1st plot ?????

[the blur]

I have an area that is completely over grown with weeds.  2' high of pure weeds.   I figure it's perfect for a food plot.   But I can't get equipment in there.   Manual labor only...…. Has to be cleared & rotor tilled...

No valuable trees growing there.... just invasive thorny trees, and heavy brush.

It's a 50x100' area.

How do you prevent weeds ????

 

[land 1]

Round up .....

[LET EM GROW]

Your best bet is to weed whack them down. Then when they start growing back up. Hit them with Glyphosate (round up). you dont need a tiller for plots like these. Especially if you cant get equipment in there. kill vegetation first, then spread seed before the next rain. Very simple process. Providing your not trying to grow corn. If need be you can weed whack the dead veg again .. that will cover your seed and help germination when it gets wet from rain.   

[the blur]

Will my seed grow once I douse the area with roundup ?

Too bad the deer don't eat weeds !

[LET EM GROW]

They eat a lot of weeds! just depend son which ones lol. Your seed will grow yes, providing its good seed. Always check seed labels on the bag of what you buy. Round up wont hurt your seeds. Round up only kills on "green" contact. It shuts down the growing "process" within the plant. Without getting scientific lol. There are chemicals out there that have residual so you would have to allow down time before seeding. But Glyphosate/roundup is not one of them. 

[corydd7]

Tractor Supply has a 41% glysophate thats on sale at the moment. I used it and had success but I also double the recommended amount.  Half the price of roundup and works just as well.

[G-Man]

Before you make it a plot..is it nesting for turkey or a fawning area? Plots are nice but overgrown areas are important for other things

 I've learned the hard way. ..losing fawning cover for a pot is bad idea. I did it took me few years to figure out what happened to my doe group.. they left area for better fawning cover.  I now put that plot back to natural grasses and forms. It's used 10x more in daylight than plot was

[G-Man]

16 minutes ago, the blur said:

Will my seed grow once I douse the area with roundup ?

Too bad the deer don't eat weeds !

Deer love weeds!! I highly recomend you really study the area before you destroy what may be a natural forage and cover area.. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

32 minutes ago, G-Man said:

Deer love weeds!! I highly recomend you really study the area before you destroy what may be a natural forage and cover area.. 

Perfectly said G-man. You can actually have higher nutritional content in the weeds that are there than the plot you are putting in. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I suggest "Weeds of the Northeast"

 

[land 1]

I agree deer eat alot of the native weeds but i find only when they are young and fairly new once august get here the weeds arnt as sought out

[grampy]

Sure deer love weeds and eat a bunch of them this time of year. Not so much come October - November, while hunting. Nothing better than a "green" patch to keep deer interested, and nearby, come hunting season. A 50x100 ft. area will not make a big impact on fawning or take away a major summer food source. But it may just give a hunter an edge in the fall, watching the thicker trails leading to and from that food plot.

[the blur]

What is a good plot to grow in the shade ?

I'll  hack down all the weeds...   but there is a nice tree canopy overhead …...

[stubborn1VT]

I wouldn't worry about shade.  If it is sunny enough to grow two foot tall weeds, then sunlight shouldn't be an issue.

[land 1]

i would try a cheap ladino clover it will improve soil quality at first and then in a couple of years u can try other stuff

[sailinghudson25]

Thorny brush....

Rent a walk behind brush hog first, then you can maintain a good plot with a quality weedwacker like a stihl FR70.  

Brush hog it late july, then borrow a backpack sprayer. Then next week when the weeds grow again a bit and the weeds are dry and will be dry for the day, usea about 8oz of 41% roundup in a 4 gallon sprayer.  Just enough to get it wet is needed.  You probably need to refilll the sprayer once.  Ideally add about 2 or 3oz volume of ammionium  sulfate.  IT helps to absorb the roundup from the leave on stubborn weeds better.  Give the roundup a few days, then spread your seed, then weedweack close to the ground.  Rake the plot if you can well, if not then, spread your seed before you weedwack.  IF possible use an ATV to roll it in well.  IF your not raking, i'd use the rye over anything else, or the oats 2nd.  Ideally the cereal grains should be about an inch deep in the soil, and clovers 1/4" or less.  

 

50x100 is .11 acres..   Something like 6lbsof ladino clover and 60lbs of either oats, wheat or, winter rye would be a good start, this is per acre.  These numbers are for an ideally prepped plot sown with the right equipment, sown to the right depth.    So, for you 2lbs of clover and 20lbs of cereal grains.  Buy a bag or two of pelletized lime to mix with the clover to help spread it in a hand thrower.  Your germination rate will be poor with poor soil prep.

Something will grow.  However, when the frost kicks up the soil inot ice shards in late feb or march, spread another lb or two of clover in the soil.

With all this a bag of fertilizer when you plant.  IDeally, a soil test is good.  But one bag of 12-12-12, or even better 6-24-24 if you can get it.  Most agway's sell ladino clover, cereal grains, and 6-24-24.

 

You keep weedwacking  every few weeks, spray early summer and late summer, and seed/weedwack a week later, you'll get a clover plot.

Stihl makes a string trimmer you can swap heads on.  You can get a rototiller head.  Also, for mowed grassy material removable, a good backpack blower can be handy.

Fertilize and lime your mast trees!  HIckories and oaks.  Planting fruit trees is a good idea too.  No equipment needed for either.

Just keeping weedy areas weedwacked can be pretty decent in itself.   Keep your edges brushy.  Deer like seclusion more.

 

An ATV with improvised implements can be real helpful. Just the ATV tires alone will help those seeds grow by pushing them into the ground.  

I have made a food plot with my FR70, a seedway 2750 spreader, and solo 425 sprayer.  It will not be perfect, but after a early summer start, a late summer spraying and reseed, it looked pretty decent.

Edited June 19, 2018 by sailinghudson25