Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Word to the wise re fertilizer

If you want pond fertilizer but are waiting to buy, I suggest you wait no longer. Russia -- yes, that Russia -- is the number one producer of fertilizer in the world. Less supply, higher prices.

anthropic,
I just picked up 20 bags of 10-20-20 for $28.11 each for durana clover I frost seeded. Thanks for the heads up!

For years I've been choosing plants and rotations that compliment each other in an effort to do away with fertilizer (the whole regenerative thing and no tilling) in my plots. It's been close to a decade since I've bought fert and right now I'm pretty darn happy about it!

catscratch,
I don’t fertilize my no till sunflower/milo/millet/soybean or broadcast/drag fall cover crops only for perennial ladino or durana clover. I’m not sure how you do it seeding in red clay. Lime 2 tons/acre as well. Please tell me your secret.

catscratch,

Are you doing deer food plots? If so, what have been your most successful additions?

I know my soils are different than yours, but my climate is similar (with less rain).

Heppy,
I have pretty good soil. I like mixes such as yours (actually love the sunflower/milo/millet/bean mix), rotate legumes for nitrogen fixation with nitrogen lovers, and every few years throw a complete curveball at it. Nature doesn't seem to like a routine so I'm always mixing it up. I also don't mind weeds all that much as they usually tell me a story of what the soil needs and points towards what to do next. But, an example of one of the things I do to combat things I don't want is I'll throw cereal grains and chicory into my perennial clover plots every fall to use up excess nitrogen... discourages foxtail or cool season grasses (nitrogen lovers). No secrets.

I have so many favorites! Awnless wheat has been a big hit. Deer graze on it all winter then hammer the heads mid summer. Ladino, arrowleaf, and med red are some of my go-to clovers. Chicory gets thrown into all my mixes. Chicory and alfalfa are drought resistant and loved by my deer. I'll also buy grocery store beans to plant. You can get a huge selection of beans/peas for around $1 per pound. They won't be round-up ready or liberty-link, but they add diversity and are cheap. Sunflowers can't be beat for summer grazing and if you can grow pumpkins without squash bugs hammering them you'll have a great fall attraction. Connecticut field pumpkins work well. If you're looking for ideas check out some of the cattle forage brassicas/clovers/grains. The cattle industry has a lot that works for deer too.

Thanks, that is a lot of good ideas!

I was going to do sunflowers for the doves, didn't know the deer liked them too.

Last time I got quail, it was adjacent to a soybean field. Their crops were full of soybeans. I think I will add the peas and beans to my mix and see what the upland birds like.

Do some research on T-2 toxins and soybeans before you make that decision. Quail do love beans but they may not be great for your populations.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3426&context=utk_gradthes

I plant sunflowers every yr. Deer only let them get to the bloom stage once, every year after that they've kept them mowed down to 3 inches.

If you can get millet, milo, Egyptian Wheat, and ragweed to produce enough seed to last into winter I think it's a great option to look at for quail.

My last food plot attempt got pretty well trashed/eliminated my hogs. Do you guys have hogs?

I'm very very very very fortunate to not have hogs right now. I truly dread them showing up. Don't know how you guys do it with large hog populations!

Interesting that you guys are having trouble with deer eating your sunflowers. I plant an acre of sunflower most years, in a place that is
overrun by the dang giant rats. Could be there's plenty of other stuff here that they like better, because they've never done any noticeable
damage to my sunflower planting.

Neighbor up the road has two patches of native wildflowers on his property, both ~1 acre. He burns them off in the spring to keep the
fescue from taking over. That is working well for attracting quail. He generally has four or five covey on his 20 acres.

Maybe it's the species of sunflower? I plant black-oil sunflowers, deer don't let them get more than a few inches tall. It's a highly preferred plant in my summer plots. With that said I think deer preferences can be regionally based. Everybody that plots loves Purple Top Turnips but I can't get my deer to eat them. They just sit there all winter and create a smelly mess in the spring.

I can't get seed-grade black sunflower here, so I use a striped variety, the name of which is completely evading me at the moment.

I've planted purple-top turnips on the same patch after the sunflowers have served their purpose. By springtime there won't be a
turnip to be found, and the field looks like it's had hogs running on it.

Catscratch, it appears that we will all have hogs in the next xx years. There’s nothing to stop their migration. Heck, I’ve got some that I can drive up to on a 4wheeler.

If you add soybeans try to get indeterminate beans.