4 Tricks For Managing Weeds In Distant Food Plots
Posted on: 29 December 2021
Even a well-established food plot needs regular maintenance to keep weeds under control. Yet visiting a food plot too often will leave your scent all over the place and can create a human presence that will drive off deer and other game. Adversely, if you don't visit enough and let weeds will take over your plot, deer may find it unappealing as well. Here are four easy tricks for food plot management when you can't visit too often.
Disc and Till, Then Plant Quickly
In order for a food plot to fill in correctly, it needs to be disc plowed and tilled. If you don't own a tractor, it is easy to hire a local service to disc and till a food plot. Soil preparation kills the weeds that are currently growing on the surface but also exposes hidden weed seeds. With the surface exposed, these seeds quickly germinate. To combat this, plant your food plot crop right after your final till. This will allow your food crop to grow ahead of the weeds and smother them out. Even waiting a few days after tilling can give weeds a head start.
Work in More Perennial Plants
Annual plants only live for one growing season. Perennial plants, once established, will continue to grow where they were planted year after year. Try using a combination of annual and perennial plants seeds for the first few years in your plot to smother out weeds until the perennial can fully take over the area. With a predominantly perennial mix, you'll spend less time each year on weeding a food plot.
Consider Selective Herbicides
Herbicides are often the best choice if you can only visit the plot once or twice. Selective herbicides target only certain plants. Broad-spectrum herbicides don't work quite as well for food plots because they tend to kill the grasses and broad-leaved plants favored for planting. Some herbicides can last up to 18 months in the soil. Read instructions, and plan your growing time carefully when you use selective herbicides to ensure they control weeds without interfering with plot crop growth.
Mow at the Right Time
If your plot is easy to access with equipment then timing one or two mowing visits can help reduce weeds significantly. The best times to mow are right after the heaviest growth of spring and after the bulk growth in late summer. Avoid mowing plants designed to be killed off by fall temperatures since they can't regrow quickly enough after the shock.
A weedy food plot should be disc plowed and tilled for the next year for a clean start. Planting at just the right time is often the key to overcoming weed growth from the beginning in the spring.
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