I have 3 weekends to complete my food plot (one acre). This plot was cleared this year and will be the first planting. Here is my plan:
July 27/28- Spray field with Gly to kill weeds.
August 10/11- Lightly Disc add lime.
Labor day weekend:
Friday- Spray/fertilize/lightly disc
Saturday or Sunday- Plant wheat,Rye,clover and cultipack.
Does this sound ok? Can I spray and plant my mix the same weekend with no adverse results?
Thanks,
Ray
I didn't have time to read through the whole thread, so others may have covered this. Here are my thoughts:
The first thing I'd look at is the pH. if you pH is significantly low, it will take some time to correct. You will want to get the lime down as soon as possible. If your soil is sandy, you will only want to top-dress. If your soil is heavy clay, lightly disking after applying lime won't hurt, but make sure it is light. If you soil is primarily loam with good OM, you probably have little to worry about. If you pH is much below 6, I'd select plants that do well in poor pH and infertile soil. I would not waste time with perennial clover this year if the pH is significantly low and I'd skip the Winter Wheat and go with winter Rye only. It will fair better.
If your pH is reasonable, your crop selection is fine. One thing I'd look at is how bad the weeds are. If it was cleared this year, you may not need the first application of gly if you are going to disk lightly. Disking will disrupt many of the weeds. I would still spray at planting time because some weeds will still be actively growing after light disking. Depending on the specific weeds, this may be enough. If you have a specific problematic weed you are dealing with it is a different story. You can spray gly at planting time with no problems.
You said you have 3 weekends but did not say if you were flexible in choosing them. Keep in mind weather is an issue. The worst thing you can do is to get equipment on a wet field, especially if you have clay soils. You can do more harm than good. On the other hand, planting right before a good rain, can erase many mistakes. If possible, I'd start watching the weather forecast. If you have no rain in sight labor day weekend, I'd wait a week and check the weather again before planting if possible.
Best of Luck,
Jack