spring food plot

[Guest generallee]

I was wondering if any of you can give any pointers on what would be good spring planting for a southern climate(Georgia) with a clay soil. I was thinking of trying Whitetail Institutes Extreme, for poor soils such as mine. Any opinions??

[Born2Hunt]

Re: spring food plot

Sounds like you are on the right track. They make a very good product. I have never used the extreme but I have used the clover and would buy again hands down!

[Thayer]

Re: spring food plot

Get some lime down on it! If you can get some cheap seeds like wheat, rye grain, buck wheat or something to grow for awhile, then get that green manure put back into the soil...you will have the makings of a good plotting area. Clay can be used as plotting ground, I have done it and Dogdoc's plot are in some really red soil too. You just have to work a bit harder. Do get a soil test first to let you know what you are starting with....I would not expect a lush spring plot the first year....I have also heard of using chicken or rabbit poop as an amendment to loosen up the soil for future planting.

[bowhtr1]

Re: spring food plot

Again I would go with American Jointvetch and Alyce clover mix. We have alot of clay in our soil also. It works great and the deer love it. It has high protein and you will see deer in it in the middle of the day with 90 deg heat. That says it all to me. Most important is to get a soil sample if you think it is that bad and get the lime and fertilizer needed. You can plant magic monster buck seed and not grow a thing if the soil is not right.

[wtnhunt]

Re: spring food plot

As suggested by others would get a soil sample and get your soil right. Might try some peas in the spring. Here clovers do not do as well in the spring as they do in the fall.

[kidd]

Re: spring food plot

i planted clover plus this past spring and also went with biomass

planted it the same time and it worked out great

as stated b/f make sure you get a soil sample!!!

[Guest generallee]

Re: spring food plot

We have planted fall plots with sucess, but never spring plots. We have had the soil tested, and weve put lime and fertilizer down. The soil(Georgia red clay) is definatly not great, but we have had luck getting our fall plots to come in.

[bowhtr1]

Re: spring food plot

When I was hunting in Mississippi I planted in the red clay and the Jointvetch and alyce clover did well. I would try several things the first year to see what does best in that type of soil and the next year plant more of it. Good luck

[dogdoc]

Re: spring food plot

with proper fertilization and liming you can get some good plots on red clay. It doesn't get much redder than this:

And here is what it looks like now (Hamman Farms Fall Mix):

todd

[Ravin R10 man]

Re: spring food plot

Todd..how soon after this pic did you clip this plot?? or was it too dry to do so?? at the time of the pic??

[dogdoc]

Re: spring food plot

Martin--don't really remember. I think I took the pic right before mowing.

[wtnhunt]

Re: spring food plot

Here in the spring with warmer temps than further north the weed competition even with using roundup as a step in preperation is a real issue in the spring with clovers due to slow growth of the clovers. Weed competition in the fall is much easier to manage.

Seems someone, maybe Todd suggested to me holding off to plant my grower plot in the fall, but I went ahead and learned my lesson the hard way. While the one acre plot recovered and is doing pretty well now, it does have some junk in it that I really did not want in it.