Weeds Beat Me Out

[Mark Page]

I've got about 1/2 acre that I can see from the house that I've been trying to use as a food plot. I turn it over with a 5 ft tiller, wait a couple weeks for things to settle a bit and then hand sow one of the high end perenial blends. Then run over it with my JD rider. My problem is that the weed seeds always germinate first and crowd out the good stuff. Some of it will make it, but not much.
Is there a variety that will beat out the weeds?
Mark

 

[yomax4]

I always turn the plot over and prepare the seed bed. Then I let it green up with weeds and grass. Then I spray it with round up. Wait 10 days or so and then pland your plot seeds. Also if you a perenial like clover, chickory or what ever. It will do better the 2nd year after it gets going. I modified a pull behind mower so that it mows 10" high. When ever the weeds get taller than the plot plants. I run the mower over it. Some weeds will die after being mowed..Some plot plants too so be carefull.

 

[RobertBrown]

If it's possible, turn it over several times. Try to turn before the weeds have seed heads. This will allow all of the (weed) seeds to germinate and afford you some compostable organic matter for nutrition at the same time.
The non selective herbicide is a good suggestion if you can't get back there every 10 days or so (depending on where you live and how fast your weeds grow) but it has no effect on the seeds left in the soil.
There are other choices like rye grass that will come up almost over night.
But you really don't want to make your food plot choices based on that..right?
You want to plant what brings the deer in. Believe it or not, the deer are not very concerned about weeds and really enjoy some of them. I know people in Georgia that just till and don't plant anything. They rely solely on the weeds or what we call weeds, native plants is what we are talking about in a lot of cases. If your in the south, and depending on the nutritional needs of the deer, pusley can be a great attractant.

 

[hrcarver]

You have a couple problems...

#1 - Planting a perennial without a nurse crop.

Perennials by nature are extremely slow to establish. It will be well into next summer before it looks like you think it should. They are putting down roots all fall and winter preparing for the next summer.

Try adding winter rye, wheat, or oats at around 40lbs per acre. These germinate and grow faster than weeds with the bonus of offering forage this year. They will also die out late next spring at the same time time when the perennial you planted this fall is finally starting to grow. The residue from the nurse crop helps shade the ground to keep new weeds from germinating. Winter rye in particular has some allelopathic (sp?) properties beyond that keep pigweed, foxtail, and a few others from ever germinating in the first place.


#2 - Yes you need a sprayer. It is a HUGE help. (to show to the wife:thumbsup

Without one the best you can do is play the frost to your favor. Try planting 30 days before the first (avg) frost. The weeds will get a jump but the frost should save you. You will still need to watch it next spring and summer for weed encroachment. There are chemical options for grasses in any broad leaf plot, and even a few for broadleaf weeds in clover plots.

 

[Smallplot]

In your original post I don't see anything about hitting the weeds with non selective herbicide prior to planting. Here is my advice: turn the plot over in the spring. After a few weeks you should get a growth of dormant weeds. Till them again. Do this about 3 or 4 times in secession and you should effectively kill off most of your problem weeds while allowing you to seed in early August. This will work for dormant seeds but not for weeds sprouting from root masses or runners. Thoes need taken care of with herbicide. Cover crops are great also just don't forget to mow them off early the following spring at about 8 inches tall.