Give attention to physical, biochemical food-plot needs

Food plots will help keep wildlife interested and well-fed on a hunting property. While there is tractor time invested, the best plots are a product of a successful biochemistry and physics experiments. For the best food plots, land managers should keep tabs on their plots’ biochemical and physical requirements.

Plant germination and growth are controlled by physical and chemical processes that require close attention to site-specific properties. A college degree is not required to grow good food plots, but plants require a certain environment to maintain their cell walls and to absorb nutrients. It all begins with soil pH.

T.J. Hallman, the plantation manager at The Territories Saluda Preserve in Chappells, S.C., begins with soil tests.

“From an agronomy standpoint, soil tests are more important than picking seed, but they go hand in hand,” Hallman said.  “The more acid the soil is, the less nutrients your plants can take up.”

Most forest soils in the southeast are on the acidic side or with a pH of less than 7.0. Fertilizers contain compounds that only become soluble under certain pH ranges. As the pH approaches 7.0, the better plants can absorb nutrients they need for growth. A soil test is critical and should be done six months before planting. Most soils will require liming to raise the pH, and it must be done several months before planting to get a rise in pH.

“Lime is key, and if I had to choose between lime or fertilizer in a budgetary constraint, the lime would win every time,” Hallman said. “Soil tests also reveal soil fertility that is useful when prescribing fertilizer treatments down the road.”

Different food-plot plants tolerate different pH levels, but most planting choices in the Southeast will perform the best in nearly pH-balanced conditions, with a little wiggle room down to 6.0. Even though some plants tolerate lower pH levels, the solubility of fertilizer treatments fails to improve when the pH falls to low levels. Liming plots to improve pH levels will provide rapid growth and lower costs for fertilizer.

“Proper soil pH, complimented with a needs-based fertilizer application, will make a drastic difference in the health of your food plot, tons per acre of biomass produced, and the availability of digestible nutrition your deer herd needs,” Hallman said.

Certain food plot require different tolerances of moisture —considered a chemical aspect of the process. For the best results, food-plot planners should match wet-tolerant plants to low sites and dry-tolerant plants in well-drained sites.

The physical attributes of food plots must be controlled for year-round success. The major troublemaker is weed competition, usually a bigger issue in the spring when billions of weed seeds germinate under wet and warming soil conditions. Pre-emergent weed applications should always accompany spring plantings. After plants begin to grow, post-emergent applications will help fight weeds and keep the target crops growing.