I'm sure this question has already been asked, but I couldn't find the answer. We have never done food plots before and have decided to give it a shot this season. We have our site picked out, and have sent off our soil samples, and it's time to start preparing the area. From what I have read it looks like the next step is to spray the area to kill the current grass and weeds. And then disk them under. The question is how long do you wait to disk the soil after spraying the plot. Also how long do you wait to plant the plot after the discing? Thanks for the help. Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk
Check your herbicide bottle. Shouldn't be more than a week. You can plant immediately after soil is prepped. Preferably just before a rain. If you can, check into getting a no till drill from your extension office. Or just broadcast and run a harrow over it. Depending on what you plant. Every Time you till soil it allows the sun to bleach it and kill off nutrients, disturbs your layer of cover or humous, which allows the soil to dry out faster and erode quicker. Also check into burning after you have killed it off with spray. You'll get other opinions on here. Just remember you get out of it what you put in to it.
Thanks for the info. Just so I understand. You are suggesting drilling the seed as opposed to discing after the area has been sprayed Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk
After spraying Round Up I usually wait about 10 days and then disc the area under and then fertilize and plant.
It depends on the seed. But it's proven to be more effective, In the long term. Check out "Growing Deer Tv" Dr. Grant Woods is a advocate of it, as are a lot of other biologists. Discing will get it done, but it is also detrimental to the soil.
Spray, wait two weeks, disk, then plant in the same day as you disk. Drilling will definitely be better than disking. Drilling will build up organic matter, create great root zones to hold nutrients, and will help hold soil moisture. It's an all around better alternative to disking.
