So I am planting my first food plot at my lease.

I will have a tractor and a disc for the weened of July 22nd from a friend. I will prep 1/2 an acer of a 2 acer meadow to plant a food plot.

I am thinking of mixing radish and turnips.

There is no water source for me to consistantly water the food plot. How do you think it will do being planted at the end of July.

I will have a water tank with be to initially water the new needs once planted.

Thoughts? Thank you!

Where is your lease?

I am not sure you will get any growth planting in the hottest part of the summer unless there is some rain thrown in and then more rain within a couple of weeks or it will merely get started then burn up. We used to plant in the dust in mid-late September, seeds would lay dormant until the first wet front would blow thru. we would then pray for more rain within another couple of weeks to help.

Id just mow it down and start getting things ready. then plant in a few months

I start disking in September and try to plant the first week of October if there is decent moisture in the ground.

About 1.5 hours north of Houston.

Maybe I will just Disc it now to get rid fo the grass and start prepping ect.. Then Plant in September so it will be ready the first part of October.

That's what I would do, but I'd add oats as a nurse crop. Oats/wheat will be available as soon as they sprout. Biggest draw for turnips from what I understand, is after the bulb matures later in the fall with it's higher sugar content.

Tear up and clean up the soil then plant in mid September

It's too hot to plant. This time of year, I take Roundup to where my food plot will be to kill off all the weeds and grasses that will choke out my plot. 2 weeks later, I'll rake off the dead weeds, then test my soil. I would highly suggest waiting till about 2 weeks before the opener to plant.

So will grass killer hurt the soil for when its time to plant plot?

or merely shred the weeds and plow them in. that will form a natural compost for the soil. Then plow & plant out in Sept. when you see a cool wet front heading your way. I used feed oats for years, a bit less germination rating than seed oats but considerably less expensive. I usually add in turnip, clover, chicory and field peas.

I've used Roundup in the past and it did not bother the new growth at all.

Round up will not hurt the soil at all. But as others have said, wait until at least mid September to plant.

Yup. Get the seed bed ready is about all you can do right now.

This along with other suggestion of Round Up it now then do the above. Let it rain then plant in the fall. Mix small grains with clovers for a plot that will grow till next summer.
Do you have any livestock that will be able to get to the plot? How many deer will use the plot?

No livestock. right now I have 4 bucks and about 6 doe that are consistantly on cam.

For that number of deer a 1/2 may suffice, but I would imagine you will have 10-20 deer feeding from it and probably 12-15 regulars. If you can, try to make your plot an acre, or if possible go bigger.

Good info.. I am going to end up making it an acre, and then two small tracks in some cleared areas in the thick stuff.

How big is your property? What we recommend is 5% or more of your acerage in food plots to move the needle on antler growth and heard nutrition. This is based on several factors but deer usage and herd size is one of them. If your plots are too small and you don't fence them off during early growth they will get mowed down before they can establish and sustain grazing pressure. Now you obviously can have success with small plots used as "kill" plots depending on what you plant. You will be amazed at the actual number of deer that will use your plot once it gets established and they find it. It's always better to over prepare if it's something your going to spend time and money on. If you have any other questions I'd be glad to help you out. I can give you some recommendations on our products that I think will do well for you also.

Yep, it's been way too hot and dry.