ridgetop food plot

[east ky mountain man]

Question guys, we have 200 acres in the eastern ky. mountain region. there is about a 1/4 acre open spot on a particular ridge that we are planning on putting a food plot. thing is it gets ALOT of sunlight and doesnt hold water too well. i am going to try pearl millet, sunflower,chicory, and whitetail institute x-treme, all based on their drought tolerance. i have fruit trees growing right now and they do fine and ive grown sunflowers before and they liked it up there. has anyone ever used this combination or planted an area similiar to this? do you think these seeds can handle the task at hand? thanks for any answers on this

[prohunter]

hey east ky mountain man,
i live just north of cookeville tn, and live on a ridgetop.
do you have any equipment? if you do i would do this ,i would start by limeing that site now!
beacuse it will take awhile for it start working,and in the spring i would sow some clover ,
and what ever eles you what sow at that time just remember to put the clovers on top and dont cover it. after its up lighty fertilize it 10/10/10 is good and pray for rain.
what this is going to do is set you up for your fall planting.
the clover will add nitrogen to ground and the the other stuff will be good compost for soil ,to hold moisture on that site.
now in the fall you should lime it again, disc it in and work the ground up for your fall planting i put out turnips on half and soybeans on the other. the soy beans can be started in june and start the turnips in september. just remember to fertilize in the spring and lime in fall , and soybeans will make a great late season kill zone. or you can plant whatever you what theres no rules on this after all its your dirt.
you said you had some fruit trees what are they? because i have sure fire way to start them with out having to worry over them. and i have a line on some sawtooth oaks and some persimon trees.
hope this helps you just have fun doing it .
jim

[Modeerhunter]

I have a small 1/3 acre plot on a ridge top here in the Mo Ozarks, While I can get almost any type of forage to germinate and grow, it seems that clover is the only thing I can grow there that will withstand the browsing pressure such a small plot gets. This too doesn't hold moisture well at all.

[kellory]

I have a small 1/3 acre plot on a ridge top here in the Mo Ozarks, While I can get almost any type of forage to germinate and grow, it seems that clover is the only thing I can grow there that will withstand the browsing pressure such a small plot gets. This too doesn't hold moisture well at all.

Check with a greenhouse, but I believe you can add vermiculite to the soil to make it hold water long term and release it slowly. Those "neck buddies" that are used when it is extreamly hot, have nothing more than about 1 table spoon of vermiculite in a cloth tube. they hold water well and take a long time to dry out. I know it is used with flowers.

[Modeerhunter]

I have a small 1/3 acre plot on a ridge top here in the Mo Ozarks, While I can get almost any type of forage to germinate and grow, it seems that clover is the only thing I can grow there that will withstand the browsing pressure such a small plot gets. This too doesn't hold moisture well at all.

Check with a greenhouse, but I believe you can add vermiculite to the soil to make it hold water long term and release it slowly. Those "neck buddies" that are used when it is extreamly hot, have nothing more than about 1 table spoon of vermiculite in a cloth tube. they hold water well and take a long time to dry out. I know it is used with flowers.

I've thought about that, but it's just an added expense and the plots in our bottom ground give the deer plenty to eat when the plots up high start to dry up.