I dont have much money or options for equipment. And I know nothing of planting. I will be working for the next month then get 14 days off. Would like to attempt a foodplot or 2 then. Im waiting for a call from a buddy who might have a tiller behind a garden tractor. If not, I will see if I can rent one, even though that will cost a ton. Will tilling up the ground then throwing seed (probably a winter plot like turnups) be enough? Do I need to burry the seed somehow? I will brushhog the grass down as low as possible before I till, will tilling the ground kill the weeds and grass thats there now or will that just reseed and take over the plot?
Could try no till clover? It would be best to make a drag of some sort for behind the four wheeler Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm facing some problems here with late food plots. We were so wet I wasn't able to get much of my plotting done for summer and things got too late for me to brave tearing up quail nests until July 15th so now I'm facing a bunch of over grown plots and cool season crops. I'm going to mow everything, let it dry and burn it and then no-till in the seed. That won't be an option for you without equipment but mowing and burning probably will be. Follow that by getting some throw and grow mix and if you can get something to use as a harrow...drag it in, all as close to (before) the next rain as possible. Small seeded stuff works well, crimson clover, turnips, forage brassica, wheat/rye.
I haven't all the equipment for doing food plots and have to basically to easy plots the past couple of years. Last year being my first I was not really up to speed and the turn out wasn't so great. This year I was determined to make things work much better. I started off spraying my areas for my food plots with a good heavy dosage of Round Up. Gave it a full two weeks before I went back in with my weed eater and buzzed all the dead grass/weeds pretty much down to the ground. Hit it with another dose of Round Up and gave it a week and repeated with the weed eater. My plots are only about 20X40yds (2 of them), and I got out my little Garden Weasel tool and went to work on the ground. Having had all the ran in June, the ground was pretty soft and the Weasel did a good job of at least tearing up the top 3/4-1 inch of soil. Got it all worked up and spread my seed down and then since I didn't have a drag, I just ran it over with my wheeler and packed it down into the soil. Came back almost two weeks later and it had sprang up very nicely and was growing good. Going to head out this weekend to change cards in my cameras and see how they are doing
Its hard to determine not knowing what your ph is for soil. Brassicas handle a fairly low ph and if you could spray right away with gly to kill all weeks a week later spread 19-19-19 fertilizer along with your brassica mix over dead thatch. After that ride over it with atv tires and hope for rain. Scoot
Wheat and oats grow in most soils with little to no ground prep. Most soils tend to be slightly acidic. A bag of Triple 13 can sometimes help prepare the soil, but you don't really reap the benefits up it until consecutive years of planting. Find your spot. Remove sticks if needed and you may want to mow down existing vegetation with a riding or push lawn mower or tractor. Break up the soil with a rear-tine hand tiller, tractor disc, or a garden hoe (I've used a hoe. Hand-tiller is much preferred.) Use your hand or a seed broadcaster to spread the seed. Use a garden or grass rake to pull soil over the top of the seed (or a tractor drag). Wheat and oats doesn't have to be seeded deep to grow, just covered with dirt to where it isn't visible. It will also grow with a little water, in most areas, whether field or wooded. It's cheap too. For my kills plots I always get one bag of Triple 13, one bag of wheat, and one bag of oats. Usually runs about $45. Pray for rain. Watch it work.
