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When to fertilize new food plot?

When do you ? Fertilize your new food plot? When it’s 3 or 4 in high or 5 or 6 in or does it matter?

I do mine at time of planting. Hopefully thats not wrong.

What's the planting?

Whenever I can.

Generally you want it as close to planting as possible. Ideally you want to fertilize, till it into the soil, then plant. For No-till top-dress, I fertilize the day I no-till and try to time immediately before rain. I don't want to go too early as then you may be feeding non-target plants like weeds and grass. I don't want it to go too late either as that initial germination is critical.

Two things to remember, Nitrogen like Urea, volatilizes when it's just sitting on the ground in the sun and heat. It's basically just evaporating. For that reason, I also like to top dress N immediately before a rainstorm. Also, Phosphorous (P) is almost immobile or very slowly mobilizes with water. That means pouring P on the ground may not reach the roots when you need it. So I much prefer tilling in my nutrients. The N does not volatize and the P is closer to the roots.

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