Food Plot Questionaire (Junction Area)

[whitetailslayer]

In preparation for hunting season on our new lease, I want to plant a small food plot. Academy had a sale going on Tecomate seed. I bought a bag of Chicory and Clover. We have several wells on the place so watering will be easy as well as often as the lease is only 45 minutes from my driveway. So this will be my first food plot to ever plant and if anyone that has any expertise with growing one, please explain. (This will be a small food plot just to see if growing this is even possible pertaining to the soil conditions. If successful, will expand the size in the years to come)

What soil additives/fertilizers would be best for this area/vegetation?
Would a soils test be necessary or is there something that is commonly used for this area?
It says on the bag for a fall food plot, September is best. Is this suggestion based on the avg. temperature for this month and/or increased chances of rainfall?
Any other suggestions, comments, concerns are appreciated!

So SCHOOL ME!

[CTD2011]

Those are cool season plants that grow basically from October to April, thus the recommendation for September planting. Clovers produce a majority of their growth in the spring and need phosphorous fertilizer usually. Once the clover starts up they will produce nitrogen (cuz they are legumes) for the chicory. Chicory and clover both may be tough to get up in that country. May want to mix some oats in there with it to get some good early growth.

[whitetailslayer]

I read that Chicory and Clover go hand-in-hand so that helps reassure that they should be together. Very informative, so thank you! I'll throw some oats in there as well. Due to the size (or the lack there of) of the plot, I plan on fencing it off so that 1) I can see how well it does with out any deer interference and make changes accordingly in the future seasons and 2) Hypothetically, it does well enough in the soil conditions, I would like to keep the deer off it so that it does not get mowed down due to the size.

[unclefish]

All you need to do is mow it, nuke it with Round Up, broadcast the seeds and pack them. The seeds are so small that you just need to have good soil contact. You don't need to actually plant seeds that small.

What kind of clover is in that mix? There are alot of varieties of clover and they may or may not do well in that area. You may not have much of a plot during this fall since they will just be establishing. Oats or Cereal Rye (grain not grass) will give you some good growth to hunt over this fall.

Do a soil test to see if Lime is needed.