New to food plots

Hey guys needing a little help here.

So I have a small plot I am going to do on the back of private property in Central Arkansas. One spot on the land is mostly hardwood and covered. Going to do roughly a 1/2 acre plot. In August I am going to put out No Plow b/c of the limited sun light exposure. I am looking for something in the Spring that isn't an annual that can handle less than sunny conditions. This spot will probably get roughly 3 hours of sunlight directly per day maybe a little bit more. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Joey

 

Ladino clover! Or really any clover, but I had some Ladino clover far back in my property and it grew like a weed, and the area had very little sunlight.

 

I am in Arkansas and I was looking on Whitetail Institute site. So clover is the way to go for spring in a difficult to get to spot for sunlight? I'd love to get something in the ground for spring but then I will be planting the No Plow.

 

Whitetail Institute No-Plow, Bowstand or Secret Spot would be a great choice. Just make sure you stay away from the Evolved Habitats Throw-N-Grow... Deer don't seem to like it at all

 

Awesome! I had definitely look at those especially with my deep woods factors and low sunlight.

 

Someone also mention Chicory Plus for a spring plant in a tough area? Has anyone used this?

 

I did my first plot last year that was about a 1/4 acre in the woods. I will be removing a few trees to give a little more sunlight. My mix was mostly Clover, Small Burnett. Then also a small amount mixed in of 2 different types of alphalpa and then I also threw in Chicory. The Clover, Burnett and chicory are the 3 that really took good the first year. It grew to about 4-5 inches since the first year is mostly root growth. I planted Buck Forage Oats as a cover crop. It grew fast and was like Grass. The deer seemed to like that the most so definitely look at the oats. Early I put down about 8 bags of Lime and then Tilled in.

The day I was going to spread seed I first spread a bag of 12-12-12 and raked in into the soil and then spread my seed mix and then raked that in.

This year I would look at a nice clover mix and watch to see how much sunlight it gets and then adjust if needed the following years. If it doesn't grow very well I would just throw down some Buck Forage Oats and rake it in really well before nice rain. That way you will have something the deer will come too.

Hope this helps. I'm still learning too as i'm anxious to see if my perennial plot will come back this year. I'm going to use a leaf blower to clear all the leaves off and frost seed some clover to fill in the areas that didn't grow well last year.