Newbie - Recommendations!

[omicron1792]

Welcome and awesome looking place.

Know the white clover you planted might be a little early in the game. That place needs spraying 2-3 times a year to get rid of much of the pasture grass. I would do annuals for a while. Rye. Wheat. Oats. Red clover. Balansa berseem. It doesn’t hurt to add some white clover too, but the grass will need to be dealt with for a longer period of time before you have a permanent clover field.

Did you take a soil test? I don’t do them often, but I do like to do them early when you first start a plot to set your baseline.

I like to use a liquid lime advanced cal or plot starter) when you first plant. Helps plants get off to a good start. Also throw some pellet lime when you can. You can definitely do plots without liming, but most clovers need a more neutral ph and you won’t have the plot you desire without some work there. Rye will grow great regardless of the ph.

If no soil test throw as much 13-13-13 you can at planting, and just throw as much as you can each time you plant for a couple of years.

Good luck.

 

[Newbie]

Welcome and awesome looking place.

Know the white clover you planted might be a little early in the game. That place needs spraying 2-3 times a year to get rid of much of the pasture grass. I would do annuals for a while. Rye. Wheat. Oats. Red clover. Balansa berseem. It doesn’t hurt to add some white clover too, but the grass will need to be dealt with for a longer period of time before you have a permanent clover field.

Did you take a soil test? I don’t do them often, but I do like to do them early when you first start a plot to set your baseline.

I like to use a liquid lime advanced cal or plot starter) when you first plant. Helps plants get off to a good start. Also throw some pellet lime when you can. You can definitely do plots without liming, but most clovers need a more neutral ph and you won’t have the plot you desire without some work there. Rye will grow great regardless of the ph.

If no soil test throw as much 13-13-13 you can at planting, and just throw as much as you can each time you plant for a couple of years.

Good luck.

I certainly can hold off, spray down the regrowth, and push back the planting date a few weeks. The plot has been sprayed 2X approx 2 weeks apart. I’ve gathered it’s a bit early for brassica planting here (zone 6) and another dose of gly won’t hurt. Perhaps a little patience is indicated.

Soil sample should be back this week.

 

[omicron1792]

I certainly can hold off, spray down the regrowth, and push back the planting date a few weeks. The plot has been sprayed 2X approx 2 weeks apart. I’ve gathered it’s a bit early for brassica planting here (zone 6) and another dose of gly won’t hurt. Perhaps a little patience is indicated.

Soil sample should be back this week.

By all means plant! You just might have to spray again in spring and next summer too.

There are ways to manage grasses once clover is planted, they just don’t work as well as taking care of at the start.

 

[Tree Spud]

I certainly can hold off, spray down the regrowth, and push back the planting date a few weeks. The plot has been sprayed 2X approx 2 weeks apart. I’ve gathered it’s a bit early for brassica planting here (zone 6) and another dose of gly won’t hurt. Perhaps a little patience is indicated.

Soil sample should be back this week.

I use Clethodim for control of grasses in my plots. It targets cold & warm season grasses and not broadleaf plants.

You can get it at Keystone pest solutions.

https://www.keystonepestsolutions.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=521

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I use Clethodim for control of grasses in my plots. It targets cold & warm season grasses and not broadleaf plants.

You can get it at Keystone pest solutions.

https://www.keystonepestsolutions.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=521

Cleth is good too because you need such a small amount (1.5-2oz/gallon has worked well for me in the past) the only problem is it takes a little while to smoke those grasses but is well worth it

 

[Newbie]

Rain showers on/off all day. Got the upper food plot planted with durana and some leftover imperial clover today. Mixed in a small amount of brassica seeds just to see if they’ll sprout. Checked a trail cam out of curiosity to see what looks like what will be a really solid buck (for my region anyway), with a few months to go I anticipate him to be a shooter come fall.
Swung down to the lower plot to check on things and was happy to see that the apple trees I planted last year are already bearing a lot of fruit. One of the trees has probably 25+ apples growing despite just being planted last year. I look forward to them gaining some size and taking down the cages to let the deer after their produce.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Holy.. I’d say that’s some good growth!

 

[omicron1792]

You might consider plucking most of that fruit off, let the tree put all that energy into growing

 

[splitbrow]

Yes sir, fine looking buck, hopefully he stays close!!

 

[bigboreblr]

Nice buck! Debating redoing one of my plots too right now. Crimson clover isn't looking so hot in half the plot.

