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Spice up Your Soil
for Spring Food Plots
By John Howle
If
you stared for hours into a food plot that flopped this past deer season, this
may be a great time to spice up your soil in time for spring food plot
planting. For the cost of a couple of bags of fertilizer, a soil test will
tell you exactly what’s missing from your recipe for a forage filled food
plot.
Many
of the sites selected for food plots are areas that haven’t been in
cultivation or pasture for a long time. Areas such as logging roads, powerline
openings and firebreaks provide good cover for wildlife because of the
surrounding woods, but the soil in these areas tend to be acidic and low in
nutrients because these remote spots haven’t received applications of lime
and fertilizer.
Soil Testing
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Getting your soil in good shape leads to bountiful food plots.
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Soil
testing involves collecting samples of dirt from your food plots, filling out
a form describing the use of the soil and the forage you plan to plant, and
mailing the soil and form
to a lab for analysis. Once the lab makes an appraisal of the soil, you
will receive a soil sample report that shows your soil’s deficiencies
and recommendations on the amount of fertilizer and lime required to
bring the food plot up to its maximum growing potential. |
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Collect soil at a depth of at least four inches for the soil test.
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For
each one to three acre food plot, take 10 to 20 sub samples of soil.
First, scrape the plant residue from the ground making sure the dirt is
fairly dry. Next, dig down to a depth of about four inches. This is the
depth that most disc harrows will plow, and it’s also a depth where
the plants get most of their nutrients.
Mix
the soil sub samples in a clean, plastic bucket with no lime,
fertilizer, or pesticide residue because this can skew the lab results.
Place the mixed soil into boxes or bags to be mailed to a laboratory for
testing. Finally, state on the soil test paperwork the forage you plan
to plant so the lab can make an accurate analysis on what you need to
add to the soil.
If
soil testing is unfamiliar terrain to you, your local Extension agent
can walk you through the soil testing procedure, take soil samples for
you, and help with interpreting the results of the soil test.
The
Extension service advises soil testing every one to three years. The
best time to take samples is a couple of months before planting the food
plot. This will give you time to apply and plow in lime so the soil has
a chance to react to the neutralization before planting seeds and
applying fertilizer.
Lime
It’s
quite common for soil test reports to come back recommending three tons
of lime per acre in some parts of Alabama. Too much lime is rarely a
problem, so don’t worry if you think you may have put out slightly
more limestone than the soil report recommended. |
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The
pH scale is used to measure the acidity or alkalinity of the soil and
runs from 0 to 14. Zero is extremely acid, seven is neutral, and 14 is
extremely alkaline. Since each point of the pH scale represents a factor
of 10, a soil with a pH value of five is 10 times more acidic than a
value of six. The ideal pH range for most forage growth is around 6.5. |
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In
low pH or acidic soils, many of the important nutrients such as nitrogen
and phosphorous will remain locked in the soil and unavailable for the
plant. Even when fertilizer is applied, only a small amount can be used
by the plant, and the rest will remain locked in the soil particles.
Lime raises the pH level by unlocking soil nutrients and helps break
down organic matter for plant use.
Fertilizer
Once
you’ve identified your soil’s pH, the second concern is how much
fertilizer you will need. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium
(K) are the main concerns. One of the most obvious signs of a lack of
nitrogen is stunted forage growth and yellow leaves or stems. Nitrogen
makes forage grow green and grow fast if you are planting grasses. If
you are planting clovers, the nitrogen won’t clearly help the plant
since clover fixes nitrogen, but planting clover with grassy plants
works in a mutually positive way. |
In areas you can’t access with bulk lime and a spreader truck, spreading pelletized lime with a tractor spreader may be your best bet. |
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On
each bag of fertilizer, there will be three numbers, for example,
13-13-13 or 5-10-15. These numbers correspond in order to the amounts of
each individual element present in the bag. For example, 5-10-15 has
five pounds nitrogen per 100 pounds of fertilizer, 10 pounds
phosphorous, and 15 pounds potassium.
If
your soil test results show that nitrogen is the biggest deficiency of
the soil, ammonium nitrate may be your best option. Ammonium nitrate is
listed as 34-0-0. This means it has 34 pounds per 100 pounds of
fertilizer and zero phosphorous and potassium.
The
report will list secondary nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, and
sulfur as well as the micronutrients, zinc and manganese, but once
optimum pH is achieved, the secondary and micronutrients will often be
corrected. For instance, applying dolomitic limestone will add the
necessary magnesium the soil needs. In many Alabama soils, you can
assume you’ll need a big hunk of lime and a fair amount of nitrogen.
Buying
lime from your local Co-op in bulk is a considerable savings over the
40-pound bags of pelletized lime. You can buy and have bulk lime spread
on your food plots through many of the customized Co-op spreading
services if your access roads are large enough for a spreader truck or
pull behind trailer. If the path leading to your food plots is extremely
narrow, rugged, or steep, pelletized lime in the 40-pound bag put out
with a tractor spreader may be the best option. The particles in bulk
lime are too dense to be put out with a tractor spreader, but the hopper
will put out the larger grained pelletized lime.
Get
that soil tested and you’ll have time to spice up your soil in time
for spring planting.
John
Howle is a freelance writer from Heflin. |
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