Growing plot screen?

[stubborn1VT]

I have wanted to expand a food plot in an overgrown pasture for years, but when the leaves are down you can see it from the neighbors.  Does anyone have experience with planting annuals for a plot screen?  I know Frigid Forage makes one.  Anyone try Egyptian wheat?  I can nearly double my plot from 1/4 to a 1/2 acre, so I'm going to find a way to do it  Any suggestions would be great.  As a side note, it's family land.  I don't actually own it, so I'm not looking to plant cedars or something substantial.  I'm just looking for something to conceal that area for the fall.

Thanks!

[growalot]

I use feed corn..of grain sorghum...grain because it's taller...unreported well for me...pines.and crab Apple's.for permanent

[stubborn1VT]

I'd be interested in trying grain sorghum.  I have experience with sorghum sudan.  How tall will it get?  How thick a strip do you plant?  

I am planting crab apples at home for a screen too.  

Thanks Grow.  I'll look into it.  I'm getting excited just thinking about twice the plot!

[SplitG2]

stubborn,

 

we find EW to be great screen and grain sorghum.  Make sure its not forage sorghum.  Deer will eat it.  We will be releasing a plot screen for 2017.  Our screen will reach 12ft in height. and hold up to the snow.

[stubborn1VT]

Thanks for the info, Split.  I hear there wasn't much EW seed around for 2017.  Could just be a rumor.  We have grown forage sorghum before, so I know what you're saying.  I'll have to check out your product.  A 12 foot screen would be great!  

[SplitG2]

EW was in short supply for 2016 and looks to be the same for 2017.  This is the reason we are pushing release date.  We don't substitute seed for another in our blends.

[growalot]

Quote

I use feed corn..of grain sorghum...grain because it's taller...unreported well for me...pines.and crab Apple's.for permanent

So I have no idea how that was underlined and obviously not exactly what I typed...I can't even remember what I typed to cause "unreported" to appear...but you got it so... Yes grain sorghum can get 12 ft tall but if planted too close will not develop a thick enough stalk not to lodge in the wind and heavy snows. This is from my experience...I broad cast seed. the stuff I did this year in a Max attract plot(add in) has stayed up very well and helped hide the deer as they fed on clover and turnips I laid over the top after planting the sorghum.

[corydd7]

I've been reading about grain sorghum in a qdma book. I need to add screen as well so I'm gonna add Sunn hemp and cow peas. Legumes are recommended as a mixture. (No real world experience just from a book)

[growalot]

Well that is what I had in my plots this year the deer loved it and I have to say...first year with cow peas...I'm thinking I liked them better than the soybeans.....they didn't have a long enough season to produce pods ...but they handled browsing well and the deer ate them. They also handle the drought very well and  they seed delayed in areas. their sprouting then came in beautifully as well as the hemp. Then we had a lot of rain and the field flooded...they held up to the standing water as well... very impressed with that plot and even though the deer thinned it out and the frost killed it back...the deer have a super highway through it to get to the turnips and have beds in it..

Edited December 28, 2016 by growalot

[goosifer]

16 minutes ago, corydd7 said:

I've been reading about grain sorghum in a qdma book. I need to add screen as well so I'm gonna add Sunn hemp and cow peas. Legumes are recommended as a mixture. (No real world experience just from a book)

which book? I'd like to check it out. Thanks.

[corydd7]

Quality Food Plots. Wealth of knowledge ,I highly recommend. Spend a couple thousand dollars in food plots, I might as well sink $30 into a good book.

[corydd7]

1 hour ago, growalot said:

Well that is what I had in my plots this year the deer loved it and I have to say...first year with cow peas...I'm thinking I liked them better than the soybeans.....they didn't have a long enough season to produce pods ...but they handled browsing well and the deer ate them. They also handle the drought very well and  they seed delayed in areas. their sprouting then came in beautifully as well as the hemp. Then we had a lot of rain and the field flooded...they held up to the standing water as well... very impressed with that plot and even though the deer thinned it out and the frost killed it back...the deer have a super highway through it to get to the turnips and have beds in it..

Did you use Sun flowers? As far as the Sunn hemp how tall did it grow? Thanks for the input.

[growalot]

It got to six foot and had a very slow start due to the drought but once the rains came shot up and fast! The  first pic hemp and beans next to turnips second is a close up...last pic, hemp and beans in the background. Sun flowers just rarely makes it here...I suppose if I planted a solid field of them they might  but even the long strips I do ,the deer just hammer them from sprouting on through.

Which they did with the hemp in the lower plot the first time I planted and this year as well...That tells me I have a bit higher concentration of deer movement in that lower plot than the upper one. This even though the cams seem busier up here than down there..go figure, I can't..lol

 

[stubborn1VT]

Nice pics & plots Grow!  Just got back from the family farm.  Spent a couple hours with the chainsaw in/around an old apple orchard.  It needs some help.

Thanks for the grain sorghum recommendation.  So you're saying it shouldn't be seeded too heavy, or it won't grow to it's potential.  Makes sense.  How wide a strip would you plant for a solid screen?  

[growalot]

I average 30 ft wide..They will bed in it