period. Plots are looked after in different ways after this. Some can be just left alone or they can be cut by a more to give it a thicker outcome. If you plan on cutting it a few times make sure the Plants have grown about 8 -10 inches high. Do not cut it off too low if this is what you want to do. Leave about 4 inchs + of growing stuble on your Plot. Cutting will thicken a plot and done a couple or few times a season will make a big difference.
If you decided or can not cut a plot , you may want to start your growing period later in the growing season, this will not harm your plot but it will not grow thick , but will keep the plants from becoming woody tasteing to deer. To make this thought easyer for the grower , decide when you plan on hunting and allow 2 1/2 months of growing time for your plot from that time. Your plot should be about 6-8 inches high at hunting time, depending on any rain you get in your growing area.
Plot Seed
Climate and growing time will make a difference in a Hunting Plot. Plant protine aswell help and is a big factor in a Plot. Not all Seeds will grow in all areas , as some do need a larger growing season to produce the quality in your Plot. Alot of seeds are Climate germinators and having the proper seeds will help make a difference in the outcome as well as what type of seeds you have planted.
Over the years different Companies have tested these type Plot mixtures to produce in the Climates we have to work with. QuakerBoy Game Call Compay is one of these such Companies and have joined hands with a such Company like Bishops Seeds in Ontario Canada to produce a seed blend that will grow in shorter growing seasons and tempetures as the Northern States and Canada tends to have.
Plot Mixtures like the Northern Forage- 15 Plus or Fall Feast are two that have been tested and proven in the passed. These such mixtures work as No Till but if one wants a higher percentage of growth that extra little work of raking will work far better for you and your Plot. These Both Blends are mixed with Annuals that will grow year after year. They do also have a Perrennials that will only grow the one season and need to be added each year. Keeping in Mined a high productive Plot should be regrown every Couple years.
Clovers are one of the main seeds in any blend and grow well in most areas. Rape and Winter Turnip work great for the later season hunting. Millets are added for Turkey activity in a Plot.
I have learned to aswell play with the odd extra seeding and add a 2 part Plot with 3/4's of the Top Blend mixes and a 1/4 of the Plot of mixed Red Clover and Alfalfa. The above advice with granolia work work great in this type of Plot layout. This really works great for early season as Ontario's Deer hunt starts in Mid October.
I hope this may give you a little better insight on getting a Plot started...BT
Ontario Hunting Lodge
http://z13.invisionfree.com/Ont_Hunting_Lodge/index.php?act=idx
http://z13.invisionfree.com/Ont_Hunting_Lodge/index.php?act=idx