A client asked today about deer food plots in South and Central Florida. I thought I would share some easy to use resources.
The first is a great resource on plants to choose from in the area and the how to’s specific to the region. The second two are state businesses that may be helpful resources. Feel free to check them out and see if they are helpful to you.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/UW/UW26200.pdf
http://www.wildlifeseedblend.com/
http://www.allseasonsfoodplots.com/

If you are looking for a good source for information on: 

Choosing the Kind and Rate of Fertilizer or a Handy  Herbicide Selector Tool here are the links. I hope you find them useful.

http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/app23/herbsel  (herbicide)

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3904  (fertilizer)

Just look for the information on small grains, legumes, grasses and this should cover most of what you need.

The most often overlooked part of whitetail deer food plot success is weed control. Here are some additional facts that you should know about weeds in your food plots.

Broad Categories of Weeds

1.  Grasses( includes sedges and grasses).

     *Seedlings have one leaf narrow and upright  *Roots are fine and branching*  Sedges differ from grasses: some have triangular shaped stems rather than round or oval.

2. Broadleaf (plants, shrub, tree seedlings)

       *Two seed leaves that are broad with netlike veins *Root system coarse *Often has strong tap root

        * May be herbaceous (plant does not regrow from wood tissue above the ground) or woody (brush, shrubs, trees) *brush and shurbs usually have several stems and generally no taller than 10 feet.

Other Classification Systems are based on life cycle:

                Annuals, biennials, and perennials

1.       Annuals most common in cultivated crops

a.       Lots of dormant seed

b.      Grow fast

c.       Produce high numbers of seed

d.      Can be either winter or summer annual weeds

       Summer annuals: germinate in spring or summer, but die before winter, remain dormant  in soil for the winter or in some cases for years before emerging again

Winter annuals  germinate in later summer or early winter, they overwinter in their vegtetative form then in spring or early summer they flower, set seed and mature  and die. Seeds are dormant in summer months.

These weeds are the most concern in fall seeded crops (ex winter wheat and alfalfa) which go through winter dormant period. Note winter annuals can live 2 seasons but the life cycle is completed during one year

Biennial: life cycle lasts two years. First year plant forms basal leaves(rosette) and a tap root. In the second year the flower comes, matures and dies. No biennial grasses or sedges

Perennials: live more than one season. Some seem to go on forever. Have persistant resprouting roots, rhizomes, stolons, tubers, plant fragments etc. difficult weeds to control.

To avoid this problem it is important not to let the seedlings become established.

Spread by two routes: simple or creeping

 Simple: resprout from crown buds on tap root and spreed from seed.

                        Roots are fleshy, may be large (dandelion)

 Creeping: reporduce by creeping roots(canadian thistle, field bindweed), or above ground stems (runners or stolons) (bentgrass, bermudagrass) or below ground stems(rhizomes)(quackgrass, johnson grass). Also reproduce by seed.  ****once established most dificult group to control. May require cultivation repeated, herbicide, mowing.

Adapted from Washington State University Weed Management Principals. You can purchase this guide here: https://cru84.cahe.wsu.edu/ItemDetail.aspx?ProductID=14331 

A client of mine recently sent me an email asking the following questions:

What do you proposed for a seeder ?  I want one that would give me  the possibility of planting anything. I have seen broadcast spreader, pendulum  spreader, drop seeder, complex all in one food plot machines.

There are probably a few others starting out in whitetail deer food plots, that have asked the same question. I thought I would post the question and the response in case it helps someone else out.

 Most simple broadcast/drop seeders all operate the same way, just a fanning action to spread it around in a radius around you. These are all fine for most of the food plot seeds you will use, most of them can be dialed using a control which depends on seeds size: most are for fertilizer lime or small grass seed and wouldn’t work for larger seeds but not because of the product itself but because the seed has to go deep (1-3 inches). (same with soybeans, awp also for the most part-some exceptions)

 The aerator seeders are generally smilar to broadcasters, except they have small discs underneath the drop spout that put a little trail in the soil where the seed goes. The idea here is that the seed would theoretically be in contact with the soil more precisely. Most plots have to have a properly prepared seedbed anyway and this offers no advantage to just broadcasting and then dragging after or in some cases you don’t even need to drag. If they had a little roller or drag behind them might be ok, but have to watch seed doesn’t get too deep either. (usually no deeper than 1/4 to 1/2 inch for most things)

 The idea behind the pendulum spreader is “precision” which would be more important for orchards and so forth than for food plots. It is an expense I think you could pass on. The big selling feature here is less edge concentration and overlap and ability to apply fertilizer precisely to rows of plants etc. Not really necessary for the type of plants and planting you will be doing.

 To do corn, soybeans, awp ideally you would need a drill. Some people broadcast these too into finely tilled soil at a higher rate, expect losses so seed heavier/acre and then drag and use a roller in fine soil and hope it gets 1-3 inches deep for corn. If you buy a drill, make sure it has attachments for smaller seeds. Most are made for larger seeds and have to have an adapter with them so you can change between them.

Check out the blog www.vetjudy.com and see the videos on food plotting,  all these plots were done with atv and minimal equipment. 

As far as the all in one goes. See these two links and then see my comments too

http://www.theplotmaster.com/plotmaster.html

http://www.theplotmaster.com/index.html

 In the second link you will see the guy is on basically turf type underground. So it would likely be ok there. But in a new food plot it is not likely to be very successful on first pass: like it suggests it could be. In the article : http://www.diydeerfoodplots.com/articles/5-steps-to-successful-fall-planting-of-whitetail-food-plots.html  you will see what most food plot sites start out like, and by the time the soil is prepared properly enough for this unit to be successful, then we no longer needed an all in one. Most people in the forums  are not that impressed with them for the cost. In certain circumstances they are viable, just be cautious that it may not be as great as you would originally hope for.  

Learn how to start from scratch. First burn then follow the procedure of spraying and seeding for a wonderful food plot: