Trophy Rock Grow is a new product from Trophy Rock that is to be spread onto a plot just like you would fertilizer.
I've thought about doing this with their FOUR 65 (crushed Trophy Rock). Would have been a relatively cheap experiment for a single acre, but never got around to doing it. Looks like they are coming out with a plot additive to try to get the trace elements to deer in areas where mineral sites have been banned (CWD). Fast-forward to about the 5-minute mark to see a little discussion about the product available January 1st. Yes, I know there are other sources for minerals that don't have a buck on the bag, but what do y'all think of the idea in general.
Very true. How hard is it to find sea salt minerals? I don't believe I have seen it in person, but could be easy to find and I just haven't looked hard enough.
Redmond (which I believe is same company as Trophy Rock) has a bag of salt mineral product they recommend be broadcast in food plots. Plants are supposed to uptake the minerals and provide them to the deer. Salt on plants hasn't been one of the things usually done.
Why broadcast it instead of creating a lick out of it? Deer lick and eat dirt with minerals in it or eat plants with minerals in it. Where's the beneficial difference to counter the build up of salts in plot soil over time?
Redmond (which I believe is same company as Trophy Rock) has a bag of salt mineral product they recommend be broadcast in food plots. Plants are supposed to uptake the minerals and provide them to the deer. Salt on plants hasn't been one of the things usually done.
Why broadcast it instead of creating a lick out of it? Deer lick and eat dirt with minerals in it or eat plants with minerals in it. Where's the beneficial difference to counter the build up of salts in plot soil over time?
You can't legally have mineral sites in some areas now, so this is plan B.
I also wondered if the salts would be enough to do more harm than good on a plot.
I have mineral sites and don't plan on changing that. Just brainstorming.
"Many other salts use chemical processes ( bleaching, kiln dried, or adding anti caking agents) that strip trace minerals from the salt. Without these minerals sodium chloride is a toxic substance but when left whole (with the valuable trace minerals intact) salt becomes life sustaining." Redmond website
No Way I'd spread salt on an area I wanted to grow stuff.
Thinking back to Western Civilization in college, I remember hearing about how the victors of a war would "salt the fields" of the losers to render their fields impotent and useless. Who knows.
Sea 90 is designed to be spread on plots. I've spread some on mine. People dissolve it in water and spray it on their pastures and food plots. A guy up the road from me is a distributor and uses it on his farm, and swears by it. 50 lbs mixed with water does like 10 acres, or you use it dry at 50lbs/acre. Somebody on here uses it all the time, but I can't remember who.
There are 5 stores in Tuscaloosa alone that sell Trophy Rock. Maybe one of those will sell this new product once it is available in January. $30 per acre isn't terrible.
I have plenty of salt for $9 a 40# bag. Quick dissolve to. Will mix real easy in water for your sprayer. Deer love it. If you are interested shoot me a pm and I will cut you in on this deal.
No legitimate study has ever shown that these mineral supplements will improve herd health or antler scores.
A fool and his money are soon parted...
Who said anything about increasing antler size and improving herd health?
Feel free to call me a fool for spending $20 on a maintenance-free attractant that brings multiple deer onto the property I hunt at some point every day for several months of the year.
There are plenty of people on here that have first hand experience with deer preferring plots, or portions of plots, that have been fertilized with basic macronutrients (N-P-K). I am game for a low-cost experiment to see if micronutrient addition makes any noticeable difference (health of plot, attraction to deer, etc.)
I know WestFlgator, he lives about 5 miles from me. He has been using the Sea 90 stuff for several years. He uses no fertilizer and his food plots look dang good. I'll call him and get him to add to the thread. There is a distributor in NW Fl about 20 miles SW of Samson.
From the best I can tell so far…..the sea 90 is mostly a lot of trace elements and microbes. I’m betting that the addition of the microbes is what is making his fields look good. They play a huge role in the exchange of water and nutrients and our traditional methods of heavy tillage badly decreases their numbers.
From the best I can tell so far…..the sea 90 is mostly a lot of trace elements and microbes. I’m betting that the addition of the microbes is what is making his fields look good. They play a huge role in the exchange of water and nutrients and our traditional methods of heavy tillage badly decreases their numbers.
