# east texas food plots



## reef rash (Aug 17, 2017)

what are you planting?
where do you get seeds?
when do you plant?


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## fy0834 (Jan 18, 2011)

You should google your thread title and get aquatinted...


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## greatwhite84 (May 15, 2016)

fy0834 said:


> You should google your thread title and get aquatinted...


So much, in fact, that its overwhelming.

When I first started, just finding a place for seed was difficult because no one just came out and said it.

Do your soil tests. This is especially important given the acidity of the Piney Woods. Food plots are alot of hard work, so its important that you put as many of the cards in your favor as you can.

Find a local feed store and make friends with them. Not all feed stores are created equal. I have found the feed stores in metropolitan areas like Houston or Dallas are pretty clueless when it comes to anything wildlife related. They are in the business of dog food, stall shavings and oversized metal yard art roosters. Find one that you see actual old farm trucks in front of. There probably won't be air condition, there will be an old mangy cat on the counter and a handful of old timers drinking coffee in the corner. Shoot the bull with the owner/manager and ask questions. They love to talk and i bet would enjoy a new face around the store. See what kind of seed blend they have available and make sure it is local to East Texas. Don't buy seed from a place sacked in Florida or Pennsylvania. Make sure the blend has wheat and peas and clover and radishes. All kinds of stuff. Might I recommend planting the clover separate as the size in seed from a pea to a clover is astronomical and its tough to gauge in a single spreader during one application.

With new plots, get your PH right and soil bed prepped. I recommend using A&L Labs out of Lubbock for your soil samples. I didn't have much luck with the county ag extensions as a newbie. A&L is run as a business, and will report their results via mail and email as such. Each sample is $12.50/each. Scoop up dirt from various locations in your designated plots at depths of 3-6". Not a huge amount, but enough where 3-4 sample scoops fills up a sandwich baggie. Contact A&L for submitting instructions and payment process. You can request for them to tell you exactly what you need to do for fertilizer, lime, etc for each plot. Make sure to label them specific and easy names. Not just 1, 2, 3, 4, as inevitably, you will forget what is what.

Don't plant one thing, do a mix and change things up on how you plant it. Take note of what does well and how you planted it. Did you just broadcast it? Did you harrow it afterwards? Heck if you want, seed that plot 3 different times. All the plants mature and grow at different times of the year, so putting all your eggs in one basket with one seed/one planting method as a new food plot grower could be really good or really bad, most likely the latter.

I've found the food plots to be just as much fun as the hunting itself. I've also learned that you don't have to do a stereotypical discing every single time.

Take some more time and learn about the use of herbicides like Glyphosate and Clethodim. I found the methods full of so much info that I had a rough time deciphering what all was covered. Taking notes fixed all that.

I am currently trying the following:

Mow, then wait 2 weeks (I disced last fall). Glyphosate then wait 2 weeks. Broadcast and mow then wait 6 weeks. Mow again and Clethodim is settling in now. My ladana and crimson clover is growing so thick right now that it will bog down a brushhog even set at the highest setting. It was thigh high and a chore to walk through!

I will repeat the process with a Fall Winter mix of peas, wheat, radishes, etc in early September when its a thousand degrees and I am cussing everything deer related.

Oh and one more thing, make sure to use exclusion structures. Just simple chicken wire in a circle and wired to a tpost will work. You may be thinking your plants didn't come up when in reality, deer are eating it all. Thats my favorites think about radishes, its extremely obvious when a deer is consuming a plot of those.


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## greatwhite84 (May 15, 2016)

greatwhite84 said:


> I am currently trying the following:
> 
> Mow, then wait 2 weeks (I disced last fall). Glyphosate then wait 2 weeks. Broadcast and mow then wait 6 weeks. Mow again and Clethodim is settling in now. My ladana and crimson clover is growing so thick right now that it will bog down a brushhog even set at the highest setting. It was thigh high and a chore to walk through!


Hold off on following this method. I just got a live picture and it looks pretty rough. Will report back after putting my hands on it next week. Hopefully there was just that much grass lol


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## reef rash (Aug 17, 2017)

*food plot*

so I have a great spot I know deer like and move through...
I have used weed killer 1 time...
waited 2 weeks and ran my disc..
waited 2 weeks and ran my disc again.
it looks fair but not perfect...

I do already visit a REAL feed barn in Kirbyville.

I will stop in this weekend and ask them about seeds.
I will also go ahead and do my soil sample so I can get my fertilizer right.

I want to get the soil right even if it means I plant late. but I feel good about September planting..

thanks so much for the tips, there is almost nothing online specific to south east texasâ€¦

looking forward to your next post.


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## greatwhite84 (May 15, 2016)

reef rash said:


> so I have a great spot I know deer like and move through...
> I have used weed killer 1 time...
> waited 2 weeks and ran my disc..
> waited 2 weeks and ran my disc again.
> ...


Your lime probably won't get your PH where it needs to be by September, but better late than never. It will get you jumpstarted on 2021 planting season.

When you are discing, you are promoting additional weed growth, so even though it looks good when you are done, its not doing anything unless you are fixing to plant. Make sure you harrow and drag that disced plot before you plant. Big clods of dirt aren't going to do you any favors other than twist an ankle when you are blood trailing that monster buck.

Here is a link to a company out of Tyler that has seed blends:

https://www.easttexasseedcompany.com/deerplotseed.php

Even if you don't order through them, you can get the jist of what is in their blends.

My local Feed Store already stocked a blend very similar to what the link above mixes were, so I just went with what they had as it was readily available and locally bagged.


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## ruquick (Nov 4, 2006)

I have been using the Spring and Fall Deer Mixes from Turner Seed for years now with excellent results. I do my food plot in Centerville. The soil is real sandy there.

https://www.turnerseed.com/


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## greatwhite84 (May 15, 2016)

greatwhite84 said:


> Hold off on following this method. I just got a live picture and it looks pretty rough. Will report back after putting my hands on it next week. Hopefully there was just that much grass lol


Update : The clethodim definitely worked on killing the grasses, but it seems to have had a slight negative effect on the clover as well. You can clearly see spots that I missed with the boom sprayer.

It didn't kill the clover but it sure isn't flourishing like it is in the spots that I missed with the sprayer.

Next year, mowing only. No clethodim. Learning all the time.


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## reef rash (Aug 17, 2017)

*soil sample*

found a soil test bag at the local feed store.. $12.00...it went to SFA.. waiting to hear back.

something similar for me, I noticed where I didn't get the weed killer down good. going to shoot it again this weekend.


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## NS2110 (Mar 8, 2016)

feed grade milo works good enough for us in east texas. $10 for 50 pound bag. spray glyphosate, broadcast seed a little heavy, then disc in.


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