New Plot

[dave6x6]

Cabinboy, I stand corrected and i also congradulate you on an awesome looking plot. Did you say this was your first attempt? Fantastic.. It's funny because WI clover is a notoriously slow starter. What did you use a crop sprayer with miracle grow. LOL

[Lever action]

Thanks for all the complements Yes this is my 1st attempt on a food plot but what I think helped a lot was this was a 7 acre corn field 5 yrs ago.A farmer used this field for many years for crops so I didn't have to add lime or fertilizer.4 yrs ago I planted 5000 japanese larch and left a 2 acre strip up the center of the field for the food plot.One question I have is ,it was suggested that I spray the plot for grass.What should I use ? White Tail Institute has a herbicide called Arrest, has anyone tried that?

[First-light]

I just have to say the knowledge that some of you guys have about food plots is wonderful. You are doing a great service sharing it! Thanks to the ones who posted on this thread! I know I have learned a great deal through the years here.

[wdswtr]

First my last post I meant to say curious not surious lol. Cabin boy you did a pretty slick job on that plot and it looks great. I have put in only 4 plots to date myself and I cant even begin to tell you the tons of lime I have had to spread. BUT this last one I did PH was right at 6.5. What that is right there is rare and we both got a lucky break and for you on the first one, darn thats extra lucky lol. One thing you will want to consider is mowing the field before the weeds go to seed. This will help deter further weeds in the future. Also it will aid in the longevity of your clover. Its is alot of fun and very rewarding to see it all come together and then see some wildlife taking advantage of it tops it off.

[dave6x6]

Cabin, 1st plot attempt, no lime, no fertilizer, and results like that. Awesome job. You can spray for grass using WI Arrest but you can find much cheaper brands on line or at many ag supply companies. You may want to take wdswdr's advice about mowing though. I think you will find that if you can stay ahead of the weeds going to seed that the clover will out compete those weeds over time. That plot will really pop in the second and third year so if you can mow religiously the weeds will remain at bay. I try to mow just before the clover goes to flower so that the energy of the plant is going into the roots and regrowth rather then to the flowers. Usually around 10" , it's ready to mow.

[Lever action]

I took your advice and mowed the plot this afternoon.Thanks!

[dave6x6]

Oh man cabinboy, you mowed. That plot is really gonna look sweet in a couple weeks. Please don't show me any more pictures, My ego can't take anymore. LOL.

[erussell]

Well the roundup did its job barely a scratch of green left on the plots. Now comes the work. If or when we get some rain. plots are bone dry and hard as a rock.

[wdswtr]

Just a little something else for you guys to consider and it is the way I do my plots. Atleast the first year I put in an anual like forage oats. The reason I do so is to help choke out weed competition, also it allows me to do an annual weed kill and keep working the soil. Weeds are tough to battle and even when you think the plots is weed free they are not. Weeds can remain dormant for years lots of years and pop there ugly heads up at anytime. A couple years of planting annuals allows me to rework the ground and herbacide to kill out as many weeds as I can before I put in a perenial. The first plot I put in I went straight to a clover and the end result was competeing weeds eventually took the run of the plot. No matter ho much mowing or weed kill I did to it I was fighting a never ending battle with it. I reworked that plot with annuals and after 2 years it cleaned it up nice and is doing great. From that lesson forward its what I practice on all my plots. Yes its more work, more money and more time but end result has been worth it.

[dave6x6]

Good advice. I like putting brassicas in in the fall and then come spring do the clover. The big leaves do a great job of choking the weeds and a light discing in the spring is usually all that's needed. I'm not a big fan of fall perenial plantings but i know of some guys that like to plant buckwheat in the spring and then til it under and plant clover in the fall. I ran into a delemna this year because I met with a guy over the winter and he was determined to have clover in the ground in the spring. I had to take a fallow field and make it into a clover patch by june. Very hard to do beat the weed in that situation but so far so good. Got great coverage with the clover which is half the battle. Did a grass spraying this weekend to try to stay ahead of the fight. We'll see how that works in a week or two.

