Seed supplier for wildlife food plots

[old243]

If you want roundup or mouse blocks etc, that are restricted . Talk to a local farmer , with a spray licence. If you use it according to mixing instructions , for your own use, I don't see a problem, some of our restrictions , benefit big pharmo companies. JMHO.
Fenelon, you can control your grasses, by using your lawnmower. After your clovers , get a good start , trim the grass, stay high enough that you are not hitting the clovers. It will keep the grasses from coming in head, and the clovers will flourish and fill in. Repeat often , or as you think necessary. You can always broadcast more clovers in the fall , if you don't get a good catch, they will frost seed, over next winter. I have frost seeded pastures, with good results. A bit of trefoil added into your mix is also good, it will remain a long time once you get it started and reseed itself. Good luck old243

[Hardman]

If you are using the till method to remove weeds/grasses before planting. I would suggest plowing first, early fall is best if want a spring plant. Then disc in spring once dry enough. Let existing seeds and roots sprout approx week or 2, rework/till to kill new emergence. You can repeat tilling again once sprouted again. Cultivating will pull roots of grasses to the surface to be exposed to the sun and may be necessary. Usually I work a new plot for a summer, which will kill all weeds grasses and seeds.Plant in the fall/early Sept with wheat cultivated in to 1.5 " -2". White clover broadcast on top, then rolled for seed contact to soil. This will provide a weed free plot. Mowing is required to keep clover weed free and healthy for a couple years. Or rework a year latter and plant what ever you want. As far as spraying general rules are, spray wait 2 weeks till and plant. Or spray wait 2 weeks till then wait 1-2 weeks spray then plant after at least 3 days depending on the seed to be planted.

[Hardman]

I tried the environmentally friendly way, due to the insistence of my wife....failure both times. All chopping up the ground did was spreed out the Quack Grass roots and next season they came back two fold.

Next time I hit it hard with concentrated Round Up I got from the farmer next door and mixed it myself. It killed everything...everything !! Left me with a barren landscape to work with, perfect. !!

They say all that Round up needs is about 3 hrs on the green leaves to work itself down into the roots. The leaf on the plant takes a while to look dead, but once it's in the roots it will kill the plant.

The problem now is getting Round-Up retail that is strong enough to do the job. That watered down crap they sell at Canadian Tire is very weak...not to mention very expensive to buy when you have to do a big area.

Maybe talk to someone that does weed control and see if they can help you. They have licenses that allow them to buy stronger stuff that isn't commercially available.

I would suggest if you want to use the spray method, follow the rules/laws and go get your license and conform to regulations. Or hire some one who is licensed and have them apply herbicides in accordance with the law.

[Gilroy]

I tried the environmentally friendly way, due to the insistence of my wife....failure both times. All chopping up the ground did was spreed out the Quack Grass roots and next season they came back two fold.

Next time I hit it hard with concentrated Round Up I got from the farmer next door and mixed it myself. It killed everything...everything !! Left me with a barren landscape to work with, perfect. !!

They say all that Round up needs is about 3 hrs on the green leaves to work itself down into the roots. The leaf on the plant takes a while to look dead, but once it's in the roots it will kill the plant.

The problem now is getting Round-Up retail that is strong enough to do the job. That watered down crap they sell at Canadian Tire is very weak...not to mention very expensive to buy when you have to do a big area.

Maybe talk to someone that does weed control and see if they can help you. They have licenses that allow them to buy stronger stuff that isn't commercially available.

If you keep planting on the worked ground year after year the grass will not be able to flourish,if on the other hand you give it a break even for a short time it will come back.My food plots and vegetable garden are surrounded by Quack grass and were quack grass before working them over,the secret it to simply
tilling the soil in the spring and planting on that worked ground.The chopped up grass will lay dormant under the soil and want to come back but should be shaded out by what you plant after a couple of years that chopped up grass is composted down in the soil and is gone.Same process for farmers tilling the soil each spring,in the OLDE days they did not have to put tons of weed killer down,why is it so badly needed now?The answer is convenience but its a false economy as the weed killer,s also kill off beneficial microbes and insects that benefit the soil,that is why organic is making such a big come back.

