Plot preparations and planting??

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BackWoodsHunter
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Plot preparations and planting??

Unread postby BackWoodsHunter » Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:39 pm

When will you all be prepping and planting your plots this year? We are going to try and establish some new plots in northcentral WI and I was trying to find a good date to expect to be seeding the plots. I plan to go up mid-april and cut brush and cut brush and cut brush til I go crazy and then spray a heavy duty pesticide to kill (razor pro*-similiar to round up a step up though) and returning to plant in early may. Is first weekend of may to early or too late to plant? when is everyone else hoping to have seeds in the ground? this nice weather we've been having really gave me the itch!!!!


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Black Squirrel
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Re: Plot preparations and planting??

Unread postby Black Squirrel » Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:51 am

Depends what your planting. Alfalfa, clover, and other legumes could be planted now, if you can prep the seed bed. Corn should wait, it likes the soil temp around 60 degrees. It also depends when you want your plants to be prime for deer. Soybeans could be planted around the same time as corn. Some people plant soybeans in late June or early July. This has them nice and green around the bow opener, provided you get adaquete rainfall. Also, you probably won't get mature beans planting this late if that's what your after. Plus don't forget to soil test, you'll need to have good fertility to make it really attractive to deer. If sounds like this is going to be a new plot, so you will probably have a low pH, meaning you'll need to lime it. If this is the case, lime is very slow to work, so you won't be able to bring your pH up for this year. I know that is not what you want to hear. You should soil test ASAP. You can do this now, before you have all the brush cleared. This will at least let you know how doable this is. If this is an old fallow farm field that was let go, your pH may be ok. If you don't soil test, you are asking for failure. It's easy if you don't know how it's basically grabbing a few different samples from all over the plot, mix them together and then use that a representative sample of your plot. You can talk to your local AG extension office on what lab to send it to. There is a form to fill out, where you can dictate what you plan on planting, and the report will let you know how much fertilizer and what kind to put on. I used to be an Agronomist, so I delt with this stuff alot, years ago, only on a much larger scale. Hope this helps.
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BackWoodsHunter
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Re: Plot preparations and planting??

Unread postby BackWoodsHunter » Tue Mar 30, 2010 3:44 am

we're not looking at planting anything quite like that, I hunt in NorthCentral WI no agriculture and not the best for planting stuff BUT we are clearing a small area on the edge of our atv path that get sunlight 75% or more of the day. It currently has patches of thorny blackberry bushes and tangles of brush, we are hoping to clear it out and plant a nice little plot maybe 1/4acre or so as well as planting the whole atv trail. I am planning to plant some turnips, chicory, clover and brassicas in there. No crop foods such as corn or beans I know the pH is wrong but I'm hoping a good layer of fertilizer will help germination and initial growth.
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Black Squirrel
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Re: Plot preparations and planting??

Unread postby Black Squirrel » Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:46 am

I would still throw some lime down with the fertilizer. You could use barn lime from Fleet Farm. This is pretty fine, and will absorb faster than courserer stuff. I'd throw 200 lbs. for the 1/4 acre. Extra fertilizer won't necessarily help, because unfortanutely, in low pH soils the fertilizer is not soulable, therefore the plants can't take it up, even if there is plenty available. Also, by applying lime now, next year it will be better. You got a good mix of plants there, deer around here seem to really like turnips, but it seems to take a couple of years for them to aquire the taste. Good luck!
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BackWoodsHunter
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Re: Plot preparations and planting??

Unread postby BackWoodsHunter » Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:56 am

Awesome good tips thanks!! In the past we've planted plots of buckwheat, rape and turnips and the plots weren't big enough before being mowed down by the deer!! In the same spot I'm planting I had a plot a few years ago on the atv trail we have an it sprouted and grew nicely with no fertilizer or lime and after the growth hit probably 6-8inches the deer just hammered it suddenly it was gone and all dug up :o I'm excited to get this plot going but our land is up for sale (over priced I'll get another season out of it yet) so I don't want to invest too much time/money but a couple small plots with feed mill seed should do something as a draw for the deer. Last year we went the baiting routing and the little deer were everywhere but the big bucks knew where we'd be everytime.
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Re: Plot preparations and planting??

Unread postby Hurricane » Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:26 pm

I think Black Squirrel is right on to establish a long term plot. Amazing the geographic differences...deer here don't seem to give a hoot for turnips what-so-ever. Our very best luck for hunting over has been with roundup ready soybeans planted late season. Alfalfa would be a tremendous hit here but we have not been able to establish a good stand with our temperemental weather and poor soil the last few years. Our clover patches are heavily utilized but not during hunting hours. For us, the soybeans are definitely the go-to for hunting over.
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Re: Plot preparations and planting??

Unread postby BackWoodsHunter » Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:44 am

good to know hurricane but the plots we are planting are so small and in the woods of Northern WI establishing a plot a RR soybeans would be a pain in the a$$ and definitely multiple seasons. As i stated before the land is up for sale so we would rather have a half way decent plot for the fall season than nothing at all but we don't want to dump tons of money into food plots to see the land sell.
"The history of the bow and arrow is the history of mankind." Fred Bear


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