[wdswtr]

I will tell you one thing I did that Im scratching my head on and think I did more harm than good. Dave maybe you can add some insight to this delima. One plot I put in 1/2 acre last year with buck forage oats as my annual. I actually was planning on redoing this plot just for that seed annually. Mixed in that seed blend is winter wheat. Well the deer hammered this plot after the first frost last year. I was figuring I had time to work a new plot this year and left that one be this spring. Well low and behold I have winter wheat that overtook the plot lol. I mean 5 feet tall thick winter wheat from one end to the other. It went to seed faster than I ever imagined as I did not keep a close eye on that one. What do you think leave it go and rework it next spring and let the deer have at it? Or get after it now. I have no experience with winter wheat so not sure where to take this plot at this point especially since it went to seed. Like I said the plan was to replant forage oats in it every year since it was enjoyed so much by the deer. I am thinking letting it go for the year and see how the deer respond to it and rework the plot in the spring. I think the quickest attack at this if I decide to get it gone is to sickle bar cut it and remove the wheat. Im afraid if I mow it I will spread seed all over the place and make it worse. A big part of me is saying leave it and let the deer browse it down this fall and winter. Thoughts?

[dave6x6]

Well W. your gonna have to get some advice from someone else on this one. I too have very little experience working with it but unless someone told me otherwise, i would lean towards leaving it. I could be totally wrong and hopefully someone else will add some thoughts because maybe there is nothing attractive to deer once that wheat matures and browns up. I'm just not sure. I do know that this is one reason i like doing brassicas as my annual before perenial planting though. Come spring, if all goes well, the field will be nothing but brassica nubs and dirt. So if i'm a bit late getting to it, there is nothing there that can go to seed. If we didn't have this mild winter and spring, you probably could have worked your new plot and still got to this one in time but everything is way ahead of schedule.

[wdswtr]

LOL Im glad Im not alone with no experience with this one lol. Brasssicas is definetely a wiser choice if the plan is to go with a perenial in the future as I can atest to that one. Like I said though this was planned to be forage oats replant every year. At some point Im going to run out of foodplots to stick in and this plot will fill that void. I hope. Never put much thought into this wheat delima if indeed it actually is a delima. Time to go on a web search. Thanks anyhow.

[wdswtr]

Well the search didnt take long to convince me to leave it.

Winter Wheat

Winter wheat is a cold-season grain that is ideal for planting in northern climates. This hardy wheat has a higher gluten protein content than other wheat. During its first few months of growth these plants can consist of up to 20% protein. Although most palatable to deer in it’s early stages when most tender, winter wheat really begins to shine mid to late fall. Because winter wheat can withstand freezing temperatures (and in fact requires a period of cooler growing conditions to reproduce) it stays green as other plants and browse begin to brown and die. This makes winter wheat excellent forage throughout the fall and a great choice for harvest plots. Winter wheat also provides a good early spring forage as well, although will become less desirable to deer as spring and other growth progresses. This grain is very tolerant of heavy, wet soil and cold temperatures but isn’t quite as tough as rye. Winter wheat can be successfully planted with minimal tilling, making this a very low maintenance, hardy plot and a great fall choice.

[SplitG2]

Well the search didnt take long to convince me to leave it.

Winter Wheat

Winter wheat is a cold-season grain that is ideal for planting in northern climates. This hardy wheat has a higher gluten protein content than other wheat. During its first few months of growth these plants can consist of up to 20% protein. Although most palatable to deer in it’s early stages when most tender, winter wheat really begins to shine mid to late fall. Because winter wheat can withstand freezing temperatures (and in fact requires a period of cooler growing conditions to reproduce) it stays green as other plants and browse begin to brown and die. This makes winter wheat excellent forage throughout the fall and a great choice for harvest plots. Winter wheat also provides a good early spring forage as well, although will become less desirable to deer as spring and other growth progresses. This grain is very tolerant of heavy, wet soil and cold temperatures but isn’t quite as tough as rye. Winter wheat can be successfully planted with minimal tilling, making this a very low maintenance, hardy plot and a great fall choice.

WD, that's for young new growth wheat. The only bennefit the wheat has at maturity is the seed heads , which deer will eat.

These are some options:

You can spray it know with gly(41%), work the ground in mid july and plant brassica.

You can let it go to it matures and develope seed, top dress brassica into it and than cut the wheat.(no till) Here you will have a volunteer crop of wheat and brassica stand.

If you want it do be a perenial plot. spray gly to kill the wheat, work the ground mid august and plant your clover with a cover crop of wheat or oats.

[growalot]

You can let it go to it matures and develop seed, top dress brassica into it and than cut the wheat.(no till) Here you will have a volunteer crop of wheat and brassica stand.

This is best to do before a good rain and in the early morning...fertilize at the same time...

The moisture from the evening will help your tractor push the turnip seed into the soil as you mow and then a rain will also aid in this..if you turkey hunt that standing wheat will bring the birds in big time...calculate the average dates of a hard frost in your area....count back 4-6 weeks and plan on doing it in that time frame....remember Bow starts Oct 1st so...we all have 2 less weeks to do fall stuff...if you are trying to give your property a rest period before season....

