Best food plot for the south

[Redneck]

i live in south ms and will be creating 2 new plots about 1-2 acres each. Both spots get plenty of sun. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what would be best to plant for fall/winter plots? I was considering a clover, rape, turnips, Buck forage oats. What has everyone had the best success with?

 

[Btaylor]

No reason I can think of for you to ever plant BFO. Regular oats will overwinter for you in south MS. We mix rye and oats in extreme northern AR and have plenty of oats carry over. LC mix will work just fine for you down there but I would probably use durana for the white clover component for better heat tolerance.

 

[Redneck]

No reason I can think of for you to ever plant BFO. Regular oats will overwinter for you in south MS. We mix rye and oats in extreme northern AR and have plenty of oats carry over. LC mix will work just fine for you down there but I would probably use durana for the white clover component for better heat tolerance.

Thanks, I picked up 10 lbs of Durana white clover and 5 lbs of Crimson clover from the feed store the other day. I know I want 1 clover plot. Any thoughts on adding something else with the clover or would it be best to plant the clover by itself?

 

[Native Hunter]

Thanks, I picked up 10 lbs of Durana white clover and 5 lbs of Crimson clover from the feed store the other day. I know I want 1 clover plot. Any thoughts on adding something else with the clover or would it be best to plant the clover by itself?

You should add a good variety of chicory to the clover. It is an awesome combination. Deer love both.

 

[Redneck]

You should add a good variety of chicory to the clover. It is an awesome combination. Deer love both.

Thanks I will look into that

 

[huntall]

I'm in central ms and I planted durana and patriot clover and wheat. It did great. This was my first try at clover and I like it.

 

[huntall]

Other than that...wheat and oats have done good for me over the years

 

[Native Hunter]

Thanks I will look into that

A good mix per acre is:

5 lbs clover
2 lbs chicory
50 lbs wheat (or other cereal grain) I like wheat because my deer eat the mature heads.

This is a good mix, and the cereal grains will take browsing pressure off the clover and chicory (a nurse crop).

You could also throw in a tiny amount of brassicas, but be careful and don't overdo it. A little goes a long ways.

 

[Redneck]

A good mix per acre is:

5 lbs clover
2 lbs chicory
50 lbs wheat (or other cereal grain) I like wheat because my deer eat the mature heads.

This is a good mix, and the cereal grains will take browsing pressure off the clover and chicory (a nurse crop).

You could also throw in a tiny amount of brassicas, but be careful and don't overdo it. A little goes a long ways.

Is this a mixture for an acre

 

[Native Hunter]

Is this a mixture for an acre

Yes, per acre.

 

[Redneck]

Yes, per acre.

I beleave I will go with this mix for my big plot thanks

 

[Btaylor]

The cereal grains, wheat, rye or oats, will act as a nurse crop for the clover through the fall and winter. Your temps will stay warmer longer and overall warmer than mine so you might actually have more clover growth than we see in the fall.

As a frame of reference, on a per acre basis our standard fall planting will be 50# of rye, 50# of oats, mix of Crimson, medium red and arrow leaf clover at 10-12# and 3-3.5# of groundhog radish. We sometimes will add a little other stuff but that is our standard per acre planting that is drilled.

 

[Btaylor]

Something else for you to keep in mind due your longer/later growing season is that you could also mix in warm season candy crops like sunflower and soybeans and have them growing well into hunting season where the overwhelming majority of the fall planting mindset is geared towards cool season plants.

 

[Redneck]

I planted soybeans, purple top turnips, and rye last year but I didn't fertilize it so it never did much. I will be fertilizing and liming this year and need to get a soil test done

 

[Bayoubulldog]

I'm hunting in south Mississippi too this year and I was very close to posing the same question as the OP! Good info.

I did a small clover plot last year and it did ok. I don't think my location was ideal though! Too close to a large clearing and too much shade.

I'm going to add some wheat to the mix this year in my new spot to try out the suggestions!

Good luck

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[yoderjac]

I used to mix Chicory with common clover like ladino when I was using it. That worked out well. The chicory performs in the summer when the ladino goes dormant. It lasts for over half of the life of the ladino before it was over taken. It was worth the cost and effort.

I stopped mixing chicory once I switched to Durana. First, in wet years, my Durana never goes dormant at all. In dry years it only goes dormant for a very short period. So, the value of the chicory is less for summer performance. Second, Durana is slow to establish but it aggressive once established. It outcompetes chicory in just a couple years and is much more persistent than ladino. So, again, the chicory is if less relative value. I found the cost and effort of adding Chicory to Durana was not worth it in my area.

