So I know it's a bit early but I am already planning to do my first real attempt at a food plot next summer. The plot in question will be about a half acre or a little smaller and plan on planting a mix of radish, rape, and peas. Would the best way to prepare the ground be to...mow existing weeds/grass and spray, till after a couple weeks, fertilize and lime according to soil test, then seed? Thanks.
Yes. It depends all on the amount of weeds. We started back in February with the ground prep. When there wasn't any snow on the ground we burnt everything off to get rid of all the "trash". After green up we sprayed. When it all died we disced. We diced about every 2-3 weeks starting around the first of June to keep the weed seeds killed until we planted August 22nd.
Also if I put fertilizer and lime down should I plant the seed at the same time or wait a week or so? Thanks again.
Take your soil sample before you do anything! I would then mow the plot as low as you can and turn the weeds and foliage in. Once they die, all that Nitrogen will be returned to the soil and help with your future plot. I would wait about 2-3 weeks for the foliage you turned over to die and start breaking down. By this time you should have your soil analysis back. Once you figure out how much Lime you need I would go back out and apply what it calls for and turn that in as well. Then seed and drag it and pray for rain. Once it gets about 6in high, apply a Ammonia Sulphate or Ammonia Nitrate fertilizer, 46-0-0 or 21-0-0. This will jump start growth and push out a lot of green. Wait another month and hit it with a 13-13-13 to help it bloom and produce fruit. Should be a top notch plot!
You won't want to spray directly after mowing it off, you'd be better off spraying it over the top first allowing it to die down and then mowing it. Spray works off of surface area contact, if you mow it that means less plant coverage and less translocation of spray to the roots through the foliage. Personally I don't work ground anymore, I just spray it down with roundup and sharpen and no-till drill the seed in. Cultivation and harsh chemical fertilizers kill soil biology and cause erosion. Most folks don't have no-till drills though so the old conventional way still works.
I'm not a fan of spraying at all. All of those nutrients are going to waste. On top of that, glyphosate has no soil activity at all. The way it kills a plant is by shutting down the its food preduction (photosynthesis). That in turn kills the roots.
Everyone has a different way of doing things, not trying to say your wrong at all Covey Master. Those weeds hold a lot of Nitrogen, if you return those nutrients to the soil, then it will help your plot. Spraying does make it a little easier. I still turn my soil once a year. It allows micro organisms into the soil, which breaks down thatch and old plant tissue. I use clover over the spring and summer to hold my nitrogen in the soil. I have summer plots that are speciafically clover plots and just over seed as needed. Some I will turn the clover over and plant my fall/winter plot.
Yeah I wasn't saying roundup kills soil biology though I'm sure it's probably not good for some of it as it's basically a salt. Thanks, I wasn't trying to say anyone is wrong either just pointing out another way of doing things. Actually, we now know for a fact that tillage (turning the soil) has two harmful modes of action. 1 it kills soil organisms/micro-organisms like earthworms and other microbial life and 2. it burns up soil organic matter. The beneficial soil organic matter is not actually plant matter but plant roots, exudates and soil microbial and insect life (soil biota) as well as many types of fungi. Soil organic matter can be grown through zero till and crop diversity...which is what I practice. It's a lot less work than the old conventional practices and doesn't destroy the soil biology or contribute to erosion problems. I'd encourage folks to check into it because it's not just hokey practice, it works very well and you grow a lot more stuff. I'm big into the soil health initiative and movement and getting more into it every year. Our soils were so degraded here that our corn would often show signs of stress after a good rain, I knew I had to find the problem and find a cure for it. Turned out that our soil organic matter was burnt up and water infiltration was terrible, all the water was sheeting and running off. Didn't matter how much fertilizer or tillage I did. I was introduced to soil health and had my eyes opened. We've been systematically trained to rely on tillage and a reliance on annual inputs by seed and fertilizer companies, there's a better way to do things if we care to try it. I just hope people take a look at it and give it a try if they want to, people have to want to do it on their own.http://ccsin.iaswcd.org/nrcs-soil-health-initiative-unlock-the-secrets-in-the-soil/
