Sandy food plot help

[deermaster1]

This year i will be putting in a food plot again for my third year and am just looking for others opinions for help. I have a sandy dry soil and there will be a 10 acre soybean field right next to it early season, so i was looking for something to still be up or coming up during middle and late season. Any suggestions

[msbadger]

First you've given no size...PH...and what was previously planted...nor light available...this would make even guessing difficult.
Then there is the question of, are you looking for annual or perennial?

[deermaster1]

It is about a two acre food plot with a ph around 7.5 to 8 when i checked last year. It gets light for about 8 hrs a day. Last year I planted turnips and new zealand brassica. Then as for the question of annual or perennial, I would like it to be half and half.

[msbadger]

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Thats a fair size and sandy soil with that good a PH...I'm very impressed...sand soil is usually difficult to keep a limed and fertilized due to leaching...The planting of turnips and braccs indicate that even though it's sandy you had good rain fall or it's more sandy loam....turnips need a good amount of moisture...for a perennial plot you need to consider maintenance...Alfalfa love this type of soil ...but peter out toward the end of the season....singly or mixed with a clover they can be weed controlled with spraying and or mowing. Go farther to add chicory ...which also does well in this soil...you have to just mow...Then you have things like sm. Burnett and sainfoil...deer like both. Wht tail institute has a mix called Extreme...I personally mix my own version ...works great..pic below

Annuals....the braccs obviously worked..well I'm assuming you didn't actually say....buckwheat as a spring summer...good for weed control deer and birds love it.......pumpkins...grain sorghum....sugar beets mix of say beets with and over seeding of trictical...WW...peas mixed with sorghum pumpkins with and over seeding of grains or even hog radish

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[deermaster1]

thanks a lot for your help one more question if you got an answer. I want to try and hide my food plot more by planting something that will grow tall in this sandy soil, any suggestions?

[msbadger]

For hiding plots I use corn and sorghum...Now in a sandy soil you would need to plant at a little less depth than normal and fertilize a bit heavier also make sure your soil tests are done and fertilizer accordingly....I do not use a planter ...it's disc spread and very light disc and drag to smooth out...it takes more seed but I do not use "farm seed" for the corn...I use 11.00 a 50# bag feed corn...this is for wildlife not selling ....pics below...Also I tried Sunn Hemp...That did not work for me...Only because the deer walked over soybeans to devour the hemp...Google and research....If I had acres to plant ...I would not hesitate to try it again...I've never planted anything that deer hit like that...You could also try Egyptian wheat ....but I understand there maybe reseeding issues with that...I'm not familiar..

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