I'd second that opinion on thinning the fruit. I got a 2nd year crossbow crab from whitetail crabs in PA I planted November of 2022. The base is about rake handle sized and probably started out with 30+ fruits. I cut all but about 5 on there. We want it to gorw, but want a sample of the goods too. I fgred leaving just a few is a good balance of both.

What variety is that tree?

Good to fertilize in may and june, but avoid fertilizing after that. MY expception to that is if they have a dry spell. When they're lacking water, they're lacking nutrient uptake into their roots too. So, I give them about a half scoop of miracle grow per 5 gallon jug. I have 4 gallon water jugs with the tops cut off and a 1/4" hole drilled in the bottom. Make the water pour out slowly and more concentrated around the main root ball. When I water at camp, I gt a few of these jugs with strings tied to them, so I can move them while I am carrying water.

IF the durana plot is looking decent around the end of july, you can get some nitrogen fertilizer and put a light coat through it. IF you have grasses growing in it, you can pick up some clethodim and surfactant. Not sure if 2,4db will be rough on those brassicas, if your fighting broadleaf weeds in the plot. Thought they used clethodim on collards down south. Take some close up pictures of grasses growing around your plot to ID the particular variety. cross sectional shape of the leaves, how the leaves are connected at the joint, any seed heads. Sometimes root structure and color helps too. Clethodim isn't an optino for me most years, I usuallu put a nursery plot of oat wheat and or rye with establishing clovers. Get the critters away from eating the clovers for awhile. Oats is a nice starter too. It dies when the nights are15 degrees or so. You get a nice stand of oats with the clover to distract the animals, then in the spring you give your clover some more elbow room. Oats also help shade the clover a bit during summer dry spells. Still can throw some rye in the around labor day to mid september. Could even do a bit later. Seen successfull fall plantings of rye wen planted in early october here in the catskills. Might need a mild fall / winter for it though.

 

[Newbie]

Have some seedlings popping up. Most of them in the lower/wetter area of the plot, doesn’t appear the higher dry side has germinated just yet. Hoping for some afternoon storms this week.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

And you are now in the club of guys who have seedling pics on your phone…I used to try to label which field it was but it doesn’t really matter..congrats on getting stuff growing!!

 

[Newbie]

And you are now in the club of guys who have seedling pics on your phone…I used to try to label which field it was but it doesn’t really matter..congrats on getting stuff growing!!

Thank you, it is the lower plot along the old pasture and pipeline. I'll probably check on the wooded plot later this week or weekend, I have to skirt around some bedding areas to get there so I like to minimize my foot traffic up there. I hope it will do well, the ground stays very moist there even during dry spells, for that plot I'm more concerned with it being TOO wet but considering the current weather patterns I anticipate things should germinate and get going okay. I planned to hold off a little bit and planting in the upcoming weeks but I had a good rain shower on the forecast and scattered thunderstorms throughout the upcoming week. Then I also realized I bought way too much seed after mixing so I figured worst case scenario it flops completely and I just reseed closer to fall.

 

[Newbie]

Nice buck! Debating redoing one of my plots too right now. Crimson clover isn't looking so hot in half the plot.

I'd second that opinion on thinning the fruit. I got a 2nd year crossbow crab from whitetail crabs in PA I planted November of 2022. The base is about rake handle sized and probably started out with 30+ fruits. I cut all but about 5 on there. We want it to gorw, but want a sample of the goods too. I fgred leaving just a few is a good balance of both.

What variety is that tree?

Good to fertilize in may and june, but avoid fertilizing after that. MY expception to that is if they have a dry spell. When they're lacking water, they're lacking nutrient uptake into their roots too. So, I give them about a half scoop of miracle grow per 5 gallon jug. I have 4 gallon water jugs with the tops cut off and a 1/4" hole drilled in the bottom. Make the water pour out slowly and more concentrated around the main root ball. When I water at camp, I gt a few of these jugs with strings tied to them, so I can move them while I am carrying water.

IF the durana plot is looking decent around the end of july, you can get some nitrogen fertilizer and put a light coat through it. IF you have grasses growing in it, you can pick up some clethodim and surfactant. Not sure if 2,4db will be rough on those brassicas, if your fighting broadleaf weeds in the plot. Thought they used clethodim on collards down south. Take some close up pictures of grasses growing around your plot to ID the particular variety. cross sectional shape of the leaves, how the leaves are connected at the joint, any seed heads. Sometimes root structure and color helps too. Clethodim isn't an optino for me most years, I usuallu put a nursery plot of oat wheat and or rye with establishing clovers. Get the critters away from eating the clovers for awhile. Oats is a nice starter too. It dies when the nights are15 degrees or so. You get a nice stand of oats with the clover to distract the animals, then in the spring you give your clover some more elbow room. Oats also help shade the clover a bit during summer dry spells. Still can throw some rye in the around labor day to mid september. Could even do a bit later. Seen successfull fall plantings of rye wen planted in early october here in the catskills. Might need a mild fall / winter for it though.

