-iabowhunter-
New Member
Does anyone have any good strategies for watering smaller food plots?
watering food plots
- Thread starter -iabowhunter-
- Start date
-
- Tags
- None
loneranger
Well-Known Member
Possibly hunting without food plots will be a new experience for us. Food plots are really Politically correct bait sites anyway.
Ya- it's very hard like Letemgrow said. Really, to truly water em - irrigation is going to be the only way - like a bigger pump that has access to a well, river or some big water source. There's for sure ways to do it- just not easy and likely not cheap.
Likely, the best thing & most realistic response is to plant Dbltree's rotation which will build Organic matter to aid with drought but also have several different things planted so if one area is a failure- you have other things planted.
Likely, the best thing & most realistic response is to plant Dbltree's rotation which will build Organic matter to aid with drought but also have several different things planted so if one area is a failure- you have other things planted.
-iabowhunter-
New Member
Yea I had a feeling that was the case. This spring I thought for sure it would have been a good year for them to grow. Now their saying this is a worse drought then last summer.
loneranger
Well-Known Member
Watch the weather patterns. I thot-hoped,, it would be better also, but around the end of June, the North American climate became like last Summer. Huge Ridge in the West. Deep Trough in the East. This means a NW flow over Iowa. Can't get good moisture up here from a NW flow. When I saw that, I knew we were in for it. It still prevails, and as long as it does, precip will be little and scattered.
kevpann
PMA Member
I think any amount of water will help. Last year in major drought I ran 600 feet of hose out to my plot and it stayed lush green for me. I have been watering all week this week and it looks good. Just moving the hose around every 8 hours. I know its not giving it a lot of water but is working for me. If I couldn't run hose I would at least fill a big tank and let it go. A little is better then none. I know some people will slam me for telling you this but I don't care. Good luck
letemgrow
PMA Member
dblmainbeam
Member
I have a half acre next to a pond. I use a 2" pump with an 1 1/2" discharge hose the runs the entire length of the plot. I have 9 sprinklers off the discharge hose and it works great. Last year I had the only green spot for miles. I have only ran it 6 times this year. Unless you have a pond I dont know if you could get enough water on it.
Horncarver
Member
I posted this on another thread a week ago, but for what it's worth if you have small stream or pond close a used jet pump/generator combo is a fairly inexpensive irrrigation system.
<O
</O
“We are very dry here in eastern NE as well and last year my farmer friend found a smaller old jet pump (110 volt) that he thought came from one of their domestic wells pits. After figuring out it still worked we rigged the intake port with a 15 ft piece of 1.5" black poly pipe. On the end of the poly pipe we installed a cheap plastic, spring loaded "anti back-flow" valve and piece of mesh screen to catch debris. The "anti back-flow" valve was installed so one doesn't have to prime the pump/in-take line each time you the start pump (it keeps the line full when pump is off). I then bought a cheap generator and rounded up a couple hundred feet of old garden hose (many splices), purchased four - $1.99 plastic oscillating sprinklers (the ones that have both, an inflow and an outflow port) and a cheap plastic hose flow control splitter from Menards.
Under no pressure the old jet pump delivers about 8 gal/min and I have found creating a continuous loop with hoses/sprinklers the water pressure is fairly equalized amongst all of the sprinkler heads….…not so without the loop. I did this by simply starting and ending the loop at the hose splitter. You just need one small length of hose with male connectors on both ends to complete the loop between the last sprinkler and the splitter. I can water about 30 yd x 30 yd area with this set-up. After paying a little more attention I found out the generator will run about 8 to9 hours on a tank of fuel (3 gallons), so if I did my calculations right it’s putting on about ¾ of an inch. Works great if you have a water source close enough for a hose to reach.”<O></O>
<O
</O“We are very dry here in eastern NE as well and last year my farmer friend found a smaller old jet pump (110 volt) that he thought came from one of their domestic wells pits. After figuring out it still worked we rigged the intake port with a 15 ft piece of 1.5" black poly pipe. On the end of the poly pipe we installed a cheap plastic, spring loaded "anti back-flow" valve and piece of mesh screen to catch debris. The "anti back-flow" valve was installed so one doesn't have to prime the pump/in-take line each time you the start pump (it keeps the line full when pump is off). I then bought a cheap generator and rounded up a couple hundred feet of old garden hose (many splices), purchased four - $1.99 plastic oscillating sprinklers (the ones that have both, an inflow and an outflow port) and a cheap plastic hose flow control splitter from Menards.
