Got a couple small kill plots that I'm gonna plant this fall. All 4 need lime. They are a little tough to get to and I want to limit my time in there. I want to get lime down as soon as possible but I also need to spray them to kill the weeds. Can I spray and lime the same day or should I wait a few days after I spray? Also when should they be sprayed? Thanks
Lime question...
- Thread starter jwork
- Start date
Peplin Creek
5 year old buck +
Most standard progression of creating a new food plot is clear the area, then lime, however that's not set in stone and honestly I don't think it matters what steps you do first. Assuming the area isn't insanely heavy with vegetation and the lime can reach the ground it's not gonna matter. If you have time to lime now and then spray once everything greens up. That works, if you want to spray and then lime that works too. Honestly. Liming first actually isn't a bad option because lime doesn't change the ph overnight. Good luck and hopefully kill plot produce. I love tucking my kill plots next to cover. Helps get more mature buck activity in daylight. During the rut especially.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
If you are talking about spraying gly, weeds need to be green and actively growing for it to work. It has no residual soil effect. There are lots of ways to make food plots. There are differences in strategy depending on your soils. Do you have sandy soil, loam, clay, or somewhere in between? What did your soil test say about pH and how much lime is recommended? What do you plan to plant? All of these things can be factors.
Tell us where you are located, what you are trying to achieve, and you rough plan for accomplishing it. Folks here will be glad to offer up advice and alternatives to consider.
Thanks,
Jack
Southern WV and its gonna be a fall kill plot. Planting red and white clover with winter rye. I had planned on waiting til green up to spray. Was wondering if it would be ok to spray and lime the same day. I guess I could clear the areas and lime now, then spray in the spring. The plots aren't very big but I have had great success in the past. Just trying to get a head start this year, since I got 4 to plant. Thanks
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Do you plan to till? Did you do a soil test? What was the pH and how much lime did they recommend? What kind of soil?
Here is why I ask... Lime moves through sand very fast and clay very slow. There are folks with very sandy soil that do best when adding lime right when they are ready to plant and may need to add 3 tons/ac with every plant. I'm on heavy clay soil in VA. For a new plot, my soil pH is very low. I need to use at least 3 ton/ac when amending a new plot. Because lime moves so slowly through clay and takes time to change the pH, I plant crops like buckwheat or winter rye that tolerate poor pH and infertile soil the first year to give the lime a change to work. In the second fall, I'll add the clover to the winter rye.
The good news about heavy clay is that lime moves slowly through it. So, once it is initially amended, it can be 3 years or more before I need to add a ton/ac of maintenance lime. At this point, my soil pH is close enough that timing is less important. The purpose is to keep the pH in the right zone, not to change it significantly.
The reason I ask whether you plan to use traditional tillage verses throw-n-grow is that incorporating lime will speed the adjustment of pH. So, if you have clay soil and plan to till, it might make most sense to apple the lime and till it in now. This will disrupt the existing vegetation. So, next spring at green up, the weeds will be young and tender and easier to kill with gly. You could spray, broadcast buckwheat, and culitpack in early June. Buckwheat would act as a smother crop and keep the weeds down during the summer. It is a 60 to 90 day crop, so you can assess the weed situation when it comes time to plant in the fall and spray again if necessary. One way to execute the fall plant is to spray if necessary and then simply surface broadcast your winter rye and clover mix. Then run a cultipacker over the field. This will press the seed in and knock down the buckwheat so it touches the soil. This will speed its decomposition releasing the nutrients it scavenged for your subsequent crop.
Sorry for all the detailed questions, but when to apply lime depends on the answers. Keep in mind that simply getting the correct amount of lime broadcast is much more important than the timing. As for liming and spraying in the same day, it is possible but I would wait at least one day after spraying to apply the lime. If you are going to till after liming, there is no sense spraying before liming. You need to wait for weeds to germinate and get a couple inches tall before spraying. If you are not going to till, it is best to spray and give it some time to be absorbed before surface broadcasting lime. You simply don't want lime coating weeds and reducing adherence of gly. This is especially true if you are using Ag lime which can be dustier.
Hope this helps,
Jack
scott44
5 year old buck +
I don't see why you couldn't spread lime and spray on the same day or spread the lime when you can and spray later after green up. Good luck!
