East texas food plot ?

[DAISYBELL]

What do you plant and when do you plant if you want to start a food plot as soon as possible. I have a sandy loam soil that gets about 4-6 hours of sunlight a day due to trees. I plan to plant 3-4 40' x 40'(approx.) plots. Thanks and god bless

[Txjourneyman]

we've had good luck with winter wheat, oats, rye, and cow peas.

[bboswell]

Are you wanting a Spring/Summer plot or 1 for next hunting season? Either way that small of a plot will stay eatin down so if you don't put up an exclusion cage you will think it is not growing.

[ckuehl]

3-4 40' x 40' is plenty. I am assuming that your trying to keep deer at your place feeding year round? All though bboswell is correct by saying it will stay pretty short.

[DAISYBELL]

Spring summer

Do you mean a fence for the hogs or to keep all game off till plants mature. Spring time plot is what i am hoping for. Thanks

[Low Fence]

In the spring I'd plant clay and iron cow peas, but with those size plots THEY WILL FAIL. They will eat them before they reach the three leaf stage unless fenced out. If eaten before three leaf they will die. Those are going to be about your only option with the amount of sun light you have. NOW in the fall plant oats (they wont do god with that much shade but will come up. AND THEN plant the cow peas. Do this 2 weeks to a week before season NO EARLIER. the deer will come from all 4 corners of the earth to eat the peas as soon as they start to grow, They will kill them but it dont matter the colder weather will kill them anyway. You will be planting them strictly as an attractant.

Spring- BIG Plots

Fall- several small plots

[bboswell]

Exclusion cage is only a foot or two across. It will protect a few plants from the animals so that you can tell if you plot failed or is just eatin down to dirt. With that small of area I would spend my $$ on corn, sweetfeed, protein or alfalfa and wait until fall for a plot.

[ranchdog]

Here is my website I have for putting in Spring Food plots. This should get you going in the right direction.

http://www.ranchdogu.com/DeerPage/food_plots/foodplotsnew.htm

Ranchdog

[lil_armond]

One of the best things you can do in East Texas is disk in some granulated lime into the soil.