Under no pressure the old jet pump delivers about 8 gal/min and I have found creating a continuous loop with hoses/sprinklers the water pressure is fairly equalized amongst all of the sprinkler heads….…not so without the loop. I did this by simply starting and ending the loop at the hose splitter. You just need one small length of hose with male connectors on both ends to complete the loop between the last sprinkler and the splitter. I can water about 30 yd x 30 yd area with this set-up. After paying a little more attention I found out the generator will run about 8 to9 hours on a tank of fuel (3 gallons), so if I did my calculations right it’s putting on about ¾ of an inch. Works great if you have a water source close enough for a hose to reach.”<O
></O>loneranger
Well-Known Member
Keep Watering. FORECAST- Near record Highs for the next 5 or 6 days!
shadowpeople
Active Member
I dunno what it is loneranger, and I'm not trying to start anything because I've just recently noticed it and I don't even know who you are, but every single post you make is about how much the Iowa weather sucks, and we can't grow anything (even though Iowa is like #1 in just about every agricultural commodity). Yeah, the drought sucks and it's got everyone on edge, but there is NOTHING you can do about it. My family farms, and have been hit in one of the worst areas, believe me it sucks I know all about it, but complaining about it to a bunch of internet friends isn't going to make it any better. I hear Hawaii is really nice all year round. Think of all the extra time you would have available if you never had to worry about the weather? Just a thought to ponder.
loneranger
Well-Known Member
On the contrary, I don't think it sucks, I think it is interesting. I was told in my younger yrs I should have been a Meteorologist, but I wasn't that good in Math,,and now days it helps to have looks too. I believe the climate is changing, seems like warmth is heading north, and the west it edging east. Western corn farmers have always irrigated and possibly Iowa will too in the future. I came from Northern MI, where it is dry,,but the heat seldom ramps up and stays like it does down here. Nights are less humid too. I would have stayed there until death,,but I met an Iowa girl, so here I am. Some things trump the climate. One thing is better,,,the deer hunting!
, so here I am. Some things trump the climate. One thing is better,,,the deer hunting!loneranger
Well-Known Member
For the extended, the ridge will move overhead and then eventually
into the Southeastern US by mid to late next week. This will keep the
area unseasonably hot with highs in the middle 90s through next week.
The only decent chance of rain within the next 7 days may come
Tuesday into Wednesday, as the ridge weakens and a trough tracks
across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest. This will allow a
front to meander southward into the area and this may bring some rain
the to the forecast area. At this point in time, widespread rainfall
looks unlikely and spotty showers/storms don`t look to bring much
relief to an area that is in desperate need to rainfall. So the
unseasonably hot conditions, combined with the lack of rainfall will
likely lead to expanding and worsening drought conditions across the
region.1
Find Water
into the Southeastern US by mid to late next week. This will keep the
area unseasonably hot with highs in the middle 90s through next week.
The only decent chance of rain within the next 7 days may come
Tuesday into Wednesday, as the ridge weakens and a trough tracks
across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest. This will allow a
front to meander southward into the area and this may bring some rain
the to the forecast area. At this point in time, widespread rainfall
looks unlikely and spotty showers/storms don`t look to bring much
relief to an area that is in desperate need to rainfall. So the
unseasonably hot conditions, combined with the lack of rainfall will
likely lead to expanding and worsening drought conditions across the
region.1
Find Water
Windwalker
Life Member
Not going to raise crops or food plots this yr . Last yr had soybeans this yr those look real short too.
CurtisWalker
Well-Known Member
My brother planted soy beans a few weeks late and just let the grass grow with them I think it helped a lot because they look great and we got our first rain in over a month last night. Deep roots of the grass must be pulling the little moisture up to the beans