Food Plots Frost Seed Help

Joined
Aug 14, 2014
Messages
9
Location
Alcoa Tennessee (East TN)
Hey all this is my first time planting clover in the spring and I'm having a tough time figuring out steps for frost seeding. I have 2 areas around an acre in size I want to plant. I just did a soil test and am waiting for the results, but the area I want to plant is probably anywhere from 6 inches to 2 feet in some spots. Should I till, then frost seed, or should I not frost seed at all? Just lost and thought I'd come here for help. Thanks!
 

puppy

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Joined
Sep 3, 2011
Messages
142
Location
East TN
If it is a new plot I would wait till next Sept and do a really good job of killing the existing weeds/grass and the seed bank by doing "several" till - burn downs cycles. During this time you can also do any lime or fertilizer additions that need to be made. Once Sept rolls around plant the clover with a nurse crop of WW or cereal rye. Sow the WW or rye, cultipack, sow clover then cultipack again. Once you have established a plot you can frost/overseed into it every late winter - early spring to keep it thick and weeds choked out.
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2014
Messages
9
Location
Alcoa Tennessee (East TN)
If it is a new plot I would wait till next Sept and do a really good job of killing the existing weeds/grass and the seed bank by doing "several" till - burn downs cycles. During this time you can also do any lime or fertilizer additions that need to be made. Once Sept rolls around plant the clover with a nurse crop of WW or cereal rye. Sow the WW or rye, cultipack, sow clover then cultipack again. Once you have established a plot you can frost/overseed into it every late winter - early spring to keep it thick and weeds choked out.
Thank you so much for the great advice. Now if I want to plant say an acre for turkey season, would it even be worth it and do I even have time still?
 

deerhunter10

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Aug 21, 2012
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4,842
Location
maury county tn
Thank you so much for the great advice. Now if I want to plant say an acre for turkey season, would it even be worth it and do I even have time still?
It could be done probably we would never attempt it. But the soil temperature needs to come up some. Also new clover we have always been told needs roughly 6 months before you can spray it and maintain it correctly. So it will be fighting against weeds for most of the year before you can do anything about it. We have planted it for 20 or 25 years. That's just the rule we have always gone by. Some on here are clover guru's and may can give you some better advice. That's why fall is mainly better it has 6 to 8 months to grow without any true competition. Frost seeding we do as well and we tend to spray those fields a tik later than our others but we only frost seed existing fields of clover. That are older stands that just need some help. All of ours this year are getting frost seeded from last year's drought. We also spray later than most because of nesting. That's just what we have done works for us but always room for improvement. Good first step in taking soil samples. If you decide not to do clover this spring there are a lot of options for spring and summer plots in past threads that will help deer and turkeys that are great options.
 

JCDEERMAN

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Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
17,482
Location
NASHVILLE, TN
If it is a new plot I would wait till next Sept and do a really good job of killing the existing weeds/grass and the seed bank by doing "several" till - burn downs cycles. During this time you can also do any lime or fertilizer additions that need to be made. Once Sept rolls around plant the clover with a nurse crop of WW or cereal rye. Sow the WW or rye, cultipack, sow clover then cultipack again. Once you have established a plot you can frost/overseed into it every late winter - early spring to keep it thick and weeds choked out.
This is exactly what we did last fall, so essentially we will be frost seeding this spring before warm up. Been told by many to get established in the fall.
 

Popcorn

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Jan 30, 2019
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Cookeville, TN Cadiz, KY and random other places
Mow it if you can if needed. Mix 3 pounds crimson clover, 3 pounds ladino clover, 2 lbs balansa or arrowleaf clover with 50 lb wheat and get it down now! Come mid to late march put down 200 lb pell lime and 100 lb 19-19-19 fertilizer. You will have a turkey plot, the clover will get a start, it will outcompete early weeds, you can mow and spray in summer and if needed seed again next fall.
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2014
Messages
9
Location
Alcoa Tennessee (East TN)
Mow it if you can if needed. Mix 3 pounds crimson clover, 3 pounds ladino clover, 2 lbs balansa or arrowleaf clover with 50 lb wheat and get it down now! Come mid to late march put down 200 lb pell lime and 100 lb 19-19-19 fertilizer. You will have a turkey plot, the clover will get a start, it will outcompete early weeds, you can mow and spray in summer and if needed seed again next fall.
Is this all per acre? And I have a bush hog and tiller. Which would be better? Or both?
 

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