First time food plot
General Topic
Contributors to this thread:
Don 23-May-18
Brotsky 23-May-18
Don 23-May-18
drycreek 23-May-18
t-roy 24-May-18
Don 24-May-18
From: Don
23-May-18

Don's embedded Photo
Don's embedded Photo
I’m normally a public land hunter, but I’m planning to plant a food plot on an 80 my father n law owns. The spot has been grown over for several years with weeds and old fescue. The spot is a triangle 60 yards long, and approximately 20 yards wide at on end and 35 on the other end. I mowed it down with a lawn mower and left the bigger oak trees that are growing up. I then ordered a small disk from amazon that I’m going to disk it up with. The soil quality is prime where I live, so I’m not worried about that part. The question I have, is will the disking be enough to the throw out some throw and grow and a mixed perinial? Will weeds take it over before the plot can grow?

From: Brotsky
23-May-18
I'm no expert on food plotting but I did grow up on the farm. Based upon your picture only you will need something a little more substantial to break up that sod and prepare your seedbed than an amazon disc. Hopefully some of the food plot guru's will be along shortly to steer you down the right path.

From: Don
23-May-18
There are no rocks in this dirt but I’m sure the old fescue and weeds will be pretty tough to break up and work in. I’m going to try to get 300+ lbs on this little 4-wheeler disk I’m buying. This farm has a 40 acre sanctuary on the back 1/2 and water. But almost all crp and no food on or near the property. If I can get some food growing to hold the does it should be really good.

From: drycreek
23-May-18
Don, I would invest in a backpack or tank sprayer that mounts on your wheeler. A healthy dose of gly and left alone a couple weeks will help to rot those roots. It should disc up easier then. Then get a couple throw-away tires , some chain, and make yourself a drag to smooth your seed bed and cover your seeds. Good luck !

From: t-roy
24-May-18
I would go in and spray it with glyphosate (Roundup) and kill all of the vegetation first, minus the oaks you left. Give it a few weeks to dry out good, then, if there’s enough fuel to burn it off, burn it. You need to get rid of as much weed trash as possible. IMO, You will have marginal success getting virgin ground worked up with an ATV disc. You might have to hit it several times to do much good. One tip that helps when using a small disc is to weave back and forth as you disc the ground. It will help to cut into the sod better. It looks like the plot gets quite a bit of shade.? I would suggest seeding it to a cereal grain(rye/oats/triticale) and a clover mix sometime in September in Missouri. Skip the throw-n-grow mix. The cereal grain should be a decent draw in the fall, plus the clover will take off the following spring, as well as be somewhat of a food source this fall too. You might even add in some forage radishes to the mix. Check out GrandpaRays for some good info and a seed mix source as well Good luck!

From: Don
24-May-18
Thanks everyone I’ll let you know how it turns out

  • Sitka Gear