Where’s the rain!

[dinorocks]

Yesterday’s forecast was rain on and off for a few days…now no rain in the forecast.  Maybe it will rain if I wash my Jeep or plan a picnic!   I needed 200 gallons of water to moisten my food plot.  I hope the deer will appreciate all my hard work!!

[Robhuntandfish]

Wow - Big food plot.  We are cutting next weekend and planting the last weekend in July.  Big change from this to last year.  Too much rain last year and this year not enough. Good luck.  If all that pops it will be sweet for sure. 

watcha plant in there? 

[Farflung]

Just opened this thread as the skies opened up with a deluge. North of Utica.

[dinorocks]

Thanks!  I would have liked to have waited a couple more weeks but I’ll be heading out of town for most of July.

This blend was mixed by a local company (in the next town over) so I figured I would give it a try.

[dinorocks]

1 minute ago, Farflung said:

Just opened this thread as the skies opened up with a deluge. North of Utica.

Send some my way!!

[Lawdwaz]

Leave the keys for the JD and I’ll swing by and water the plot while you’re gone.  

 

[BizCT]

Crazy dry here in CT also. Man, your place looks awesome for hunting

[UpStateRedNeck]

I'm all for the dry weather.  Makes this damn logger run out of excuses to not cut my GD hillside.

[land 1]

might want to check out some you tube out Whitetail habitatt solutions on seed blends....sugar beets should be planted very early and not same time as brassicas and dwarf rape is kinda of a cheep filler but ,,, hope your hard work pays off def going the extra mile with watering

[phade]

I hope for the best for you. I personally have little to no desire to plan brassicas in July any longer. We have much better luck with August plantings. Every plot failure I've had consistently has been with early seeding or over-grazing (in part to early seeding).

Sugar beets historically are planted in the spring time for fall use - I think they don't get as much attention from hunters because of the challenges growing them as an annual vs planting all within a short window for most fall annuals (August/Sept). I've tried planting sugar beets and and I likely won't again.

What is hopeful is that you have some shade there it looks like, so I am hoping the best for you!

[phade]

13 minutes ago, land 1 said:

might want to check out some you tube out Whitetail habitatt solutions on seed blends....sugar beets should be planted very early and not same time as brassicas and dwarf rape is kinda of a cheep filler but ,,, hope your hard work pays off def going the extra mile with watering

DER can be valuable - in most cases I've planted that very late and it does well vs say PTT. The plant focuses on leaf growth vs splitting w bulb, so a late planting situation, it can be helpful. It obviously won't be as useful long through winter as a bulb but when you're late, you make due with what you got. I agree that it wouldn't be my first choice, but it's not the end of the world. 

[dinorocks]

Thanks for the feedback!  If things are looking dismal come early September, I can rototill again (whatever did grow will become green manure) and re-seed with a different blend (or just a single species).

I did want to wait a bit longer to plant, but again, my schedule didn’t work out for that.

like in years past, I also transplant a bunch of pumpkins in my plots (these are extra plants I have in my pumpkin patch).

I wonder what the purpose is of including the Rape in the seed blend?

[johnplav]

12 minutes ago, dinorocks said:

Thanks for the feedback!  If things are looking dismal come early September, I can rototill again (whatever did grow will become green manure) and re-seed with a different blend (or just a single species).

I did want to wait a bit longer to plant, but again, my schedule didn’t work out for that.

like in years past, I also transplant a bunch of pumpkins in my plots (these are extra plants I have in my pumpkin patch).

I wonder what the purpose is of including the Rape in the seed blend?

How do the pumpkins do in a food plot?  I've thought about it, but I wasn't sure if the deer would eat or trample the vines long before the pumpkins arrive. 

[BizCT]

14 minutes ago, johnplav said:

How do the pumpkins do in a food plot?  I've thought about it, but I wasn't sure if the deer would eat or trample the vines long before the pumpkins arrive. 

@crappyice has entered the chat re Pumpkins

[dinorocks]

I have kept fencing around the pumpkin plants until I was ready to open them up to the deer.  I typically open only a few plants at a time throughout the season.

[phade]

58 minutes ago, dinorocks said:

Thanks for the feedback!  If things are looking dismal come early September, I can rototill again (whatever did grow will become green manure) and re-seed with a different blend (or just a single species).

I did want to wait a bit longer to plant, but again, my schedule didn’t work out for that.

like in years past, I also transplant a bunch of pumpkins in my plots (these are extra plants I have in my pumpkin patch).

I wonder what the purpose is of including the Rape in the seed blend?

If you are around in August, I'd plan on re-tilling or spraying and re-seeding if the ground isn't compacted. Reason being is you have some stuff that'll be immature (sugar beets) and some stuff that if it grows, it may be at risk of bolt (the brassicas), or having issues dealing with the summer heat. There are more poor outcomes likely vs good ones, even if the plants "look good." In the off chance you don't need to plant, then all the better. Managed expectations, ha!