The tree is a Johnathan apple tree. I got six different varieties last year and planted, I'll thin it out but I like the idea of keeping a few on there just to sample the goods as well.

 

[Newbie]

Got the soil samples back and was pleasantly surprised by the results. I’ll share them below.


Also, I was walking a section of the woods today that I was considering hanging a stand. There is patch of pines in the center surrounded on 3 sides with very thick regen, and a 35+ foot ravine on the other side. I know for certain I have deer bedding in this area and there’s a substantial amount of deer activity surrounding including a few good active scrapes. I think it would be a fun place to sit although due to the location I’d imagine it’d be near impossible to get in/out of without kicking out deer and leaving scent everywhere. It’s also equidistant from both food plots I’ve began to establish. I think the smarter move is likely to hang a stand or two on either side essentially flanking this region of the woods and do my best to avoid disturbing this area much or at all. I’ll share a few pictures here too.

In other news, the clover and brassica plot seems to be doing pretty well. Picked up a bottle of Cleth this afternoon since I found a few spots I must’ve missed with the second spray and have a bit of grass shooting up. I also grabbed a bag of chickory at the mill and broadcasted that this afternoon to give the plot a little more diversity. I know it is early I have plans to expand the plot some and seed an additional section of brassica later this summer if Mother Nature cooperates.

 

[Newbie]

@omicron1792 can you share your Cleth recipe again? I know it is in one of the threads here somewhere but I was unable to dig it up after looking for some time. 4oz of Cleth, some nonionic surfactant I believe but I forget the specifics.

I must've missed a corner of the plot with the second glyo spray and have a good bit of grasses shooting up in one area. The rest looks okay with some sparse grasses here and there that should knock down okay. I've got a decent chunk of milkweed and ragweed peeking up through (which I'm sure cleth won't touch) but I will deal with that separately.

It looks like I have decent germination but as expected it is taking a bit to get going. It looks like the deer have been frequenting it already so I plant to put up a cage to monitor growth without any browsing pressure.

 

[Tree Spud]

@omicron1792 can you share your Cleth recipe again? I know it is in one of the threads here somewhere but I was unable to dig it up after looking for some time. 4oz of Cleth, some nonionic surfactant I believe but I forget the specifics.

I must've missed a corner of the plot with the second glyo spray and have a good bit of grasses shooting up in one area. The rest looks okay with some sparse grasses here and there that should knock down okay. I've got a decent chunk of milkweed and ragweed peeking up through (which I'm sure cleth won't touch) but I will deal with that separately.

It looks like I have decent germination but as expected it is taking a bit to get going. It looks like the deer have been frequenting it already so I plant to put up a cage to monitor growth without any browsing pressure.

I use 2 oz per gallon of cleth and it has worked well.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

This is a thread i reference often:

Herbicides I have used and rates

List of herbicides I use and rates I use. Compiled over time from labels, reading, advice, and mostly trial and error. Always read label and follow before using The triclopyr, escort, milestone, veteran, and transline I use for my battle with kudzu and are highest label rates. Not to be used...

habitat-talk.com

 

[omicron1792]

12-16oz per acre. Use non ionic surfactant or crop oil. I like AMS also.

 

[Newbie]

Just a little update here. Open to suggestions as always. Plot is seeing some germination but as expected fighting a weed problem in yr1. Sprayed cleth today. Lots of milkweed (which I’m surprised that the deer seem to be foraging on heavily), ragweed, horsetail, and some misc. weeds. I think I’ve had decent germination but everytime I go down I see LOTS of deer sign and most of the young clover seems to be hammered. I’ve positively IDed some brassicas but not many. Fertilized with some potash and urea this week, I hope to see the clover pop in the next few weeks and parlay that into next year but as of now it looks like I’m fighting an uphill battle. Put up an exclusion cage today to monitor a pressure free zone moving forward.

To be clear, I’m fully aware this years results should be guarded but I’m always open to suggestions to help improve the prognosis moving forward.