Fall Food Plot Emergency

[mountainshadow]

For the past few years, I have done the typical mow, spray, disc, broadcast, and pray for rain method in my food plots. I let them go the past two years and only mowed them, and they did have enough clover to keep the deer coming so I didn't worry much about it. But early this year, I decided I wanted to pick the planting back up and decided to go the no till method. I bought a Genesis 3 and have just about any implement needed. In June, I went through and sprayed all of my plots and got a great kill. After about 3-4 weeks, the weeds decomposed and left a very thin layer of brown thatch that I was pleased with. I came back in August and to my surprise I had weeds that were 4-5 ft tall and just as thick as they were when I sprayed in June. So without mowing them, I came through again with the 3 pt boom sprayer and sprayed all of my plots again. After a week, this is the result. I had planned to no till directly through the killed thatch, but I'm concerned the thatch may be too thick and I don't have 3-4 weeks to allow it to decompose. Any suggestions?

 

[PatinPA]

I think you'll be fine with a drill. I'd be worried if I were broadcasting in that, but with a drill I think you'll be fine. Some of these other guys with drills can tell you for sure. You can always broadcast rye. It'll grow about anywhere.

 

[cbw]

Yep. You will be fine if you get the rain. My practice (with 5ft Genesis drill) is to drill the same day that I spray Gly. Always comes through great if we get the rain.

If I’m using pre emergent like 2-4D or ATR, then I let it sit 10+days.


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[mountainshadow]

I used 41% glyphosate and in the past I would bush hog and then come back and spray approx 2 weeks later. But using the 3 pt boom sprayer and having good success in June, I opted for that method again. But it seems like the Round up may have missed some of the shorter weeds since they were blocked by the larger one. Hopefully with a good seeding and some rain, the fall seeds will smother out the weeds and we will be good to go. Being the first year, I'm not expecting it to be perfect.

 

[Brian662]

If I were you, I would drill your seed in ASAP and the day before a germinating rain, I would come through and mow down those weeds.

 

[mountainshadow]

Would mowing spread some of the weed seeds that weren't killed from the round up?

 

[Brian662]

Would mowing spread some of the weed seeds that weren't killed from the round up?

If the weeds are green, they likely don't have viable seed to worry about.

 

[omicron1792]

I would drill and do nothing else. Change of season will take care of weeds.

 

[Wild Thing]

My drill would have zero issues drilling into that type of thatch. I agree that you can just drill your seed and be done. If you want it to look real pretty you could mow it either before or after drilling the seed, but truthfully....the deer won't care one way or the other. I usually roll my cover crops with a cultipacker and often have weeds or other stalks still standing afterwards. Many of them will lay down on their own in a few weeks but I don't generally worry about those still standing, and neither do my deer.







For something like a perennial clover or alfalfa plot you still don't need to worry about it because, after you nuke the nurse crop or weeds...



you will eventually be mowing it anyway and it will look magazine cover "pretty" for you.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Hard to tell from the picture but the level of thatch shouldn't get in the way of success. Where I've failed with "too much thatch" is with a dense perennial grass sod that looked dead but had a little life left for a couple reasons: 1 - the sod mat was so thick it made putting the seeds consistently into good dirt and closing the trench difficult and 2 - there was still some life in that sod that came back and outcompeted my efforts.

There are a number of broadleaf weeds that are going to resist being killed by Gly. Your prior tillage might have taken care of some of those weeds.

 

[mountainshadow]

I’m here in VA and we had a pretty good rain come through yesterday, so I got my plots planted on Friday. Here’s to praying the rain was enough!


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[mountainshadow]

Here is a two week update from 2 out of 4 plots. I haven’t been able to get up there yet, so trail cam photos are the best I have.

 

[PatinPA]

If you're still not happy with it just broadcast some rye. You still have time.