So I decided this year I needed to plant a small 1/2 acre food plot on the 50 acres I hunt on in Washington Parish.  I went to the feed store and looked around at the different planting options they had and finally decided on Tecomate Max Attract because of the variety of seed all wrapped up in one bag.  After bush-hogging the place I planned on planting last weekend, I intended on planting this weekend but after doing a little more research on this whole planting thing I discovered that there was a LOT more I needed to do before I even thought about planting.  I didn’t get a soil sample done, since this idea of planting just came up a week ago, but I did find a soil study done in Washington Parish in 1997 that listed the type of soil and average pH (among other things).  I’ll be planting in Savannah Sandy Loam with a pH of around 4.6-5.0 which, I know now, is WAY to low to get a decent plot going.  My questions are:

Can I determine how much lime and fertilizer I’ll need without a soil test?
How long will I need to wait, after putting down lime, to plant?
Have I waited too late to get a plot in shape to hunt off of this year?

I’m trying not to break the bank on this plot but looking at the price of lime and fertilizer, it’s getting more and more costly.  Thanks a lot for any tips and advice in advance!

Hi Burdo, I hunt in Clinton, LA on about 50 acres and realized quickly that food plots at our place would have to be atypical. 1) I hunt in a pine thicket which offers filtered sun light, grasses need full sun. 2) Seed, fertilizer, etc gets expensive. 3) rainfall greatly affects growth results. So, with that and more in mind. I have opted for the follwoing.

1) Mid August, we bushhog the food plots low and then even lower. Then we scatter clay peas gnerously. 25 pounds per half acre.
2) Mid October we bushhog the plots again and scatter winter peas.
3) Late October I start feeding corn form feeders and putting out salt licks.
4) a week before opening day of gun season, we make sure all salt licks are stocked and put out corn and molasses blocks ($10 ea)

Since doing this, we have increases deer sighting phenominally and harvested more deer than ever before I found the peas to work much better than grass mixes or clover and needed no side dressing or fertilizer. If you have questions drop me a line.