Where are you seeing Sea 90 having microbes? All I have run across is the trace elements help to "re-mineralize the soil" and enhance microbes that are already in place.
As far as what is the soil deficient of, I would guess the standard soil test will not give you enough data to work with (no trace element data). Besides, I'd guess it's probably not readily available to know what trace elements benefit the wide variety of plants we plant in the fall.
I talked to WestFlgator and he said the Sea 90 was the main thing he has used for about 6 years. He limed a couple of years ago and he said if you can find pure cow milk that spraying a water/milk mixture at the 3 gal milk per acre rate would help with the microbes. I know his plots are real nice and he plants BFO's usually.
From the best I can tell so far…..the sea 90 is mostly a lot of trace elements and microbes. I’m betting that the addition of the microbes is what is making his fields look good. They play a huge role in the exchange of water and nutrients and our traditional methods of heavy tillage badly decreases their numbers.
Where are you seeing Sea 90 having microbes? All I have run across is the trace elements help to "re-mineralize the soil" and enhance microbes that are already in place.
As far as what is the soil deficient of, I would guess the standard soil test will not give you enough data to work with (no trace element data). Besides, I'd guess it's probably not readily available to know what trace elements benefit the wide variety of plants we plant in the fall.
I ran across several statements like the one in this link…..I still don’t feel 100% sure though to be honest.
From the best I can tell so far…..the sea 90 is mostly a lot of trace elements and microbes. I’m betting that the addition of the microbes is what is making his fields look good. They play a huge role in the exchange of water and nutrients and our traditional methods of heavy tillage badly decreases their numbers.
Where are you seeing Sea 90 having microbes? All I have run across is the trace elements help to "re-mineralize the soil" and enhance microbes that are already in place.
As far as what is the soil deficient of, I would guess the standard soil test will not give you enough data to work with (no trace element data). Besides, I'd guess it's probably not readily available to know what trace elements benefit the wide variety of plants we plant in the fall.
I ran across several statements like the one in this link…..I still don’t feel 100% sure though to be honest.
I would want to know more about this stuff before just throwing out blindly. What's it actually doing? Is the soil deficient in something it needs?
Yes, most soils are deficient. Soils need at least 52 minerals to be healthy (some say they need close to 100) and most folks are only putting back 3 or 4 of those. The minerals feed the microbes in the soil which then process these minerals and make them available for the plants to utilize. The raw milk is also a perfect food source for the microbes. Traditional farming as we know it is starting to swing back to what the old time farmers knew. They knew that if you wanted healthy crops then you need to feed the critters beneath the soil. CNC is on the right track by building up the soil through no-till type practices. Add the minerals and you will be ramping up your process 10 fold. Don't take my word for it there is plenty of research out there on this subject...However, as Timbercruiser pointed out it has worked very well for me, and it's very inexpensive compared to traditional practices. Here are a couple of videos that break down both of these principles. When you put them together they really compliment each other, No-till and Sea90. The one video also gets into what it means to raise your BRIX (soluble sugar content). The high sugar content along with the additional minerals is why the wildlife love the crops grown in this fashion.
Im confused. I thought that sodium bicarbonate ( salt) is a prime ingredient in killing plants?
Sodium bicarbonate is NOT salt.
Sodium Chloride IS salt.
Sodium Bicarbonate is BAKING SODA. Which is essentially a buffer and turns ph to neutral.
Sodium Carbonate is washing soda.
Now what that does to plants I don't know.
Yes, sodium chloride is a table salt, but sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is a type of salt too. Seems there are some articles online talking about using baking soda to kill weeds/grass. My guess it's all about how concentrated the application is and the general idea here is to add trace amounts of certain elements back to the soil.
This is a derived from seawater and used as fertilizer in very very low concentrations... I put out 4 pounds of sea mineral per acre mixed with 20 gallons of water. If broadcast you can put out 50-100lbs per acre initially. There are plenty of studies and resources online to clear up the confusion. Farmers who have begun to utilize sea minerals are having very good success. They are seeing less disease (plants aren't as mineral deficient), less pestilence (higher Brix, many bugs can't digest sugar well), and more drought tolerance, and they are also seeing comparable yields as well.