Food plots?

[hopco.boy]

My cousin and I have plowed 4 spots ranging from an acre to about 2.5 acres.
We used to plant them quite a bit about 10-12 years ago and we always planted winter wheat and ryegrass. My question is what about all these new blended mixes from people like tecomate, biologic, and imperial. Do they grow well and do they grow a lot? What has worked for some of y'all?

[Jaspro]

They grow but they are the same thing you buy. With that stuff your just paying for a name and marketing campaign

[huntmaster]

buckforage oats, you will thank me later

[canny]

Premixed blends are junk. Doesn't matter what the brand is. Read the label most of the seeds are not worth anything yet they bag it and put a pretty buck on the front to make you think its good.

Plus there is no way all the seeds can be planted correctly. Large seeds like oats, rye, and wheat should be planted 1-2" deep where as small seeds like clover, chicory, etc need to be 1/4" - 1/2" deep. There is no way they can be placed at this depth when using a blend.

[Firecuss]

Horse oats, winter peas, store bought blackeyed peas, pinto beans and mustered greens from feed store, must be disked (ground broke) around mid to late October rye grass thick.
Always works well for me.
Oh and the good Lord willing to water it!!!!
Mine is in the ground now waiting on the Lord.

[Jaspro]

Horse oats, winter peas, store bought blackeyed peas, pinto beans and mustered greens from feed store, must be disked (ground broke) around mid to late October rye grass thick.
Always works well for me.
Oh and the good Lord willing to water it!!!!
Mine is in the ground now waiting on the Lord.

This is what I always plant too. I wouldn't plant until after Sept. 1

[canny]

buckforage oats, you will thank me later

This^^^^ combined with clover and chicory in the fall creates a year long food source.

[Javelin]

The two most palatable and most used will be winter wheat and oats, but please DONT use horse oats. Spend the extra 4 to 5 bucks a bag and buy seed oats (I use bob oats) also buy winter wheat seed. I usually through a couple pounds of clovers, rape, turnips and other cool season plants in with it, but the wheat and oats are the two big hitters. you only need about 100lbs per acre and an acre is bigger than most people think. GO measure your plot and make sure of the size.

[Aggiebush]

We order our seed and plant all like seeds together to ensure proper planting depth and have it fertilized and limed by a local company. We got one of the mixes one year, and won't ever again.

[Jason S]

Good info. here, I think I will plant my first one this year.

[unclefish]

Make your own mix but plant your seeds separately to ensure the big seeds get planted at proper depth. Your little seeds just need good soil contact.

IMO rye grass sux. Deer don't prefer it but will eat it occasionally. Its very invasive and extremely hard to get rid of. Plant cereal grains instead.....you might try Cereal Rye (not rye grass). Its alot more cold hardy than Wheat or Oats ...and it builds the soil much better than the other two. All are great choices for most of Texas.

Mixes are a much better option than a single crop because they will provide many more months of feeding (like Canny said). Clover is a great choice to overseed into a Rye, Wheat, or Oat field after planting. Austrian Winter Peas are good to plant into the mix too. Inoculate the clover and AWP's to fix Nitrogen into the soil and save on fertilizer costs in future plantings.

I'm trying Groundhog Radishes this year too as a trial. Deer supposedly love them and they are a great soil builder.

[hopco.boy]

Thanks guys. I will take your tips into consideration when deciding what we plant.