Rape is included because it is a brassica where leafs will get sweeter as the season goes on. They're cheap seed and still effective at what most people want. It drives up profit margins. 

If you're down to say Labor Day and need to make a call, buy oats and seed that monoculture for early season draw. Then do a brassica mixed with say a wheat or even a clover. People will say it is too late to plant brassica then but I whole-heartedly disagree. You won't have the magazine photos, but what you will have is good, tender growth and a small bulb, which IMO deer prefer. The last ones to be browsed heavily are usually the big ones in my plots. 200lbs of 10-10-10 per acre and you should be good to go. People overcomplicate plots. As long as you time seeding right, get effective seed contact/germination, and have adequate soil/amendments, you will be fine. Some people LOSE themselves in plotting, I mean LOSE themselves...either they enjoy it more than hunting, or analysis paralysis. Usually that group has pretty photos of plots but empty freezers.

 

 

[Robhuntandfish]

[mention=327]crappyice[/mention] has entered the chat re Pumpkins

The guy that grows those funky looking tomatoes?

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[Robhuntandfish]

If you are around in August, I'd plan on re-tilling or spraying and re-seeding if the ground isn't compacted. Reason being is you have some stuff that'll be immature (sugar beets) and some stuff that if it grows, it may be at risk of bolt (the brassicas), or having issues dealing with the summer heat. There are more poor outcomes likely vs good ones, even if the plants "look good." In the off chance you don't need to plant, then all the better. Managed expectations, ha!
Rape is included because it is a brassica where leafs will get sweeter as the season goes on. They're cheap seed and still effective at what most people want. It drives up profit margins. 
If you're down to say Labor Day and need to make a call, buy oats and seed that monoculture for early season draw. Then do a brassica mixed with say a wheat or even a clover. People will say it is too late to plant brassica then but I whole-heartedly disagree. You won't have the magazine photos, but what you will have is good, tender growth and a small bulb, which IMO deer prefer. The last ones to be browsed heavily are usually the big ones in my plots. 200lbs of 10-10-10 per acre and you should be good to go. People overcomplicate plots. As long as you time seeding right, get effective seed contact/germination, and have adequate soil/amendments, you will be fine. Some people LOSE themselves in plotting, I mean LOSE themselves...either they enjoy it more than hunting, or analysis paralysis. Usually that group has pretty photos of plots but empty freezers.
 
 

When do you think is the best time to plant? I read on the packs of mixes most say 30-45 days to mature after planting. And last year had a small plot basically eaten to the ground in Oct. Other plot we had got washed out with the record rain.

I am planning to cut trails etc July 22-24, then put in plots July 29th area. Should I wait a couple of weeks longer for mid August?

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[BizCT]

16 minutes ago, Robhuntandfish said:

The guy that grows those funky looking tomatoes?

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk
 

same guy. different property

[dinorocks]

37 minutes ago, phade said:

If you are around in August, I'd plan on re-tilling or spraying and re-seeding if the ground isn't compacted. Reason being is you have some stuff that'll be immature (sugar beets) and some stuff that if it grows, it may be at risk of bolt (the brassicas), or having issues dealing with the summer heat. There are more poor outcomes likely vs good ones, even if the plants "look good." In the off chance you don't need to plant, then all the better. Managed expectations, ha!

Rape is included because it is a brassica where leafs will get sweeter as the season goes on. They're cheap seed and still effective at what most people want. It drives up profit margins. 

If you're down to say Labor Day and need to make a call, buy oats and seed that monoculture for early season draw. Then do a brassica mixed with say a wheat or even a clover. People will say it is too late to plant brassica then but I whole-heartedly disagree. You won't have the magazine photos, but what you will have is good, tender growth and a small bulb, which IMO deer prefer. The last ones to be browsed heavily are usually the big ones in my plots. 200lbs of 10-10-10 per acre and you should be good to go. People overcomplicate plots. As long as you time seeding right, get effective seed contact/germination, and have adequate soil/amendments, you will be fine. Some people LOSE themselves in plotting, I mean LOSE themselves...either they enjoy it more than hunting, or analysis paralysis. Usually that group has pretty photos of plots but empty freezers.

 

 

Thanks for your reply!  I have three different plots (between 0.1 and 0.25 acres) and can experiment with them per your suggestions.

[phade]

2 hours ago, Robhuntandfish said:

When do you think is the best time to plant? I read on the packs of mixes most say 30-45 days to mature after planting. And last year had a small plot basically eaten to the ground in Oct. Other plot we had got washed out with the record rain.

I am planning to cut trails etc July 22-24, then put in plots July 29th area. Should I wait a couple of weeks longer for mid August?

