Another question about a food plot

So today's weather was fantastic. I was able to work all three plots of mine. They look great. My question is what do I do now? Wait untill the weeds start to grow and kill them? If I plant without killing the weeds the plot will get murdered by weeds before the plot produces anything. Here is a pic

 

Here is a pic of my property.
3 green areas are plots.
2 red areas are entrance points
Blue dot is a fixed stand.
Should I make two early season plots and one late?
Just looking for ideas

 

I think it really depends on when you want to plant your food plots. We usually plant ours around the first weekend in august since we do a lot of rape/brassicas. Therefore we let our plots sit until about July and then spray them early in July so they have time to die and get mowed and tilled before Aug 1.

If your want to plant your plot in June, then you gotta move the schedule up, but this system has worked well for us. Eventually you might find that not very many weeds will grow, which is the benefit of staying on top of your food plots

 

I would see where your soil is at (soil test) and wait till it greens up and hit it with round up.

Lots of choices really. You could plant some stuff now and till that under for a fall planting.

I would focus more on the late season plots. One plot mix in clover with your fall planting so then next year you have a clover plot for a few years (with proper maintence).

 

my soil test is complete. I was wanting to put down something as early as possible then get some turnips and some other late season plots in later in the year. I might make two soybean plots then when they get demolished ill put in some turnips. What is something I could put down for late season and when do I plant it. Also when do I plant turnips?

 

If you are doing spring plantings I recommend buckwheat be involved. For a few reasons; turkeys and deer both love it (turkeys more so when it goes to seed). It also makes a great green tilled in bio-fertilizer for your fall plots if plan is to till again in the fall and planting then too.

Doing soybeans in small areas is tough, a lot of times deer won't even let it grow enough to produce, however many people have had success if you can spray them with a hot sauce mixture once a week or so...we have yet to do this but are discussing doing it this year as an experiment and to see if others were right in claiming it works.

If you get a soybean plot thriving you can always broadcast brassicas over the soybeans and they will settle onto the dirt under (if you have round up ready soybeans and sprayed) the beans and once the beans die back your brassicas will thrive and grow up through the now open canopy over head.

 

Brassicas are a good late season option, in MN we try to get it in by aug 1, make sure you get giant rapeseed, there are many strains but some are dwarf and only grow 4 inches


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When choosing brassicas you must consider all things that make brassicas great and which kind you want to include.

Brassicas which focus on leaf/stem growth will provide the most above ground tonnage and allow for thicker plantings, while large edible root structured brassicas will need a little thinner planting due to their root structure. A good mix of both can be highly beneficial!

Monsterraxx has seed blends coming out this spring and we utilized one of the two brassica blends last year with great success! Either research and mix your own or buy from a reputable company or person who makes their own...their are a few guys on the board here that I would trust buying their seed mix.

 

I would say you can wait until the grass and weeds start to grow, then zap them w. Roundup or equivalent. Wait a week or so, then you can plant whatever you decide. Just make sure that you are planting it during the correct time. If you just want to green up the plot and then till it under for a fall planting, then you could do as Ty mention. Clover would be another decent option for that too.

 

How late will brassicas last?

 

Brassicas are the most resolute seeds we plotters can plant. Brassicas get more desirable when cold sets in unlike other seed types which go dormant or die. Especially the bulbs in turnips and radishes begin to get sweeter due to the starches switching over to sugars. Deer will dig through snow to get to the brassicas...as for the greens on them some deer love them when young, mid growth and fully mature and on into the winter....others only at certain times. Brassicas as whole though stay attractive and highly palatable longer than other seeds.....

....deer can take a couple years figuring out what brassicas are and how good they are...especially the bulbed ones.

 

From personal experience i have seen deer using our brassica food plot last year until mid december when i quit bowhunting for the year so it is likely that the deer used those plots even longer than that


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Buck coined "RD" in broad daylight in a microplot face deep in snow this January getting to the brassicas. At that time snow was deep and it was cold!

 

Remember with brassicas that they love nitrogen. I broadcast some 19-19-19 out before planting time and then broadcast some more out before a rain when the plants are 4-6 inches tall.

Brassicas can get wiped out before winter, or last well into winter. Alot depends on deer density, size of plot and how big/tall the brassicas are going into the fall.

Dont overlook radishes. Where like said before some deer take a little while to get used to the turnips, but from the last few years planting radishes and alot of people I know all over the place planting radishes, the deer took to the radishes the first year. Not one person I talked to said that the deer didnt eat the radishes. Plus radishes are good for the soil.

But as you can see, lots of options and mixes. Beans in a small plot will get wiped out, but they do produce a little bit of nitrogen(pull out the roots and if you see a white little ball on the roots, that is a nitrogen nodule) and if the beans are round up ready that helps by taking care of some weeds.

What I am doing on a plot of mine is regular round up ready beans first thing this spring (take notice when the farmers are planting theirs) and then tilling them under for winter rye/brassica planting. Brassicas will produce more food then beans will in a small plot. So I get the summer forage, knock back the weeds, produce a little nitrogen and have a clean plot to start my fall plot in.

Thing with broadcasting brassicas into soybeans is it is hit or miss. Alot depends on rain AND how big the beans are. I did this on a 1/4 acre strip. Did soybeans in the summer, them never made it over 6 inchs, broadcasted a clover mix(little bit of brassicas in it) and it did so so. My traditional planting method surpassed that plot.


Keep us updated on what you end up planting, but looks like you are off to a great start. I am jealous as I cant even see the grass in my front lawn yet due to this damn snow.

 

So jake please explain what you mean when you say you get summer forage and knock back weeds. How do you do this.

 

With the soybeans the deer like them as soon as they start popping out of the ground and munch on the leaves all summer long till the leaves turn yellow and drop. Then if left standing, the bean pods are great winter food. But really if you are trying to keep and feed deer all winter long, 2 acres is the magic number. I seen a 5 acre bean plot get wiped out one winter by my friends place. But depending on what variety of bean you have and the local deer herd will depend on how well the beans do under pressure.

With knocking back the weeds= if you have "round up ready beans", one application of round up when the beans are about 6 inchs tall will knock back most of the the weeds and the round up will not harm the bean plants. The idea behind that is to kill off the weeds and then the beans canopy out shading out any of the new weeds trying to emerge. No sun light to the ground= no weeds usually.


My best advice is just experiment and see what does best on your land. I would concentrate more on fall plots first if it was up to me. Keep it fun and realize you are at mother natures mercy. The more you read the more options you find out about the more you can get information overload. I say if you are just looking for a simple effective fall hunt plot, some sort of winter rye/radish/brassica mix is a great mix to have/ dubbed the foundation mix (LC mix on qdma forums). Then as the years progress and each year you will learn more and more and find out the do's and dont's.


But what equipment do you have at your place to use? Looks like you got that spot worked up pretty good. Also what size are the plots you plan on planting?

 

Yea I'm on year 3 and the first two failed. This one will be a success!

 

What happened the first two plots and why you think they failed?

 

Did they really fail or was there just small growth? The first couple of years are the hardest and alot of times it doesnt come very good


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