No Till Food Plots - My Journey

[idn713]

Lovin the back plot and not caring about the blind lol

 

 

[idn713]

Last update for you all to see the final result of the food plots. I would encourage anyone doing plots to begin to utilize the no till approach. It has come out absolutely perfect and i have included some final pictures to give you an idea of the growth I got. If you have any questions about the process, don't hesitate to PM me and ask!

 

 

 

[garrymny]

How do the seeds fall through the standing buckwheat and reach the ground? Seems like many or most of the seeds would not reach the ground but be caught in the leaves and stalks of the buckwheat.

Alright, big n beasty was seeded into both plots tonight along with 250 lbs of triple 15. Buckwheat smashed over top of it and it looks so cool! I will get pics tomorrow. 70% chance of rain (in Brockport) tonight so it should be perfect. 
 
I will up front make a disclaimer that I had the seed setting on my spreader way too open for my longer narrower food plot. So if it comes out as weird thick strips, that will be totally user error. I may hit over the top with a generic brassica mix to make up for it.  Either way, that plot will almost certainly be getting 100lbs of winter rye come Labor Day. 
 
last thought, holy cow does that buckwheat hold mosisture. My legs were getting wet just when I was breaking it walking through it seeding. 

Sent from my moto z3 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[idn713]

14 minutes ago, garrymny said:

How do the seeds fall through the standing buckwheat and reach the ground? Seems like many or most of the seeds would not reach the ground but be caught in the leaves and stalks of the buckwheat.

 

Sent from my moto z3 using Lake Ontario United mobile app
 

 

They fall through perfectly there is zero surface tension between the two objects so they just bounce off and fall right onto the open soil. 

[FISHIN' ADDICTION]

Seeing this thread has me intrigued to try doing a food plot next year.  My question is what did you start with in that field?  Where I want to do it is about 3 acres in the middle of our woods that is overgrown goldenrod.  Im thinking an atv pull behind mower to mow that off early spring and then follow what you did.  thoughts?

[darkeagle10x]

Pretty much every type of tuber seed says not to plant more than 2 consecutive years in the same place due to possible disease and of course nutrients in the ground. Do you feel this method allows you to plant the same thing every year?

[idn713]

3 hours ago, FISHIN' ADDICTION said:

Seeing this thread has me intrigued to try doing a food plot next year.  My question is what did you start with in that field?  Where I want to do it is about 3 acres in the middle of our woods that is overgrown goldenrod.  Im thinking an atv pull behind mower to mow that off early spring and then follow what you did.  thoughts?

I would worry far less about mowing and just simply get good weed kills from the very jump of spring green up. If you are planting a fall plot and you are going straight from a fallow field, then I would skip the buckwheat step and simply weedkill from spring greenup straight through to late summer. Probably get 5-6 kills in. You will be amazed at how little biomass there is once it has been killed and dried. From there you should have wide open soil by late august with just standing stalks of dead plants. Then plant whatever you want. Then the next year I would start in with the buckwheat method as you will have cleared with way for it with the initial year heavy sprayings. 

[idn713]

2 hours ago, darkeagle10x said:

Pretty much every type of tuber seed says not to plant more than 2 consecutive years in the same place due to possible disease and of course nutrients in the ground. Do you feel this method allows you to plant the same thing every year?

A buddy of mine does big and beasty every year without fail and it never is an issue for him. That said I will rotate out to other things just for deer draw and to be different from the neighbors. For instance my neighbors don’t do clover so I changed my front food plot to a perennial clover plot and guess which plot is being hammered? I’m not super worried about crop rotation, with the buckwheat and fertilizer, I feel I am putting enough back into the soil. 

