4DABUCKS
Well-Known Member
I too had them hitting the tops in early Oct but since I have thousands of bulbs out there but not up until recently have I noticedany of the bulbs with bites out of them.
HorseDoctor
PMA Member
Also depends on if they are used to eating turnips etc... I'm on the 4th year of planting turnips & radishes and the local deer are finally starting to eat them fairly well this year.
northwoods whitetails
Member
Ours have taken a beating for the last 3 weeks.
It’s amazing to watch the deer decimate a large plot in a short period.
It’s amazing to watch the deer decimate a large plot in a short period.
This warm up will be hard on em'. Not ideal. Some will rot.
Here's a spot where deer took 3 years to get a taste of brassicas. Here's some PTT & Radish. I do both. Purple top turnips will stay firm and crisp into winter, Radish will not. I'd say Radish will have a preference over turnips into November and the opposite after that (when radish starts to rot and turnip sugar & taste is better).... I still see them eating turnips even in September or October though.
Rotate between the Dbltree rye/grain/cereal mix. N lovers but you want to be putting P&K down (soil sample greatly helps) & will utilize some P&K every year so you always want to add in most scenarios. I would highly suggest getting PH around that 6.5 level-ish- cheap pelletized lime at a minimum if you have acidic soil. You will have funky looking brassicas, discolored, stunted, etc - if you don't have PH & Fertility right.
ROTATE & don't continually plant brassicas back to back on same area. Great for soil, compaction, capturing Nitrogen, tonnage of food, lower cost and deer love them, occasionally takes a few years. You can disc & cultipack them.... You can do a shallow & lower rate NO TILL DRILL or on some clean soil locations, you can overseed them. My target dates are: JULY 25- AUGUST 5. For sure flexibility there.
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Rotate between the Dbltree rye/grain/cereal mix. N lovers but you want to be putting P&K down (soil sample greatly helps) & will utilize some P&K every year so you always want to add in most scenarios. I would highly suggest getting PH around that 6.5 level-ish- cheap pelletized lime at a minimum if you have acidic soil. You will have funky looking brassicas, discolored, stunted, etc - if you don't have PH & Fertility right.
ROTATE & don't continually plant brassicas back to back on same area. Great for soil, compaction, capturing Nitrogen, tonnage of food, lower cost and deer love them, occasionally takes a few years. You can disc & cultipack them.... You can do a shallow & lower rate NO TILL DRILL or on some clean soil locations, you can overseed them. My target dates are: JULY 25- AUGUST 5. For sure flexibility there.
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Daver
PMA Member
From Skip's post above...
"Purple top turnips will stay firm and crisp into winter, Radish will not. I'd say Radish will have a preference over turnips into November and the opposite after that (when radish starts to rot and turnip sugar & taste is better).... I still see them eating turnips even in September or October though."
I very much agree ^^. To add to this from my experience. I never had trouble with deer eating the turnips like many others have reported. I don't doubt their reports, but it is odd that some deer appear to take to them right away and others seem to need to develop a taste for them. I will say though that if you have trouble with deer getting started on them...I would shift the ratio of the mix to be more towards radishes than turnips, maybe like 75% radish, 25% turnip. I think the deer will go after the radishes first from what I have seen.
I have had firm radish bulbs on into mid-December some years and other years they are mush in early-to-mid November. The key is when you get your first killing frost or two. Worst case - say you have good radishes and there is a hard freeze or two in early October, but then it warms back up and maybe runs a little warmer than normal after that. You will not be able to stand the smell of rotting radishes by Thanksgiving...and the deer pretty much avoid them.
Best case - no real hard freezes until mid-to-late December and assuming that all of the radishes are not otherwise consumed, you will have fairly firm radishes still up to near Christmas. Radishes are much more susceptible to the effects of freezing temps and are better in September and October, turnips are better though later, like December and January. What's that, you say I skipped November?
That's where it depends based on freezes in October. No early freezes in October = radishes still more preferred in Sweet November. Early freezes in October = RRAS(Rotten Radish Avoidance Syndrome) is in evidence and turnips become more preferred.
"Purple top turnips will stay firm and crisp into winter, Radish will not. I'd say Radish will have a preference over turnips into November and the opposite after that (when radish starts to rot and turnip sugar & taste is better).... I still see them eating turnips even in September or October though."
I very much agree ^^. To add to this from my experience. I never had trouble with deer eating the turnips like many others have reported. I don't doubt their reports, but it is odd that some deer appear to take to them right away and others seem to need to develop a taste for them. I will say though that if you have trouble with deer getting started on them...I would shift the ratio of the mix to be more towards radishes than turnips, maybe like 75% radish, 25% turnip. I think the deer will go after the radishes first from what I have seen.