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If I had to pick one time to plant brassica mix here (roughly same latitude as you), I'd do end of the first week in August. So many people prefer mid to end of July or very early in August. We've done that and I think it's a touch early every single time. Remember, even Radish has a shorter maturity date than say PTT. If we're doing straight radish, I'd have no concerns planting radish mid-August or even third week. After that, I'd still plant but just be aware of reduced tonnage. You'll still get the attraction, arguably better in some instances, but it just won't be as long as the plot gets eaten faster. 

I know some people will disagree with me, but let's be real, we haven't had brutal cold snaps (which is a trigger for attraction) that early on in October, save for a few seasons ago mid-month. Mid August puts 45 days to Oct 1 give or take. Late July makes that plant now 2-2.5 weeks older. Doesn't always mean better attraction and it's often dry as heck then.

Worst case...crop failure. Labor Day weekend, you sow oats, wheat, winter rye, and still have a great draw option. We did oats in earnest last year for the first time, and wow, were they ever an attraction. We - again - planted this too early though. Palatability drops after 30 ish days, so we'd go Labor Day this time. We planted on or around start of last week in August. Draw died out around October 5-6. Deer were hammering that plot the first 30 days.

[Robhuntandfish]

18 minutes ago, phade said:

If I had to pick one time to plant brassica mix here (roughly same latitude as you), I'd do end of the first week in August. So many people prefer mid to end of July or very early in August. We've done that and I think it's a touch early every single time. Remember, even Radish has a shorter maturity date than say PTT. If we're doing straight radish, I'd have no concerns planting radish mid-August or even third week. After that, I'd still plant but just be aware of reduced tonnage. You'll still get the attraction, arguably better in some instances, but it just won't be as long as the plot gets eaten faster. 

I know some people will disagree with me, but let's be real, we haven't had brutal cold snaps (which is a trigger for attraction) that early on in October, save for a few seasons ago mid-month. Mid August puts 45 days to Oct 1 give or take. Late July makes that plant now 2-2.5 weeks older. Doesn't always mean better attraction and it's often dry as heck then.

Worst case...crop failure. Labor Day weekend, you sow oats, wheat, winter rye, and still have a great draw option. We did oats in earnest last year for the first time, and wow, were they ever an attraction. We - again - planted this too early though. Palatability drops after 30 ish days, so we'd go Labor Day this time. We planted on or around start of last week in August. Draw died out around October 5-6. Deer were hammering that plot the first 30 days.

Thanks - I am kinda leaning to cut and clear weekend of Aug 5-7 (plus i have limited time that weekend), then plant Aug 12-14.   Been thinking that same thing to be prime by Oct 1 and less time for it to be eaten down.  Last time we planted in 3 weeks it was growing strong. But spot that was growing so well when i hunted it mid Oct was eaten to the ground.  Then maybe if i cut the trails later this year i wont have to do it again the first week of Sept too.  

Im sure im overthinking it, but im a planner and to me its part of the fun of hunting. 

Im planting some "bow stand" "secret spot" type of mixes, as well as some radish and winter peas. 

Gonna play it by ear but think i am going to back it up at least a week from what i was thinking and kinda play the weather.   

[LET EM GROW]

Certain brassicas are fine to plant mid late July.. Any Brassica that produces a bulb you "Do Not" want to plant too early. Bigger is not better in terms of bulb size. Bigger leaf is good, bigger bulb no, when your trying to keep these plants palatable and preferred...

The down fall of many these Food plot companies making these seed blends is they look and sound good. But most times you only really utilize half of the seed blend or less.

Sugar beets need 120 days to hit maturity so you will get a little top growth, but they also dont like competition. The turnips will be ok, a tad early but ya gotta do what ya gotta do..

Especially depending on your geographic location.. parts of NY need to start planting late July, Others can wait until Mid August.. First frost varies 2-3 weeks across the state.. 

My Fall plots that mostly consist of just mostly brassica with no bulb and other annuals, will go in next week or two sometime  when rain is present. the bulbs will go in First Week of August or when Rain is present in that time frame.. A present rainfall is better when getting seeds into the ground, vs a set date each year when conditions are dry like this year.. 

The best part when planting fall winter plots, is if they dont take off due to weather or whatever it is, you can overseed rye or wheat into them at 75-100lbs per acre mid september.. and still have good greenery  

[Robhuntandfish]

these guys ate this plot to the ground by October.   But doing more this year within a close area so that should help.  Also im gonna wait til the last weekend of July/1st of August to cut trails then plant whichever weekend right after.  Gonna play the weather for which weekend to get it done.  

Edited July 15, 2022 by Robhuntandfish

[Five Seasons]

Interesting to hear you're planting now. Most of what I've seen is start the spring plots by mid may and don't start the fall plots till 7/20 and before 8/20.