I have a couple of questions for you guys that have put in plots or replanted them before. I am thinking about offering a guy a turkey membership if he will do the tractor work on our new lease. We have 6 existing plots that are overgrown, most are in the 1/2 acre size but we have a couple that are +1 acre. When I say they are overgrown, it appears they had been let go of for atleast 12 months. The grass and weeds are chest high, animals have been bedding down in them and rooting leaving some pretty uneven terrain. What would be the proper way to go about turning these around.
Should you mow then spray before discing it in or can it all be done in one session?
I think that's going to depend on the size of his tractor and disc. If it's big enough, and the brush is not too thick it is possible to do it all in one pass. If it's too bad, then a mowing/spraying may be needed before disking. The goal is to get to bare dirt
How long should the plot sit before planting?
Depends on if you need to add fertilizer and/or lime. Once you get bare dirt I would recommend adding lime/fert (as needed) ASAP. Gives it time to balance out. You don't want to plant spring plots till all the fear of frost is over with, usually Mid March depending on area
Can the existing plant material, once tilled under act as fertilizer?
Absolutely. same as a garden
What type of maintenance would need to be done between spring and fall planting?
If the plots are done well, and you get to bare dirt the first time...little needs to be done. If everything worked well the first time, all you should need to is disc under the spring plot and plant the fall plot. It should turn under very easily
This will be my 1st go around with being responsible for the food plots and I want to make sure we are getting a fair value in trade. I do not want to make they guy make any more trips than necessary as he will be trailering the tractor over 2 hours to get there.If they were planted you think maybe the season before, then a good tractor and disc should be able to plow it all under. Where you get into trouble is if there is sucker trees growing in it. I watched a tractor plow a standing corn field one year in GA, and when he was done you couldn't tell corn was standing there an hour before. let him be the judge
It sounds like I am on the right track then. We traded a few messages this morning and he has 50hp and 65hp tractors with 7' to 10' implements. We are going to talk this evening and try and put the plan into motion.
I'm not sure how long the winter peas will last but they came up pretty good for the method and attention they got. The hogs haven't found them yet but the deer are pooring out and spending time pulling the whole seedling out and eating them.
Sweet man. This warm weather has me itching to get my plots done. I know as soon as I do it will come a hard frost. I tilled all 4 of ours and worked in 250lbs of fertilizer over the 4 plots. In Feb when I go up I will probably need to spray 3 of them with round-up. I will probably plant around the end of turkey season
10 10 10 ?????????
10 10 10 ?????????
Yeah
And I got one bag of 13-13-13 to specifically fertilize a stand of oaks by one of my stands
