austintm1991
Senior Member
all i wanna know is what grows well in te shade. im planning on making a small, 1/4 acre, plot in the middle of the woods, due to the lack of any open fields on our property. Thanks for the help.
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food plots in the shade
- Thread starter austintm1991
- Start date
doenightmare
Gone But Not Forgotten
Clover
Vernon Holt
Gone But Not Forgotten
In reality, none of the normally recommended forages do well in shade. Some level of direct sunshine is essential even for minimum growth. With less than direct sunlight, plants will etiolate as a result. This means that the individual plants will grow much taller, will be pale in color, and stems will be weak and will usually fall over under their own weight. In short, wildlife will not consider the plants to be very attractive.
As almost always, there are exceptions to the rule. If your canopy is composed of deciduous hardwoods, then after leaf fall the crowns obviously will allow some sunlight to find its way to the forest floor. In these instances there is no reason why you should not be able to grow a small plot of either annual Ryegrass or a mix of other cereal grains (oats, wheat, rye).
Ideally you should have actually planted prior to leaf fall. To have done so, would necessitate your blowing or raking the freshly fallen leaves off of your young crop, otherwise the leaves would smother your young seedlings.
You could still have a plot by removing the leaves from the site (after they are down), then till and plant any of the above. Clover will not work for you if your forest canopy is in hardwood trees. Clover will not reach much development until next spring. By that time the trees will have leafed out and would deny your clover sunlight. If you plant a green patch (cereal grains), this will have run its course by the time the leaves come out in the spring.
If your overstory of timber is in pines that are un-thinned, you can forget the entire idea, since pines will cast shade all year long.
If pines have been thinned or sparsely stocked then you can grow winter crops with reasonable success. Be sure and pick a spot with the greatest level of openings. Pines do not work very well for summer crops because of their high level of water uptake during the growing season. This root competition from the pines will make a minor dry spell into a sever drought as far as food plots are concerned.
Austin: you will always get a more accurate response to a question such as this one if you will provide a reasonable amount of detail. For example, what region (county) of the state is the plot in; what is the timber type; is soil sandy or is it wet bottomland. You provided none of this.
As almost always, there are exceptions to the rule. If your canopy is composed of deciduous hardwoods, then after leaf fall the crowns obviously will allow some sunlight to find its way to the forest floor. In these instances there is no reason why you should not be able to grow a small plot of either annual Ryegrass or a mix of other cereal grains (oats, wheat, rye).
Ideally you should have actually planted prior to leaf fall. To have done so, would necessitate your blowing or raking the freshly fallen leaves off of your young crop, otherwise the leaves would smother your young seedlings.
You could still have a plot by removing the leaves from the site (after they are down), then till and plant any of the above. Clover will not work for you if your forest canopy is in hardwood trees. Clover will not reach much development until next spring. By that time the trees will have leafed out and would deny your clover sunlight. If you plant a green patch (cereal grains), this will have run its course by the time the leaves come out in the spring.
If your overstory of timber is in pines that are un-thinned, you can forget the entire idea, since pines will cast shade all year long.
If pines have been thinned or sparsely stocked then you can grow winter crops with reasonable success. Be sure and pick a spot with the greatest level of openings. Pines do not work very well for summer crops because of their high level of water uptake during the growing season. This root competition from the pines will make a minor dry spell into a sever drought as far as food plots are concerned.
Austin: you will always get a more accurate response to a question such as this one if you will provide a reasonable amount of detail. For example, what region (county) of the state is the plot in; what is the timber type; is soil sandy or is it wet bottomland. You provided none of this.
gadeerwoman
Senior Member
Clear out all overhanging limbs to get as much light on the plot as possible. Then lime, lime, lime. By next fall you should be able to go with some clovers, brassicas and cereal grain mix.
austintm1991
Senior Member
Sorry for the lack of information. The forest is mainly decidous trees. they are spaced apart fairly well and allow light in the morning until about 2 oclock. For the most part the leaves havent even fallen yet where i am, Whitfield County, but are in the process of doing so.
gadeerwoman
Senior Member
Leaves will be a problem if they fall on the plot. Best and easiest way to get rid of them is with a leaf blower when they are dry and crispy.
