Me and my.hunting partner cleared out a small foodplot last year and planted tk no success.. this we were gonna plant early but we so far have only round up and cultivated one time. The area is very low/damp with decent sun and about 1/8th acre. Is there anything I need to do make it better before I plant? We want clover that's gonna last a few years and plan on taking care and mowing it when needed. This is a pic from earlier in the year to show how much sun and water it gets.
Aslike Clover will grow the best in damp and wet soils. I would do a mix of Ladino, Aslike and maybe some Red mixed in. See how it does.
I personally like a good quality white clover like ladino clover mixed mixed with wheat and broadcasted should do just fine there! Wheat and clover is like bread and butter of the food plot world! I would use about 15lbs of wheat and about 2 lbs of ladino white clover broadcasted throughout the plot, wheat first, than spread the clover. Don't spead in the same spreader of wheat and clover will be thicker in some areas and thinner in others. This stuff is cheap too, maybe 40 bucks total wrapped up in this mix and should be great for fall and spring/summer plot.
When would be a good time to do it? I want to round up and do some tilling or discing again (haven't been down there since it was cultivated a month ago). We have another plot on the property that isn't as damp but has less sunlight. It hasn't sprouted any weeds since we cultivated it.
For ohio, last week of July/first week of August is when I did my kill plot last year and it turned out great. Maybe in that spot that gets less light buy a bag of biologic hot spot and spread it there? Its just peas and wheat but the peas will be a great reason for deer to stop and meander around. Than I would buy maybe 2 more pounds of ladino white clover and spread that through the hotspot so in the spring you have another great clover spot. If I was planting that spot I would look for some rain and get yourself some ladino white clover and throw it there at the last week of July, first of August along with the hotspot blend so that the threat of drought is out of question. I am saying use Ladino because it is a giant leaf, and largest possible protein available clover there is and most deer perfer it 3/1 over red clover. The large leaf will also create a high forage clover plot, and since deer only prefer the leaves of clover most of the time it's perfect. Also just get some 41% Glyphosate from tractor supply or Home depo and spray that the first week of July in that area, I bought from home depo brand was HDX weed and grass killer for 15 bucks did 6,000 square feet. Its cheaper than roundup and has a higher GLY percentage than Roundup.
Have you done a soil test? Clover needs a 6.5 or higher to do really well. Spots cleared out In the woods tend to be acidic...which will hurt your chances of getting a good clover stand
i can't imagine calling that a food plot. for Gods sake, if you are gonna go throught the work going around those trees, why not just cut them down??.
Funny thing about plots and getting deer to be comfortable being there, trim too much and they avoid it during daylight, fine line.
Do what you can with what you have. It's not a food plot but more of a, stop and munch while cruising through plot if I would have to label it anything
I'm in Ohio and I planted mine early. I wanted to get it going since my plot is also in the woods as any typical honey hole plot. My plot is a fairly damp area and gets minimal sunlight. My main reason for planting early was so it would have a chance to develop and thicken up. Another thing, if planted early enough and it grows enough before the deer start going for it, you can mow it/weed whack it and allow for new growth which will help it thicken up to providing more yield. Here's how mine is looking as of 2 weeks ago which was initially planted at the beginning of April. No till, no initial fertilizer. I just raked the bare soil, spread seed, and raked over again. After 6 weeks I ended up putting down some fertilizer. It's a little taller than ankle high and looking great. The thing about clover plots that I'd learned from others is that they do even better the second year and will typically last 5-6 years before needing replanted.
I don't own this property that I hunt. It's the property in between my hunting partners house and my farm. I can only cut down a few trees and those ones inside the woods plot had to stay up. It's thicket all around there with bean fields all around. This is a spot with a mineral lick and hopefully in a couple months some clover. It's just supposed to hold some pressured deer before they go into the fields at dark. More like an open spot in the thicket that the mature bucks will checkout before going into the fields.