Durana should always be planted in the fall with a cereal grain nurse crop. Winter Rye works best because of its allopathic effects on weeds. The most important thing about establishing Durana is timely mowing the spring following planting. Each time the WR hit about a foot or so, mow it back to 6". This will release the Durana without killing the WR. The WR will take up space keeping weeds at bay while Durana is establishing its root system. The WR will eventually die on its own during the summer.

The cereal grain becomes the attractant the fall the Durana is planted. If you want to enhance that, you can add a small amount of Groundhog Radish (any Daikon radish). Keep the rate at no more than 2 lbs/ac.

By the way, I've mixed crimson and Durana and wasn't real happy with the results. Patriot White is a better companion clover for Durana. I'd use my crimson elsewhere.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Redneck]

I used to mix Chicory with common clover like ladino when I was using it. That worked out well. The chicory performs in the summer when the ladino goes dormant. It lasts for over half of the life of the ladino before it was over taken. It was worth the cost and effort.

I stopped mixing chicory once I switched to Durana. First, in wet years, my Durana never goes dormant at all. In dry years it only goes dormant for a very short period. So, the value of the chicory is less for summer performance. Second, Durana is slow to establish but it aggressive once established. It outcompetes chicory in just a couple years and is much more persistent than ladino. So, again, the chicory is if less relative value. I found the cost and effort of adding Chicory to Durana was not worth it in my area.

Durana should always be planted in the fall with a cereal grain nurse crop. Winter Rye works best because of its allopathic effects on weeds. The most important thing about establishing Durana is timely mowing the spring following planting. Each time the WR hit about a foot or so, mow it back to 6". This will release the Durana without killing the WR. The WR will take up space keeping weeds at bay while Durana is establishing its root system. The WR will eventually die on its own during the summer.

The cereal grain becomes the attractant the fall the Durana is planted. If you want to enhance that, you can add a small amount of Groundhog Radish (any Daikon radish). Keep the rate at no more than 2 lbs/ac.

By the way, I've mixed crimson and Durana and wasn't real happy with the results. Patriot White is a better companion clover for Durana. I'd use my crimson elsewhere.

Thanks,

Jack

Thanks for that great info, that's the kind of information I was looking for. I can add the Crimson to another plot as I will be planting 4 spots this year.

 

[Native Hunter]

If you plant chicory with a premium red clover (such as Barduro) that last longer than common red clover, it makes a good plot in my area from spring through late fall and last well. The first one I did like this was in 2012 and it is still going good. I will be touching up parts of it this year, because some parts have started getting some smartweed, but for the most part it is doing well.

The trick is to mow it high - just low enough to clip and scatter the dried red clover seed, but high enough to not set the chicory back very much so that it will recover easily.

The picture below is where I did that about 3 weeks ago. I mowed about 12 inches high. As you can see, the plot is rebounding well after 3 weeks, and the deer are really using it well. A tall thick plot like this discourages some of the common weeds that plague food plots, because the red clover and chicory shade and choke them out.

These are good companion plants, because the clover produces nitrogen that the chicory thrives on.

Of course I also like Durana plots like Jack mentioned and have them too.

 

[yoderjac]

Thanks for that great info, that's the kind of information I was looking for. I can add the Crimson to another plot as I will be planting 4 spots this year.

My results with mixing crimson with Durana may be location based. Crimson is an annual that acts as a reseeding annual in my area. I found that it was faster to establish than Durana and is taller. I started with a Durana field with some patches of crimson and some crimson distributed through the durana. I found that the Crimson didn't reseed well when in Durana, probably because the Durana was more aggressive once established. At any rate, the patches of Crimson eventually turned to patches of weeds. As I say, this may just be based on timing of weeds in my location. I love crimson and use it a lot. It is part of my cover crop mix I broadcast into standing beans, but I don't mix it with Durana any longer.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Redneck]

My results with mixing crimson with Durana may be location based. Crimson is an annual that acts as a reseeding annual in my area. I found that it was faster to establish than Durana and is taller. I started with a Durana field with some patches of crimson and some crimson distributed through the durana. I found that the Crimson didn't reseed well when in Durana, probably because the Durana was more aggressive once established. At any rate, the patches of Crimson eventually turned to patches of weeds. As I say, this may just be based on timing of weeds in my location. I love crimson and use it a lot. It is part of my cover crop mix I broadcast into standing beans, but I don't mix it with Durana any longer.

Thanks,

Jack

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