Need a little help from you guys. So, I am a newbie at buying seed and fertilizer for plots and have a few questions. I have done a soil test and they all need lime but that will have to wait until the spring. I am more looking for general rules of thumb here in order to get my plots in the ground.

I have about 1.7 acres to plant total across 4 plots. The plot sizes are approximately .30 acres, .40 acres, .30 acres and .70 acres respectively. I am planning on just using a blend from the co-op for the seed, not sure what I wil be using yet. This is located in northern Covington county.

Questions: How much seed and what kind of seed should I look to buy? How much and what type of fertilizer should I buy? How much seed and fertilizer should I put out on each plot?

Just looking for some general recommendations and guidance, I am sure that I will learn a lot the hard way!

Thanks for the help!

If this is the first time youve planted plots, i would try a little of everything and see what the deer eat best. Then youll know what to plant next year. 200lb/acre of 13-13-13 or 17-17-17 will be good till you can do what your soil sample says. Im particularly fond of clovers, elbon rye, (kale,rape,daikon radishes).

I find it hard to believe the ground is acidic and you dont need N, P, and K. If that is true then plant what you want and dont buy fertilizer.

First year I’d just keep it simple. Buy a three way mix of seed and read the bag for distribution rate, usually 100lbs/acre. Then I just double the amount of fertilizer. Prepare a good seed bed and plant before a rainfall. In your example, I’d buy four bags of seed and eight bags of fertilizer. That will make for some fine plots.

If you want to get fancy buy a bag of rape and or a bag of clover or turnips and top sow the two largest fields by hand but absolutely just before a good rain.

Why not lime now? You’ll be behind the eight ball if you don’t.

Oats, triticale, rye, and clover. Triple 13

You could use pelletized lime and it would work immediately if you disk it in

In South AL sandy loam soils, I’d keep it simple in year one. Blend of winter wheat, oats and cereal rye will do the job for fall/winter food plots. If broadcasting, I’d do 100 lbs per acre in seed and 200lbs in 13-13-13. Take notes and adjust next year if needed.

Very good advice. This is exactly what I’d do also. If you could get a lime buggy, then I would now as well. It will start making a difference by the end of the season (rut). You can pretty well bet on needing 2 tons per acre of lime in south Al sandy loam soil.

For about $150 or less you can throw Pelletized lime and start seeing some benefit of the lime if you work it in the soil. Throw 500 lbs/acre. It should get you through the season. It should be $5-$6 per 40# bag.

They make liquid fertilizers that might help you out. I don’t personally have much experience but know of people that swear by it.

This is great info, Thank you guys so much.

I love this stuff and am just trying to learn all I can.

Thanks again!

JMO, but instead of the pelletized lime you could go with liquid lime considering the amount of acreage you're covering. Just like the pellitized it would start working immediately. If you go that route, I'd plant seed and fertilize right now and in a couple of weeks hit it with the liquid lime. Like JWalker said, I'd experiment a little to find out what the deer in your area will like - and also what your ground grows well. We started using WMS tritical/black oats last year and we've been very impressed with it... so you might try a three way mix on a couple of plots and something like that in your other two. I'd definitely top sow some brassica and clover - and write it down so you'll be able to track how well the animals use the plots. Food plotting is a lot of fun... hope it goes well for you!

Here is a copy of the soil test results ... for me it is like reading greek. I would imagine this gives a clearer picture of what I have and maybe what I need to do. I am not looking to raise a cash crop here, just looking to feed the deer so by no way do I have to get everything perfect but I would like to improve the land, habitat, wildlife, etc ... the best I can as long as I am the steward of this piece of ground. Thanks again for all the help, assistance and suggestions.

[img]https://postimg.cc/qN0JzpGC[/img]

5.1 PH ? ?

Yep.

One @ 5.1, two @ 5.2 and one at 5.5.

They have all four been planted for the past 3 years and done pretty good. I do have a lot of grazing pressure on them but my containtment cages tell me that the plots are growing.

Save your money on fertilizer untill after you lime it. Like i said, pelletized lime will work immediately if you disk it in. It would take about 2.5-3 tons to get your fields to where theyll really produce good. Youre wasting youre fertilizer before you do that

I will have to use pelletized lime on all these plots, no way to get a lime buggy in there unfortunately.

Thanks for the help!

Phone rings : " Lime Hotline" Yes, a, I'd like to buy 6,000 lbs of Lime"

Here's a question, did you take a single sample from each plot, or did you take multiple samples (5-6) from different areas in each plot, then mix them together, to get the sample that you sent in to be tested?