Food Plots on Blow Sand, The Transformation...

[buckvelvet]

So I acquired permission for this property in 2010. However it was on like November 10th which is 5 days from the holy day in Michigan of November 15th, our rifle season. (this property is now, what I may some day inherit and is where I've installed the beginnings of a large apple/pear orchard).

This is the first ever recorded picture I have from this property. It doesn't do much for the point of the topic but I didn't know what I was doing either.

I was a typical ignorant MI hunter back then, I mean look at this picture from the next year if ya don't believe me.

Hey look, MI pine trees drop Apples, its new science, most other states haven't caught on. :)

I craved to know about food plots (tried my own on this spot in 2011 and planted PTT & DER) without knowing what they were, nor did I do a soil test and add the ungodly amount of lime that was needed.

So spring of 2012 I googled food plots and came across THE OTHER sites forums. I posted a few random questions and got hooked up with Broom_JM. He taught me the ins & outs of planting on HORRIBLE ground. Don't believe me? Look at the soil test that is attached that I had done on 6/12/12. 4.8, Really 4.8? Who bothers with that?

He taught me LC's mix, heck I even talked to the man Paul himself who will FOREVER be missed in the food plotting world among many other habitat genres. Paul was wonderful, especially to people who didn't know any better. Jim and Paul came up with a hybrid mix for the LC MIX for those that had really bad soil, well basically its a beach with no water around.

Here are some before pictures of this particular area I planted.

So as you can see, YUCKY! LOL.

Look gents this isn't Iowa or Missouri we don't have rich soils, you put me up a man made pond and this place could be a beach resort tonight!

(This was 1.1 Acres)
A Mix of #100 WR, 50#Oats, #10 MR, 1# Chicory, went in August 2012. I hand spread 320# of lime this year (until the landowner was like here dumb@$$ use my 3 wheeler and spreader), didn't have much to work with, doing what I could.

After planting '12...

Mr. Broom came to visit in 2013 to check out the change that had occurred in the plots so far. He's the guy with the hat.

So the work continued in 2013, unfortunately i don't have much from that year, I don't have explanation why the pictures seem to be lacking.

You can see the food plot growing underneath this buck though and the same vantage point as years prior. However you can see its a diff camera, the Moultrie I had was stolen. The same protocol was followed this year as well.

So in 2014 same deal but we added GHR in the equation. Lets see, will the plot grow brassica? On This sand, We have so many deer they eat mature rye heads for crying out loud, surely we don't have brassica.

Mature Rye stand in August '14 before we planted.

Boy I sucked the last couple years! I had to switch computers to So I think some pics were lost in transition.

Here is post planting 2014.

And yes this is the shape of the plot. HAHA unintentional, i swear!

 

[buckvelvet]

2015

So now 2015 planting.

Rye is never harvested but was looking a little thin so I added a full 50# again this year with 50# of oats, 5# GHR, 5# Alsike, 8# MR, 1# Chicory, was able to get 25 bags of lime this year on it and 100# of 19s. What a transformation over time that has taken place.

This is post is just meant to say don't give up because your prospects look bleak or it seems hopeless. It was pretty bleak as you can see when I started back in 2012.

 

[chummer]

Great job. Inspiration for us Crappy soil plotters.

 

[broom_JM]

It's been a real honor to see BV work his tail off to make good food plots on ground that is so sandy it used to grow more lichen than actual plants. He's a charter member of The Fern Fighters, applying lime at every opportunity until other stuff just outgrew the ferns. You've got to be equal parts stubborn and optimistic to make 4.8 pH blow sand into a real, Honest-t'-God wildlife food plot, but that's the kind of guy BV is.

I'll tell ya another thing...he's done more to help other hunters in his area, especially one young man who had it pretty rough, than anybody you know. He's become much more knowledgeable each year, (especially about apple trees) yet he's still the most humble and down to earth human being you could ever ask to meet. He genuinely enjoys getting dirt under his nails and sweat in his eyes...I've watched him seeding clover and chicory in a downpour while everybody else, including yours truly, hid under the big trees for some relief. Not many people can truly say they've made something out of nothing, but this guy has shown so much passion and dedication to the LAND itself, that he's earned a tremendous amount of respect from the land owner, other habitat nut-cases like me, and from many other people in his circle of friends and family.

I'm glad to see him having this kind of success with his food plots and incredibly proud to call him a friend.

 

[SD51555]

That's nothing short of outstanding what you've been able to get going out there. Nice work. Have you thought of a name for that plot? The big Richard perhaps?

 

[bryant]

Looking good.

 

[broom_JM]

Broom-JM

On small ferny areas maybe 50'x150', how much lime would you put down? I'm trying to kill them and turn it into a clover plot. It's small enough I don't want to fool around with a soil test. After I lime will they die or should I also spray with gly? I've put 200 pounds in already.

That's a little under two tenths of an acre. The most lime you ever put down in a single year is about 2 tons, or 4,000 pounds, per acre. That would mean around 800lbs on .2 acres, but that isn't what I usually recommend on truly sandy soils...I'd go with about half that, if you can swing it. 10 bags of pelletized lime should run you about $30 to $40 dollars. That's 400# of lime and I would suggest you apply that each year for at least three years, but you really should get a soil test. The reason you want a soil test is to determine what your Ca and Mg levels are, so you know whether or not to use calcitic or dolomitic lime.

Send me a PM and we can go into that in more detail, if you like. I will also state that the 200# you already put down is a good start and with the right timing/seed selection, you will be in good shape to start winning the battle against ferns the way BV has in this thread.

 

[wiscwhip]

On truly low ph sand like you are dealing with it would be entirely acceptable to put on the full 800lbs of lime in 2 separate applications. Apply 400lbs as late in the fall as you feel comfortable with the activity not spooking deer, then come back in spring and put on the other 400lbs before you put in your summer annual plots. One of the biggest issues we had was holding the Ca and Mg levels in that sand with next to no OM in that soil. Struggled for years to keep the ph up because the old man insisted on plowing it up and destroying all our gains in OM, which in turn allowed the lime and any other nutrients to leach into the lower reaches of the soil profile.:mad: Keep your OM levels as high as possible and it will help maintain your gains in ph over longer periods of time. After about 3 to 4 years you should have the ph climbing and can likely go to only one lime application per year.

 

[buckvelvet]

I want some of those apple producing pines! Looks like a Ted Nugent special. :D (Watch as I arrow this giant 5 point yearling buck over that shell corn hidden behind that downed log.)

Its a hybrid, will only grow on MI blow sand, not rated to MN cold hardiness unfortunately.

 

[buckvelvet]

That's nothing short of outstanding what you've been able to get going out there. Nice work. Have you thought of a name for that plot? The big Richard perhaps?

It is affectionately known as the 'pecker plot', he installed a sack on int '14. The sack is growing much better this year as well, can't wait for new satellite photos. :)

 

[buckvelvet]

Sweet, looked through old emails to Broom and found some food plot pics I had sent!

2013

2014

had some odd weather in '14 and little rain which I think describes the 'yellow effect.

 

[buckvelvet]

 

[buckvelvet]

Not allowed to cross state lines to avoid pest contamination against the sub species.