rent a bush hog? We mow 4-5x for every time we plow. We only plow in spring (likely here in about 2 weeks depending on weather) or if we really want to do a late season plot. We don't really have much a problem with weeds except when we cheap out on seed. And that's in sandy soil where weeds usually dominate.
Hey Atlas, I know you were asking Greg and I am certainly no expert, but I get much better brassica germination with direct ground contact.
Here's what I would do Atlas. I'd keep that ground black (killed) untill you plan to put down seed. If there is alot of thatch at that time, either rake it off or just mow it to chop it up. I'd also forget the clover,chicory. Those 2 should be planted and at a different time then brassica. My go time for brassica is about July 25th. Lighty drag in the seeds and pray for rain.
Atlas, when I know I'm going to plant brassicas I usually prep and plant the area with oats in May. Around the 3rd week of July, I mow down the oats and apply fertilizer usually some 0-0-60 (potash) and some 46-0-0 (urea). I mix the two together in my 3-point broadcast spreader. If the Oats were especially tall I might disc them a bit first before I rototill. I rarely have to disc the oats because I don't plant them super thick. I really only planted them just to till into the ground in the first place and to keep the plot from getting too weedy. This may also help with your weed problem. When I rototill, the ground looks like a perfectly frosted cake, except dirt! lol. I then spread the seed and drive over the ground with my tractor because I don't have a cultipacker. It works. Below is an old pic of when I rototilled the whole field.
So your routine is turn over soil in spring and then mow all year until planting.......then spray wait and plant?
That’s exactly what I want to do.......just don’t know how LOL. The equipment I have access to every day is a disc capable of tearing up the ground as deep as I want........that’s about it. Local farmers kid has a 6 ft tiller and we give him a few bucks to rototill but that’s probably an option once a year. We have boom sprayers for the ATVs so we can spray and kill everything. We have broadcast spreaders for fertilizer and seed and have drags and a rolls for good seed contact. We send soil samples out of state for detailed lab analysis and adjust any parameters accordingly. First year we planted we just 2 bottom plowed over a few acres then ran the disc on it when it dried and planted. We had turnips the size of softballs and broad leaves knee high. It was literally amazing. Every year since then our results have diminished to the point last year that literally NOTHING grew. VERY frustrating. The ONLY piece of equipment we don’t have daily access to is a brush hog........I’m having a hard time believing that is such a crippling hurdle to overcome that we can’t figure out a way to still get good results.
Really???........man the clover and chickory has been an awesome additive for us through the years. Planted when we do it just ends up being like under growth which has helped us with weeds (when anything grows LOL) and I have watched deer nose right through our brassicas to get to the sweet stuff underneath in early season. Honestly dude........I couldn’t care less at this point what I plant as long as it grows. We have literally wasted hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars over the last three years banging our heads against this wall and we are all pretty tired of it.
General question. We have always ran the disc the day we plant to have the soil nice and loose. Then we spread seed and fertilizer and roll. Are we hurting ourselves by stirring up the ground the day we plant?....creating a race between our seeds and the weeds we just disturbed? If so what do you guys do the day you plant? I feel like if we left our soil for a couple weeks it would be pretty solid especially with rain but I could be wrong. Are you guys tearing up the ground and then waiting a few weeks then spraying then waiting then planting??
yes, you are if you can't mow it afterward. You will likely need to mow 2x in a grow season to keep the weeds under control. Especially if you are talking clover; of which I am a huge fan and will get back to that at the end. (This is in central WI so keep that in mind.) We typically till and lime in mid-late April. Then by about mid May we come up, spray, and plant. Usually brassicas with clover mixed in. Then come up in mid-July and mow, again in August. On both those times, in any areas where we have weeds that choked out everything else (rare) we will mow it to the ground, rake up the stalks, nuke the little stubs, and then broadcast more late-season stuff on those spots. Usually get somewhat decent ground contact and germination ratio out of that. So by September (season opens the 2nd Saturday thereof) we usually had a good mix of mature brassicas and clover, with fresh green radishes and turnips sprouting. Back to clover- except for a couple of small honey-hole plots deeper in the woods that we do in just brassicas and turnips; we have moved to 100% clover on our big plot which is about 3/4 of an acre. It's the most cost effective, easy to deal with, and also the biggest draw for deer. Our area has so much browse in the woods, plus a ton of corn and milo (when it's not in potatoes) that they just really like the sweet succulent clover pretty much until the snow covers it. We planted that plot 5 seasons ago exclusively in clover and haven't had to till it since. Just re-broadcast over a few spots the deer and direct sun just burned out. This spring we may need to till it; my buddy is up at his nearby lake cottage this weekend and will let me know when he gets back. Last year was hard to judge, it was more sparse than the 2 years prior but is it dying out or is it because it was really hot and dry? Anyway, once it got really established and thick (I would say years 2-4) we got away with only mowing it once. Depending on the size of your plot, you can get away with a higher-horse lawn mower. My buddy found a tow-behind lawn mower that needed some welding work on Craigslist, bought that on the cheap and fixed her up and now we just rip around on the quad pulling that. We can knock out mowing the plots in about an hour. That's another nice nice thing about clover- it will tolerate being mowed down to 2-3" and shoot up higher and faster than the weed stalks can with their leaves all chopped off.
I haven't entered into the food plot world as of yet, but a possible suggestion. After plowing, spraying weeds, waiting a week and then planting the plot, after the plot sprouts and is showing, what about then applying a pre emergent to it? Something that only attacks seeds and has about a 6 month rating?
Why do you say that? Or are you just saying that in case of another flush you might be able to hit before food plot emergence?
When I used round up that how I did it. Disc, wait for a rain, let the weeds germinate, hit 'em with the round up and plant seven days later.
I've planted many times the same day I have sprayed with roundup. Never had a bad encounter. As for Atlas. I can't give anymore advice here. I have tried "blends" and have had dismall results. You mentioned sugar beets in the mix. They take Alot more time to mature then turnipstradishes. Be a total waste of $ if planting the same time (imho). Carry on.
Gotcha. Just curious why you were waiting a week to plant after roundup. Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
While I have never personally planted sugar beets, I am from and hunt in MI and I know deer tear that $hit up. Might be a good mix in with the intent of a late late season plot- who cares when they mature so long as it's after the frost and deer want to paw it up come late season?
I wish Oklahoma got cold enough. Most years, to plant sugar beets. Missouri did and it was the best late season plot.
Just what I was always told. Planting to close to a application was bad for germination. But my real reason on plots is bc it is a weekend thing so spray one Saturday plant the next.
And for the record it has been a month of Sundays since I've used roundup. The last plot I did was two rotations of buckwheat followed by clover, brassica and cereal rye. That plot lasted two good years and I should have replanted it last year. But it was lush and choked out the weeds. First pic is in May, first rotation of buckwheat. Second is in August. Third is in mid November. Fourth is in April and the last is in June and the Blackhawk arrowleaf is the clumped brown one reseeding, just before I brush hogged it.