[johny]

I tried the environmentally friendly way, due to the insistence of my wife....failure both times. All chopping up the ground did was spreed out the Quack Grass roots and next season they came back two fold.

Next time I hit it hard with concentrated Round Up I got from the farmer next door and mixed it myself. It killed everything...everything !! Left me with a barren landscape to work with, perfect. !!

They say all that Round up needs is about 3 hrs on the green leaves to work itself down into the roots. The leaf on the plant takes a while to look dead, but once it's in the roots it will kill the plant.

The problem now is getting Round-Up retail that is strong enough to do the job. That watered down crap they sell at Canadian Tire is very weak...not to mention very expensive to buy when you have to do a big area.

Maybe talk to someone that does weed control and see if they can help you. They have licenses that allow them to buy stronger stuff that isn't commercially available.

Sorry Mike but Ontario regs are a PITA for Round Up.
I'm lucky that I can drive to Winnipeg and buy any amount of Round Up Super Concentrate that I need. No questions asked.

An "organic" method of weed control is smother cropping.
You plant a fast growing broad spreading crop.
It blocks light from growing weeds and suppresses them enough that the hopefully wont reproduce.
Buckwheat planted 2-3 times more densely that recommended works well.
So does a dense planting of Forage Radish. Do crop #1 in the spring. Cut and till mid summer. Repeat seeding for crop #2 late summer.

[Fenelon]

Thanks guys for all the great tips. Re: plowing first - this was going to be my first choice (turn the sod over and disk) until I started checking with a soil auger and was lucky to find 4" of good topsoil. I'm on that crap Otonabee class soil that's glacial till mixed with limestone and clay. We have huge rock piles where the poor Irish would have picked rocks till they died. No wonder they had 18 kids and drank heavily. You'd need that many hands just to clear the bloody rocks to be able to work a plow. Some sections are almost alvar, with prairie smoke on the property. I was worried I'd be pulling up the subsoil even if I set the plow at shallow setting. Sold my wood chipper and bought a Woods 72" tractor tiller. You can set this thing as shallow as 1" so it doesn't dig too deep. I have my forestry class licence so buying pure Weathermax glypho is no problem. The "high grade" ag strength stuff is about $100 for 10L. I use it with an atv sprayer to control dog-strangling vine, nodding thistle, and buckthorn. I think I'll "kill" my next plots before I plant. I'll spray, wait 2 weeks, then till the piss out of it.

[MikePal]

I think I'll "kill" my next plots before I plant. I'll spray, wait 2 weeks, then till the piss out of it.

the farm next to me was long ago owned by a Scotsman...rock fence lines and good sized piles everywhere. You're right no wonder they had lots of kids !!

Sounds like you have a sound plan...use the glypho and get rid of the problem stuff now before it goes to seed.

I used one of those plot mules (disc) and set it for 2" after it was killed back and that gave me enough loose soil to make sure I had good seed soil contact. I seeded heavy with clover the first year...it's still there.

Tip: I used to plant two lines of turnip late summer to ensure that there was food after the first frost. Used to have deer still on the plot late in Dec...perfect for ML season.

Good luck....

[smitty55]

An outfitter buddy of mine has access to around 500 acres of private land that he has a camp on. The owner got Lyme disease many years back so he wants the deer population controlled. Anyway Dave has done up many food plots over the years and he always starts with glyphosate. The one thing that stuck with me was him telling me that waiting an extra 2 weeks after the vegetation had died was critical as that way he was sure that the roots were all dead and mushy as well. Otherwise chopping up the still viable firm roots resulted in tons of new growth. Something to keep in mind.

Cheers