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Food Plot Help

I'm trying to establish a foodplot back my blind. I have probably between 1/5-1/4 acre of land cleared out. I am going out this weekend to spray and kill the undergrowth in the area. I have never put in a plot but have been doing a ton of research.

I hunt old reclaim land (filled in coal pits) so the soil is super rocky. I haven't way to get any kind of equipment that can't be carried by hand back there. So I'm looking at a lot of rake work.

My plan is to clean up this area to the best of my ability to ensure seed to soil contact. Put down lime and fertilizer then plant some kind of clover, rye mix or clover, oats or winter wheat, turnip mix. From what I've heard these are some hearty mixes and tend to grow well anywhere. After planting I will take it in and walk it down good to help pack it. Sunlight won't be much of an issue I cleared out quite a few trees from the area last weekend.

My questions are, without a soil test what is my best bet on a lime to fertilizer mix? Are the seed mixes I have good and how much of what should I mix in? Also how long should I wait after spraying poison to clear out undergrowth and plant seed?

Thanks in advance!

My suggestion Spread 20 bags of Pellet lime. Without a soil test I would put down 4-6 bags of triple 13 fertilizer. Out of the gate I would plant a mix of Crimson and arrow leaf clover along with rye as a cover crop. For that small of a plot you won't need much... 3 lbs Crimson 1 arrow leaf and 15 lbs of rye should be about right. Clear the under growth when everything is dead.... Should be about 2 weeks

For all the work you're going through do a ph test. It'll give your a better idea of what to plant.

Bowmania

Pretty good advice above.......that is a relatively safe way to approach a new plot anywhere.

I'm not sure where to even send one around here honestly

http://soiltesting.okstate.edu/services-and-price-list

http://www.plantbiologic.com/t-soil.aspx

I'm with Mike, that is if you don't send in the soil sample.

Winter wheat, clover, turnips/radishes, and rye all grow real well just about anywhere. I don't think you can go wrong mixing and matching any of these.

I'd hate to see you put in all that work and have bad turnout on your crop, soil sample is definitely the way to go. If not I think you could get by fine following mike's advice.

pellet lime recommendations normally 400-800 lbs per acre

inner sanctum is a mix that i came out with for your exact scenario but if you want some ideas other than anything i sell here goes..

rape is fullproof. If you cant grow rape you can't grow anything. Radish would be a great choice to loosen the soil, give some forage top growth and nutrient sequesteration. Oats/triticale/rye/wheat are all grain options Crimson/berseem clovers fixate nitrogen and give some immediate forage.

Here is a picture of inner sanctum at grandpa ray's farm. Note this land has never been worked in my 48 years and it's extreme shade. I also never worked the ground, just broadcast the seed in May. There was some dry humics mixed with the seed, which is my tip of the day for first time food plotters. This naturally loosens the soil and acts as a means to make your fertilizers you put down "time released"

How much fertilizer would you suggest?

For the most part, Lime is irrelevant unless you have a low ph issue. You said that the soil is very rocky. if there is a lot of limestone present in the soil than you may actually have a high ph issue rather than a low ph issue. High ph is usually more problematic than a low ph. Most plants can do relatively well if your ph is above 5.5 . If your're in the 6 - 7 range then you're ideal. If you're above 7.5 then you have alkali soils and will need sulphur instead of lime. Another thing to consider is the fact that the lime really needs to be incorporated into the soil. The lime HAS to come in contact with the soil particles in order for the reaction to take place. Also keep in mind that it may take 6 months to a year OR MORE for the lime to actually significantly change the ph.

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