So, I'm putting in another 1.5 acres of food plots in next year. The ground was bush-hogged lasty month. It was pretty thick with briars, cedars, small trees, & some grass. I think it's basically trying to return to the woods that are along side it. I've got a Tar River 507 no-till drill on the way, but I'm not sure it will really do much to get through into the soil to plant without working the soil at least once? But honestly, I don't know how good they are cutting through debis. I have a tractor driven roto-tiller and a puliverizer for leveling. I'm kind of thinking I should try and run the roto-tiller over the ground once to try and break up all the trees that were lopped off by the bush hog and tear up their roots a bit. Nothing has been sprayed before. So, you think some roto-tilling and then spray and no-till in the spring (I'll probably do some buckwheat first), then go for the plot plant, or no roto-tilling now and just spray a couple times in the spring?
New plot next year, should I roto-till now?
- Thread starter Timinator
- Start date
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
What is the soil like? Clay, sand, good black soil?
It's SW Ohio. Dig down 15" or so and it's clay, but the top soil I'd say was a combination of clay and black soil. Not bad. I'm surrounded by fields of corn/soy beans. It would be considered Ohio farm land. I should have paid more attention in my Soils class. When I work it up with my roto-tiller I can make it completely lofty and soft down as far as it will go, maby 6 or 7" (If I make enough passes).
j-bird
Moderator
Biggest issue I see is that you have to remove any woody slash and the stumps and rootballs to get the best results from either a rototiller or drill. Also keep in mind if you don't kill those roots many of them will resprout and become "weeds" trying to steal sunlight, soil moisture and soil nutrients from you planting. Once you get the slash/stumps/root balls removed....then you simply kill any remaining weeds and drill. Rototilling is great for working in organic matter and the like into the soil or creating a great seed bed for broadcasting or row planting....but a true no-drill needs firm ground to work with as it slices open the soil, drops the seed and then covers it back up. This reduces loss of soil moisture and also reduces the amount of seed bank you release during planting. Most people use a rototiller in the fall when their garden is done so they can work the dead plants into the soil and then again in the spring to work in manure and other soil amendments as well. If you are using a no-till drill for planting you want a pretty firm soil surface to be working with.
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