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Food Plots CULTIPACKER FOOD PLOTTING...

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redblood

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Really considering going largely to no till option tp expand my foodplotting. have lots of grown over fields that i do not till. was thinking about getting a cultipacker lay down the native forage, then spray it.i know it would need to put the sed down before the cultipacking took place. it be a cheap fall planting for me- rye, wheat or brassicas.


anyone else down this- have you have good luck? would be just the ticket for me roughest ground i feel
 
That's all I do anymore. However, I broadcast the seed before I mow and spray. This gives the seed a good thatch covering. Plus, it increases germination considerably. A lot of seed thrown down onto mowed plants never makes contact with the soil. It lays there in or on top of the thatch. A cultipacker will help with that, but still not as good as seeding first, then mowing and spraying.
 
I didn't know I could do this. I usually spray. When it is good and dead I broadcast seed. Then I mow. I am behind this year. Do you think I could spray it, wait a couple days and broadcast my seed then mow what is left. I would probably fertilize after that. Also, has anyone ever used one of the tractor supply sprayers with wheels that has a boom. Was wondering did they hold up ok or are they junk. I need a new sprayer.
 
redblood said:
the cultipacker acts as a crimper right. wont it smash it down? or is a crimper something different?
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No, a cultipacker won't crimp.

I see cultipackers used in "throw-and-mow" applications because they help shake/press the seed down to the soil when the seed was broadcast on top the thatch.
 
tnanh said:
I didn't know I could do this. I usually spray. When it is good and dead I broadcast seed. Then I mow. I am behind this year. Do you think I could spray it, wait a couple days and broadcast my seed then mow what is left. I would probably fertilize after that. Also, has anyone ever used one of the tractor supply sprayers with wheels that has a boom. Was wondering did they hold up ok or are they junk. I need a new sprayer.
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You can seed first, then mow, then spray. Personally, until I tried it, I didn't think I would get a good kill with the spray if I did it right after mowing. But so far, those worries have been unfounded. I've gotten great kills spraying the day I mowed.
 
But one thing to stress with throw-and-mow: OVERSEED! I use 50% more seed than conventional planting (drilling) calls for. So if drilling calls for 50 lbs/acre, I broadcast 75 lbs/acre. This is to compensate for the lower germination rate of seed in throw-and-mow planting techniques.
 
I don't think cultipacking will do anything for you.

I'd seed, bushhog, and spray

OR spray, wait a week, then seed and bushhog.

Either technique will work. But the cultipacker won't accomplish anything.

Now a true crimper works great to take the place of spraying to terminate vegetation
 
BigAl said:
So does putting the seed and then mowing not cause the heavy thatch to cover the seed and prevent germination? Can that stuff get through that heavy layer when what you've mowed is 3-5 feet high?
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It will germinate through more than you think. I had over-my-head sorghum, head-high foxtail, and mid-thigh-high Crabgrass clogging my plots. I still broadcast the seed and mowed. After the 4" of rain we got two weeks ago, everything is coming up through the thatch just fine.

I would be more worried about seed broadcast on TOP all that thatch being able to germinate.
 
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BSK said:
IF you broadcast after mowing, it is recommended you run a cultipacker over the plot to help shake and press seed to the soil.
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I spray & wait 10-14 days, sow, mow & cultipack. This year it laid there over 3 weeks before rain & got good germination. Only 2nd year to do this process
 

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