I have had firm radish bulbs on into mid-December some years and other years they are mush in early-to-mid November. The key is when you get your first killing frost or two. Worst case - say you have good radishes and there is a hard freeze or two in early October, but then it warms back up and maybe runs a little warmer than normal after that. You will not be able to stand the smell of rotting radishes by Thanksgiving...and the deer pretty much avoid them.
Best case - no real hard freezes until mid-to-late December and assuming that all of the radishes are not otherwise consumed, you will have fairly firm radishes still up to near Christmas. Radishes are much more susceptible to the effects of freezing temps and are better in September and October, turnips are better though later, like December and January. What's that, you say I skipped November?
That's where it depends based on freezes in October. No early freezes in October = radishes still more preferred in Sweet November. Early freezes in October = RRAS(Rotten Radish Avoidance Syndrome) is in evidence and turnips become more preferred.
Anyone ever planned for brassicas and applied anhydrous in lieu of other nitrogen fertilizer options? Obviously not going to do anhydrous as a stand alone application for brassicas, but if co-op is already there applying for corn planting why couldn’t they do the foodplots that were planned for brassicas as well? About $35/A. That’s a LOT cheaper than urea.
Anyone done this?
Anyone done this?
I seed in brassicas on edges of some corn fields in spots where the deer hit it hard and it all gets anhydrous in the spring and they grow great!
I’d utilize it anyday!!!! Agree with above.
I will not do anhydrous for food plots though as a “choice”. It’s cheaper than dry BUT - dry doesn’t kill earth worms and all sorts of micro organisms in soil + in plots there’s so many N fixers in a rotation- done right- no N needed. Even at higher cost- I run dry on my farm ground for those same reasons. I don’t pay a lot more for dry when bought in farm bulk rates.
But yes- I scavenge up and utilize any anhydrous I can!! Above is actually reclaiming a lot of N that would otherwise be lost.
**if anyone had ability for “best scenario” - go get chicken or turkey manure!!!! Game over!!!
I will not do anhydrous for food plots though as a “choice”. It’s cheaper than dry BUT - dry doesn’t kill earth worms and all sorts of micro organisms in soil + in plots there’s so many N fixers in a rotation- done right- no N needed. Even at higher cost- I run dry on my farm ground for those same reasons. I don’t pay a lot more for dry when bought in farm bulk rates.
But yes- I scavenge up and utilize any anhydrous I can!! Above is actually reclaiming a lot of N that would otherwise be lost.
**if anyone had ability for “best scenario” - go get chicken or turkey manure!!!! Game over!!!
Does anyone inoculate there brassica seed?. I'm trying to figure why I have trouble getting them to grow. Seems like I'll get about 3" of growth then the leaves turn purple/yellow. I have done soil test and it seems like ph 6.8 and all the other stuff is pretty good . I don't cultipack because I don't have one. Could this be my issue?
Daver
PMA Member
Yellow leaves, IMO, is likely to be not enough N.
Above!
Unless you have a disease of some type, it has to be a fertility deficiency. Likely N but could be deficient elsewhere. Along with low N that you're "likely seeing".... A relation there is you're possibly seeding them too thick.
how much N are you putting down and are you sure it's making it into the soil? For example.... If you're doing Urea... you have to do treated urea or it'll evaporate if it sits there for a few days - BY BY. It needs to be treated or disced in or if you really wanna press ur luck.... Try and put it down right before it rains (not my choice).
Unless you have a disease of some type, it has to be a fertility deficiency. Likely N but could be deficient elsewhere. Along with low N that you're "likely seeing".... A relation there is you're possibly seeding them too thick.
how much N are you putting down and are you sure it's making it into the soil? For example.... If you're doing Urea... you have to do treated urea or it'll evaporate if it sits there for a few days - BY BY. It needs to be treated or disced in or if you really wanna press ur luck.... Try and put it down right before it rains (not my choice).
Jbohn
Well-Known Member
Just read back through the whole thread and learn the rotation it will also give you all the fertilizer recommendations. Id start with a soil test first. You'll learn a ton you should read all the treads in the section you'll have a better understanding of habitat to make your farm better. It's more than just food plots I am a cover and browse man myself after learning about cover and deer are really browsers. Food plots play there part. If your a small land owner like me you got to do the whole package..
Daver
PMA Member
Correct. ^^ Just to save a few bucks, I have always aimed for about 100#'s of N, FWIW. But that is why a soil test is so important, you need to know what you have before you know how much you need to add to get the desired N.
risto2351
Well-Known Member
Couple questions thinking about the upcoming planting of turnips and radishes next month. Usually I just till the clover under for a green manure and plant. What usually happens though is the clover and other weed seeds will come back and suffocate the turnips in certain areas. Not a totally big deal but does spraying first and then disking under a better alternative? What does that do to the nitrogen though that the clover fixates during this time?