Preparing new site for Food Plot

[Stevieray]

My plan is to brush hog the area as short as I can and then disc cut material into soil. I would then apply glyphosate to any new growth allow to die prior to tilling/disc soil before planting buckwheat..

I will be planting buckwheat as green manure and then till or disc buckwheat into soil while it is flowering.

Should I do a soil test and add lime prior to planting buckwheat or add lime before planting the fall food plots?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[cutman]

I would do a soil test now. Apply lime as recommended by the soil test, THEN disc it all in.

Basically: add lime as soon as possible in the process. It takes a while to affect the soil.

 

[Elkaddict]

If your place has a lime deficiency, you'll want to know asap. Lime takes time.

 

[Hunter_Dan]

Can you burn the area? There's no better way to clear vegetation than burning.

 

[useyourbow]

I would do a soil test now. Apply lime as recommended by the soil test, THEN disc it all in.

Basically: add lime as soon as possible in the process. It takes a while to affect the soil.

How reliable are those pronged Ph Testers? I submitted soil samples at the beginning of the week and it may take a few weeks to get the results back. I tested one of my sites with one of those pronged meters and I got a 6.8 reading. I would rather not wait but then again don't want to burn the cash that could be spent more wisely elsewhere.

 

[cutman]

How reliable are those pronged Ph Testers? I submitted soil samples at the beginning of the week and it may take a few weeks to get the results back. I tested one of my sites with one of those pronged meters and I got a 6.8 reading. I would rather not wait but then again don't want to burn the cash that could be spent more wisely elsewhere.

I don't have much experience with those pronged ph testers. Sorry. I would wait for the full soil sample report before applying lime. It's worth waiting a couple of weeks to do it right (that holds true for pretty much everything related to food plots/habitat management in my experience).

 

[Stevieray]

What is the best warm season cover crop to plant in Oklahoma. I want to suppress weed growth and condition the soil. I have been lead to believe Buckwheat is what I should plant.

What have others used for this purpose?

 

[Hunter_Dan]

I'd second buckwheat. We've used it for years in sandy soil in Wisconsin and have seen good, steady improvement over the years.

 

[Wild Thing]

It works great here in Upper Michigan as well.

 

[Elkaddict]

We got buck wheat growth out of 4.8 ph soils with decent attraction. Of course, growth and attraction increased 4 fold after lime was given a chance to do its thing. I personally wouldn't hesitate to get a couple tons of lime spread. Lime takes time..... I've seen the benefits first hand of grain (corn and beans) production of surface spread lime vs disced in lime--the difference was significant even for food plots purposes. Of course, I deal with highly acidic soils to begin with. I also would rely on complete soil analysis before ordering seeds and other amendments. Just my .0.02.