How soon can I seed my plot?

[Deaner]

We got our future home building site (my food plot for the next few years) cleared out 3 weeks ago. I am wanting to go up this weekend and seed it all down with food plot seed I got at the Quality Deer Managment booth at the Classic. After the bulldozer left my dad measured my plot and it came out to 8/10's of an acre for the building site and 2/10's of an acre for the driveway. I plan on seeding the driveway down with Brome and possibly Oats to keep it from washing out. Plus I am not wanting to cover up my QDM seed with rock if we eventualy rock it. Dad brought some soil samples into the coop and they tested it. It came back really good in some parts and really bad in other area's. I need to add a Ton of Lime to it which is what I was expecting. Plus I need to add a bunch of Pot Ash and something else that I can't remember right now. My main question is how soon can I seed it down after applying my Lime mixture and discing it in? I went to a Food Plot Seminar at the Classic and the speaker said that after spreading the lime and discing it in you should wait for a while (I think he said all summer???)to let it get in the soil and nutralize everyting before you seed it down. How do you guys do it? Should I be waiting? I really want to get up there and till it up and spread the Lime/Potash and disc it in and seed it down right away. I'm really concerend about the exposed dirt filling in with weeds and then I will have to deal with that later on this summer. So what does anyone suggest or what do you guys do? Thanks for the help, deernut

 

[Deaner]

Anyone? Anyone?

 

[bjkpharmd]

I would weigh the possible erosion and weed competition vs having the pH perfect before seeding. If it were me- I would seed right away or at least try to seed fairly soon and time it before a rain. I don't think that lime will have enough time to give full benefit just over a summer either.

 

[Daver]

I am not an expert on this, but I will give you my opinion...

If you spread the lime/potash/etc over the bare ground sometime in the next several weeks and disc it in I don't think the weeds are going to overwhelm the site so quickly that you cannot recover.

I wouldn't mess with brome, it will serve as a "cover" grass, but has no direct benefit to wildlife that I can identify. Use some cheap clover if you just want to avoid erosion, at least there will be some food value associated with that and if it washes, you haven't lost much anyway.

 

[horkeymike]

The potash does not need to be worked in, a good rain will incoporate it. That why you see elevators putting P&K on in the fall. The ealry you seed the better in my opinion.

 

[Deaner]

Thanks everyone!