Florida soils are noted for their prehistoric "beach" sands which were left following the rise of this low lying State from the Primordial Ocean. Soil nutrients leech out very quickly through these permeable soils due in part to our greater than 52 inches of normal rainfall annually.
I take samples from my fields to the Agricultural Extension Agent for testing ($2.00/test) and soil amendment recommendations based on the "crop" I intend to plant. Sometimes our commercial advertisers are quicker to make seed available that has not been tested by the Ag. Center (some Mossy Oak Biologic stuff). It didn't fair too well and the deer were not too keen about trying it. We don't plant it anymore.
I could write for days about annually varying weather conditions, lack of mositure, too much moisture, and wildfires; all of which aided crop failures in the past. When we "got it right" our iron clay peas were doing VERY WELL intersperced with red ladino clover, wheat, rye, and oats.
In two days, immediately prior to the deer season opening, the deer ate all of the peas to the ground. I'm talking two acres of 6-inch high pea plants gone in two days!!! The ground looked like a highway of deer hooves had been there. We didn't see one deer all season after that.
The last two deer seasons we have had severe hurricanes. The land was flooded and too wet to plow. The only good thing about the hurricanes, they topped trees and blew most of the limbs/leaves off of the trees. The sunlight got back to the previously shaded ground and new natural growth inspired the BEST deer activity we have seen in 18 years.
Go figure. A controlled burn is what we really needed, but we got five hurricanes instead. Now we know, add soil amendments, plant the right crops, encourage native growth, and add lots of sunlight.
Land Owner
If it was easy, anybody could do it."[/b]
http://www.angelfire.com/on2/LandOwner