[wdswtr]

Thanks Split and Grow. This is norther zone by the way so Oct 1 is nothing new for us up here. The other thing this is not intended to be a brassica plot or a perenial. This is originally a forage oats plot that gets hammered more than any other plot I have. I want to stick to that. It went to seed weeks ago. I will post up a picture later too. The mild almost snowless winter I think played a big part in what happend up here. I have a plot that is in season 2. Last year I put in Brassicas for my first prep with intentions of a replant with clover. It got eaten down prettty good last fall but the odd thing is the brassicas regrew this year as well. Dont ask cause I have no idea why. This is just one strange growing season thats for sure. Everything is a couple weeks early. The good thing is my apples are loaded which is a suprise considering the late frost. Havent peeked at the oaks yet to see if they are going to have a crop of acorns. All I know is I hope in the long run all this work improves the wildlife around here. With almost all the farms disapearing, Very little land management and the doe and fawn killing neighbors moving out over the winter things should be looking up in a few years.

[SplitG2]

If you want it to be oats again than you need cut it asap. Wait till you get a volunteer crop of wheat and spray it with a hot dose of gly. Disc in mid to late August and plant your oats. Good luck!

[njg0621]

Was thinking of growing some buckwheat in my new plot till August then tilling it under and planting brassicas and winter rye. Any thoughts on the buckwheat?

Buckwheat grows like wild fire! You can't beat it!

[growalot]

You may want to re-think planting the same annual year after year...there is a reason that farmers rotate crops....especially things like oats and wheat....you can develop a serious fungus and blight problem not to mention insect problem...

wheat.pw.usda.gov/GG2/rust.shtml

Edited June 27, 2012 by growalot

[wdswtr]

You may want to re-think planting the same annual year after year...there is a reason that farmers rotate crops....especially things like oats and wheat....you can develop a serious fungus and blight problem not to mention insect problem...

wheat.pw.usda.gov/GG2/rust.shtml

Sure give me another reason to get another plot going so I can start a rotation of annuals. Actually Im liking that idea now lol.

[erussell]

Finally got enough rain Friday to wet things down a bit. Then soakers every day after that so now im getting into the kill plot mood. Will be planting rye and brassicas in the next few weeks. Weather looks good with 4 days next week with good rain.

[growalot]

I normally plant tritical or winter rye ...but this year I ordered a bag of Wht Inst forage oats plus...I don't know much about oats but they added WW and tritical to make the plot more cold tolerant ....I'm thinking of using that on some wood land trails that get filtered sun...I just went down and cut some bad maple and a beech to bring in more light...have a few more to trim and cut...did a good over lay of hinged trees nearby for bedding and this area is 100yards off a corn field...trying to get deer to stay in our woods to get to field ...instead of the neighbors adjacent wood lot

Still thinking though...Not sure if I should take the plot at the end of garden and till in rest of hemp and soybeans adding turnips and GH radish plus the oats...or just put in the GHR ..turnips in goat pasture plot and oats in the and Bonar rape in the other plot...plus I have the two clover plots to seed that died this summer and a revamp of another woodland plot...Dang!!...I already over seed rape into the alfalfa and Hemp plots....Think the rye or tritical would do better on the wooded sights? ....discing this week...

[landtracdeerhunter]

Grow, u put in oats, better sharpen your broadheads because deer will come in and hammer . 1 acre gone by Thanksgiving. Putting in more food sources, don't trust this weather. Hope we get rain in August.

Edited July 25, 2012 by landtracdeerhunter

[growalot]

No kidding...what was suppose to be new clover plots look like barren jigsaw puzzles...hard pan every where...we had a nice rain here the night before last...you can't even tell...my absolute favorite berry bush is just loaded...went to pick and eat some...OMG nasty!!...no actual flavor just bitter

I have to say if they hit the oats the way they hit the hemp....I doubt there will be anything left but dirt by Oct...never seen deer go after a plant like they did that hemp....left the Kanaf alone...and the beans...bless them they are still trying to survive...put in some more dwarf Essex and Bonar today...just a little incentive spot...suppose to rain tonight and tomorrow...hhhmmmm we'll see

Good news...woo hoo...the apples did not all do as bad as I first thought...and I have 6 trees that are absolutely loaded...granted ..a lot on the ground now and they are not much bigger than golf balls ...but I kicked up a fawn under one tree today...so they are being eaten...very close to to fall plots...no acorns left that I can see with bino's...but the hop horn are loaded and I've watched deer stand one there hind legs ...a long time...just to much those seeds in good years....God please bless us with good soaking rains a couple of times a week this fall...