[FISHIN' ADDICTION]

2 minutes ago, idn713 said:

I would worry far less about mowing and just simply get good weed kills from the very jump of spring green up. If you are planting a fall plot and you are going straight from a fallow field, then I would skip the buckwheat step and simply weedkill from spring greenup straight through to late summer. Probably get 5-6 kills in. You will be amazed at how little biomass there is once it has been killed and dried. From there you should have wide open soil by late august with just standing stalks of dead plants. Then plant whatever you want. Then the next year I would start in with the buckwheat method as you will have cleared with way for it with the initial year heavy sprayings. 

thank you, will try this spring

[darkeagle10x]

3 hours ago, idn713 said:

A buddy of mine does big and beasty every year without fail and it never is an issue for him. That said I will rotate out to other things just for deer draw and to be different from the neighbors. For instance my neighbors don’t do clover so I changed my front food plot to a perennial clover plot and guess which plot is being hammered? I’m not super worried about crop rotation, with the buckwheat and fertilizer, I feel I am putting enough back into the soil. 

 

Thanks for the info. The deer here eat the turnips/radishes like they are on crack so I really want to have some here every year but am only working an acre total. With a third of it in clover.

[idn713]

20 minutes ago, darkeagle10x said:

 

Thanks for the info. The deer here eat the turnips/radishes like they are on crack so I really want to have some here every year but am only working an acre total. With a third of it in clover.

It was the same for me last year, got absolutely pounded. This year shockingly the brassica has seen good use but not quite as much. I have so many huge bulbs though (that they are already eating), so late season should be tremendous. I will say that winter rye was huge for me last year too and it is so easy to plant. Don’t overlook simple stuff and just skip straight to brassica. 

[darkeagle10x]

15 minutes ago, idn713 said:

It was the same for me last year, got absolutely pounded. This year shockingly the brassica has seen good use but not quite as much. I have so many huge bulbs though (that they are already eating), so late season should be tremendous. I will say that winter rye was huge for me last year too and it is so easy to plant. Don’t overlook simple stuff and just skip straight to brassica. 

 

Good info. That led me to this article about the winter rye - good quick read: Winter Rye for Dummies

[darkeagle10x]

Yes, I know this is last years topic but I'm bringing it back up for this season.

 

I planted Buckwheat with fertilizer and had a nice crop coming along. Then no rain. It made it about 8-9 inches and looked wilted. We got a little rain and it perked up, but I noticed it wasn't getting any taller (I can see it from the house) so I went out to check and I found it had been grazed off like you took scissors and clipped it all at the same height. The buckwheat is about 10 inches tall and it's a stalk with no top. I still plan to plant in it and flatten it with a cultipacker but was hoping for some more mass and better growth to choke out more weeds. All in all I'm glad I went this route. Now seeing 5-6 deer there regularly keeping it mowed down. 

[idn713]

4 hours ago, darkeagle10x said:

Yes, I know this is last years topic but I'm bringing it back up for this season.

 

I planted Buckwheat with fertilizer and had a nice crop coming along. Then no rain. It made it about 8-9 inches and looked wilted. We got a little rain and it perked up, but I noticed it wasn't getting any taller (I can see it from the house) so I went out to check and I found it had been grazed off like you took scissors and clipped it all at the same height. The buckwheat is about 10 inches tall and it's a stalk with no top. I still plan to plant in it and flatten it with a cultipacker but was hoping for some more mass and better growth to choke out more weeds. All in all I'm glad I went this route. Now seeing 5-6 deer there regularly keeping it mowed down. 

I am actually shocked at that level of browse. Now I seeded at a high rate and got much more moisture than we got this year. So that may have something to do with it. 

[whaler1]

Working some of my own. Love watching it grow and the deer that come in. 

[Jason F]

I know this is a post from a couple years ago, I was wondering if anyone could tell me where they buy their food plot seeds? I’m hoping to put in my first food pot next year and didn’t know if you were able to buy seeds locally or do you order them online? I live in the Syracuse area. Also, I’m looking to do this no till method.

[idn713]

12 hours ago, Jason F said:

I know this is a post from a couple years ago, I was wondering if anyone could tell me where they buy their food plot seeds? I’m hoping to put in my first food pot next year and didn’t know if you were able to buy seeds locally or do you order them online? I live in the Syracuse area. Also, I’m looking to do this no till method.

I order most of my stuff online. Northwoods Whitetail Seeds is a good place to start.

[Jason F]

Gotcha. Thanks for the info.

[MeanMachine]

Just saw purewhitetail.com has 50% off their seed for food plots 

[Jason F]

Thanks. I’ll check it out.